Hamilton Palace (Park)

Location and Setting

Hamilton Palace Park lies in the valley of the River Clyde immediately to the east of Hamilton town, and west of Motherwell. It was the largest formal designed landscape in Scotland but, since the loss of the Palace itself, the area of the park has gradually been encroached on by buildings and road developments. It is now bordered by the town of Hamilton along its west boundary and by the River Clyde at its northern end. Its former eastern boundary is now partly covered by Strathclyde Loch in Strathclyde Country Park, which includes the policies of Orbiston House, once part of the estate of the Hamiltons of Dalyell. The southern half of the park, known as Hamilton High Parks is bordered by minor roads to the west and south, and by the A72 to the east. The underlying rocks are Carboniferous and coal-bearing and have been extensively mined. Soils range from sandy to clay and the area enjoys a moderate climate with about 40" of rain per year and no lengthy periods of severe frost. The M74 cuts through the park from north-west to south-east and a section of it is raised above Hamilton Low Parks. The parkland, the Mausoleum and the garden-house folly of Chatelherault are all prominent features in the landscape.

The Palace was built in the flood plain of the River Clyde and in close proximity to the town of Hamilton, which grew up around its boundaries; its site is less than 0.5 mile (1km) from the centre of Hamilton town. Since the Palace was demolished in 1927 the M74 has been built through the Low Parks, Strathclyde Loch has been dammed, and some building development has encroached particularly at the western boundary by the town of Hamilton. Earliest map evidence dates back to 1677 and the Isaac Miller drawings, which show the original castle as refurbished in 1591 with an area of formal gardens around it, consisting of three large parterres surrounded by walls and steps, and a small orchard. A small area of enclosed parkland is shown on a second plan. Alexander Edward's drawings of 1708 show the layout of the largest formal designed landscape in Scotland.

It is titled as a 'Map with some Alterations and Additions to the Gardens, Courts, Avenues, Plantations and Inclosures of Hamilton'. Its main feature is a broad avenue which extends the full length of the Park, a distance of at least 3.5 miles (6km), and which extends across the River Avon in the southern half of the park. Two distinct areas of formal planting are shown, both on the west side of the avenue; in the north, extending from the Palace to the Clyde, a formal layout with many diagonal rides, twists, and belvederes is shown. Four main diagonals extend from the Palace at angles of c.20 from the main avenue, and these diagonal lines are picked up in both of the areas of woodland planting. To the south end of the park, the formal layout is less intricate, with larger rides and a rond-point partly cut through the ancient hunting forest of Cadzow to its west. The map is annotated with an explanation which refers to a canal, an orchard, and which describes the viewpoints which are the objects of the designed vistas. It is not known how much of this plan was implemented, but the Hamilton manuscripts refer to the north half of the avenue being planted before this plan was made.

A survey undertaken by William Douglas in 1776 of Hamilton High Parks shows the avenue extending only as far south as Chatelherault, and a small area of formal planting remaining to the west of the river. It also shows a wider extent of park to the east and a more picturesque woodland layout around a circular belvedere called Belvedere Braes. The ancient parkland and oak trees are marked on this survey plan as 'Old Oaks', and the deep river valleys are shown as wooded. In 1812 a survey plan of the whole estate, including the central portion, was drawn up by R. Bauchap for the 9th Duke Archibald. This is very similar to the Douglas survey of the High Parks, and shows the main avenue and diagonals as planned by Edward. The intricacy of the formal layout in the north of the park had been lost by then and replaced by curved lines, and the town of Hamilton is shown as growing nearer to the west side of the Palace.

In 1824 a sketch of the south lawn was drawn up proposing a new three acre kitchen garden, which does not appear to have been implemented. R. Bauchap carried out a second survey of the High Parks in 1835, where the major change is shown to be the filling in of the wavy edges of the Belvedere Braes plantation. A bowling green is shown to the north of Chatelherault, and an area is walled off to its south. By the 1st edition OS map of c.1860, the Belvedere Plantation had been greatly extended, and some roundels added to the east of the river. A reservoir had been put in to the north- east of Chatelherault in the Deer Park. The Mausoleum had been built in the Low Parks to the north-east of the Palace and the woodland to the north-west of the Palace planted up.

By the 2nd edition OS map of 1898, most changes had taken place in the northern half of the park, where a golf course and racecourse had been put in. Many pathways are shown through Barmichael Plantation on the west side of the park. On the north side of the river, outwith the policies and adjacent to the Orbiston House policies, is the Hamilton Palace colliery, the mine which caused so much subsequent subsidence.

Since the turn of the century most change has occurred again in the northern half of the park: the strong central axis of the design, the Grand Avenue, has lost many of its trees, although its skeleton can still be traced when viewed from Chatelherault. The Palace has been demolished, and traces of the walled garden to its west remain next to the playing fields and golf range. The Mausoleum is almost isolated by the road network, but provides a stunning feature on the west side of the motorway. Hamilton Low Parks now have ponds and marshy areas on the site of the former racecourse to the east of the present track. The course of the River Clyde has been diverted westward into the former parks, and the River South Calder Water now drains into Strathclyde Loch, a feature in Strathclyde Country Park. The Country Park extends over the former colliery and Orbiston House policies.

South of the Avon, the Deer Park at Chatelherault has been worked for sand and gravel extraction and is in need of reinstatement. Some of the western parkland in the High Parks has been lost to more intensive farming, with the loss of some of the ancient oaks. There are some 2,787 acres (1,128ha) in the designed landscape today.

Landscape Components

Architectural Features

The Mausoleum is 120' tall, mounted on terraces, and was designed by David Bryce in 1850. It is guarded by two lions, designed by A.H. Ritchie, and is listed A. Chatelherault, designed in 1732 by William Adam, incorporated some fine plasterwork by Thomas Clayton which is under restoration; it is listed A. The West Lodge remains and some of the walls of the walled garden also remain. Cadzow Castle, the ancient Hamilton stronghold, is now a picturesque ruin, restored as a folly in the mid- 19th century; it is a scheduled ancient monument, listed B. The Duke's Bridge is dated 1863 and listed B. The Duke's Monument on the west bank of the Avon, south of Barncluith, is a tempietta which shelters a memorial to the 11th Duke and is listed A.

Parkland

The Hamilton Low Parks have today lost the integrity of the original design. It is difficult to distinguish the site of the once huge palace amid the playing fields and pitches. The Mausoleum is now isolated and the remains of the Grand Avenue difficult to discern. The Avenue was of mixed species including sycamore, lime and horse chestnut, and some old trees remain, none less than 200 years old. A marshy area has been created in the north of the park and this is managed as a wildlife area. The south park at High Parks is more intact, despite the gravel extraction in the Deer Park to the north of Chatelherault. The old parkland trees are pedunculate oaks and are thought to have been planted. Records dating back several hundred years refer to them then as 'old' oaks. They are so old they are very difficult to date although one has been dated at c.1440, ie over 500 years old. They provide one of the most impressive parkland scenes in the country and are listed as an SSSI.

Woodland

An account written in the 1880s refers to the skilfully grouped plantations in the north park, most of which have since been lost. The river valleys are still wooded with mature ash, wych elm, sycamore and oak woodlands. The woods are now managed by Hamilton District Council and the conifer plantations put in by the 10th Duke are managed under a Forestry Commission Dedication Scheme and will be returned to deciduous species once they have been cropped.

The Gardens

The Isaac Miller drawings of 1677 show three formal parterres laid out in terraces by the old Castle. In 1842 the Gardeners' Magazine recorded that 'nothing has been done to the grounds around the house, or at least nothing at all worthy of such a building'. Victorian photographs show that Bryce's terraces were laid out with formal bedding in parterres. The Mausoleum was originally surrounded with two rings of trees, both of fir, with other planting in between; some yews remain to its west today. The gardens and bowling green at Chatelherault have similarly been lost over the years, only the Irish yews remaining of the attractive Victorian bedding displays behind the west pavilion shown in old photographs. The latter garden is to be restored to the period of its development, ie the 1740s.

Walled Garden

There was an extensive area of walled garden to the north-west of the Palace, shown on the 2nd edition OS map, but this has largely been lost since the Palace was demolished, although parts of the walls remain.