Lamington Tower

NS93SE 14 98006 31978

(NS 9801 3197) Lamington Tower (NR) (Remains of)

OS 6" map, (1958).

All that remains of Lamington Tower, a simple keep, are parts of its W and S walls and the foundations of the N and E walls. It stands on a gravel mound which rises above the level haugh of the River Clyde. The tower measures 38 3/4ft by 31 3/4ft; the ground floor was vaulted. A corbelled turret still exists at the NW angle; from this MacGibbon and Ross date the tower to the late 16th or 17th century. This would agree with the stone dated 1589 with the initials E B which the Ordnance Survey Name Book (ONB) notes in the W wall. The New Statistical Account (NSA) states that the tower was blown up about 1780, its stones being used for farm buildings in the neighbourhood.

The tower probably occupies the site of an earlier structure, held by Hazelrig for Edward I, and taken by Wallace.

D MacGibbon and T Ross 1889; Name Book 1858; NSA (C Hope: written 1840), 1845.

The ruins of the S and W walls of Lamington Tower survive to a height of 3.0m to 4.0m, the E and N walls remaining at ground level. The walls, which are about 2.0m thick, are built of roughly squared uncoursed masonry in mortar. The vaulting of the ground floor may be seen on the inside of the S wall and some worked stones of an upper window are still in situ. The dimensions of the tower, which stands on a natural rise, are 12.0m E-W by 10.5m. Large blocks of masonry lie outside the walls and in an adjoining field the corbelling of the angle turret illustrated by MacGibbon and Ross survives as a complete block.

Visited by OS (WW) 24 June 1955.

Lamington Tower: name verified. The stone bearing the date '1589'; is still visible in the S (not W) wall and the block of corbelling (Noted OS field surveyor WW) lies at NS 9800 3100.

Surveyed at 1:2500.

Visited by OS (JRL) 8 February 1979.