Chatelherault (also known as Wham)

The following is from the Historic Environment Scotland Gardens and Designed Landscapes Inventory. For the most up-to-date Inventory entry, please visit the Historic Environment Scotland website:

http://portal.historic-scotlan...

Type of Site

Remnants of picturesque scenery with parkland, specimen trees and mature woodland and some surviving elements of formal gardens are reminders of a designed landscape largely unchanged since the 18th century.

Location and Setting

Chatelherault was built as a terminal feature to a grand avenue which extended from Hamilton Palace over 1.5 miles (2km) away to its north-west. It is set on higher land above the Clyde valley in which the Palace was built, and on the east side of the River Avon, a tributary of the Clyde, which here has formed a deep gorge through the Carboniferous rocks which underlie the area. Hamilton town centre is only 1 mile (1.5km) away to the north-west, and Motherwell lies 2 miles (3km) to its north-east. The M74 has been constructed through the Clyde valley between the two towns, and Chatelherault forms a striking scenic feature when travelling south along the motorway. There are extensive views from the site, especially northwards over the remnants of the Grand Avenue.

Historically Chatelherault was built as a feature in the overall design for the landscape of Hamilton Palace (q.v.). Today it is divided from the north end of the park, known as Hamilton Low Parks, but the surrounding south end of the designed landscape has remained similar in extent since it was drawn by Alexander Edward in 1708. Chatelherault itself faces north across the Clyde Valley and views to the south and west are restricted by woodlands. The High Parks extend westwards to the outer fringe of Hamilton town and are bounded by minor roads to the south and west and by the B7078 and A72 to the east. Alexander Edward's drawing of 1708 shows the park extending further to the west at that time with formal diagonals, a rond-point, and belvederes laid out in the woodlands to the west of the Avon. To the east of the Avon, the Grand Avenue is shown extending to the southern boundary of the park, that is past Cadzow Castle and the site of Chatelherault. Edward's plan is entitled: 'a Map with some Alterations and Additions to the Gardens, Courts, Avenues, Plantations and Inclosures of Hamilton'; and so it is not clear how much of this drawing was carried out at that time, although it is known that part of the Grand Avenue had been planted by then. A detailed 'Survey of the High Parks' in 1776 by William Douglas gives no indication of the grand avenue extending south beyond Chatelherault, and very little formal woodland planting is shown remaining to the west of the Avon.

The parks here are divided into fields labelled as Chaces and divided by the wooded gills of the tributary river valleys. To the east of the Avon a more picturesque design of woodland is shown around a formal circle, and called Belvedere Braes. Further surveys by R. Bauchap in 1812 and 1835 show no change to the extent of the design but the picturesque outline of the Belvedere Braes had been block-planted between the two surveys. Building development has gradually encroached into the boundary of the parkland particularly on the north-west edge, and some of the High Parks have been put to arable farming, with the consequent loss of some of the famous ancient parkland trees. There are 1,749.5 acres (708ha) in the designed landscape today.

Landscape Components

Architectural Features

Chatelherault, designed by William Adam in 1732 is listed A. It consists of two end pavilions linked by a long screen wall ornamented with urns. Cadzow Castle an ancient stronghold on the opposite bank of the River Avon, was reconstructed as a folly in the mid-19th century, and is a scheduled ancient monument listed B. The Duke's Bridge over the Avon, which links the two buildings, is listed B. There are other features of architectural interest in Hamilton Palace Parks.

Parkland

The remnants of the Hamilton High Parks provide some of the most beautiful parkland scenery, with their ancient pollarded oaks. The trees are so old that they are difficult to date, but one has been dated at c.1440. They are the subject of an SSSI designation. Some of the trees have been lost due to intensification of farming methods in this century, and the others will need protection. The Deer Park to the north of the building has been excavated for sand and gravel since the 1880s and in recent years the excavations threatened to undercut the building itself, which is already suffering from coal-mining subsidence. This area is to be restored, and the Wham reservoir area will be made into two ponds. A large car park has been put into the former quarry to the east of the building. The Grand Avenue has now been replanted over the sand quarry area.

Woodland

The Avon Gorge woodlands are also old and contain ash, elm, oak and sycamore species; an area west of the Cadzow Castle has been planted up with conifers, but will be replanted with mixed deciduous species once it has been cropped. The woodlands are now managed as part of the Country Park and grass and woodchip paths have been established.

The Gardens

The designer of the original gardens is unknown. Archaeological investigations have uncovered a formal layout in the garden, of a bi-symmetrical scroll-like pattern. This is to be laid out with box hedges and filled with plant material of species which were available in Scotland in the 1740s. There are also some specimen trees at the edge of the walled garden, including some yews, monkey puzzles, (since removed), and Wellingtonias. Two huge old sycamores stand to the east of the building. The courtyard behind Chatelherault which formerly housed dog kennels, a derelict Georgian game larder, and the Victorian game larder (which is to be reassembled elswhere) has been redesigned as an Interpretive Centre around an Internal Courtyard.