Archaeology Notes

Event ID 703916

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/703916

NS74SW 9 70349 44441

(NS 70349 44441) Castle (NR) (Ruins)

OS 6" map (1913)

'Evandale' Castle fell into disrepair after 1716.

Carlisle 1813.

The castle stands on a mound that is largely artificial. It is an oblong building 70 feet by 38 feet, with the long axis running east and west. There is a round tower, four storeys high, at the north-west angle and a projecting wing at the south- east corner.

The castle itself was three storeys high and the north and east walls still stand, with the central part of the south and the lower part of the west walls.

J A Wilson 1936.

Avondale Castle seems to have been built in the fifteenth century.

D MacGibbon and T Ross 1887.

Strathaven Castle (Lanark Co. Council noticeboard). The castle is generally as described by Wilson. It is constructed of rubble masonry, the lower parts of the walls showing signs of coursing, and the remains are in fair condition.

Visited by OS (JD) 17 March 1955.

NS 7033 4444. A watching brief was carried out on behalf of the District Council during environmental improvement works in the area around the remains of Strathaven, or Avondale Castle. The castle and the park area around it on the E bank of the Powmillon Burn are Scheduled, and the watching brief was a condition of the Scheduled Monument Consent.

Landscaping operations on the W side of the Powmillon Burn were restricted to the upper, modern deposits at the corner of Todshill Street and The Cross.

Pathlaying operations at the SE corner of the upstanding remains of the castle uncovered the footings of an enclosing wall at the edge of the steep slope above the bum (NS 7034 4442). The wall was constructed of mortared yellow sandstone rubble, and was c 0.9m wide. The line of the wall seemed to continue that of the existing fragments on the NW corner of the extant tower.

During the erection of seating on the E side of the castle (NS 7037 4444), mortared sandstone rubble was encountered at a depth of 0.55m.

Sponsor: Strathclyde Regional Council.

SRC SMR 1994g.