Publication Account

Date 1983

Event ID 1018514

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Publication Account

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1018514

Little is known of the early history of Strathaven castle. The Flemings of Biggar received the barony of Avondale in the twelfth century, and although there is a district called Flemington on the Hamilton road, it is unknown whether the family built a castle at Strathaven. In the following century the barony passed to the Baird family, who maintained it until after the Wars of Independence. It appears that in 1370 Avondale was granted to the Earls of Douglas who might have strengthened an existing castle (Anon, 1879, 5).

Strathaven Castle was reputedly taken and destroyed by James II on the forfeiture of the Douglases in 1455 (Brown, 1947, 102). It was possible Andrew Stewart, who was later granted the barony, had the castle rebuilt and refurbished in the late fifteenth century. During the reign of James V (1513-42), the barony passed into the hands of the Dukes of Hamilton and one member of that family apparently strengthened and enlarged the structure in 1643 (Brown, 1947, 102). After 1716 the castle fell into disuse and was damaged both by lightning in 1737 and, later, quarrying by the townspeople (Brown, 1947, 103-4). In the early nineteenth century it was observed that 'the castle was in a ruinous state and served to be the habitation of martins and swallows' (Mack, 1911, 21).

The ruins of the castle of Strathaven occupy a dominant position in the centre of the town. The castle was apparently designed on the plan of a parallelogram with two towers diagonally opposite. One of the towers still remains on the north-west angle overlooking the town (MacGibbon and Ross, 1971, i, 352), and other surviving fragments include part of the outer wall.

Information from ‘Historic Strathaven: The Archaeological Implications of Development’ (1983).