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"putting Lesmahagow on the Map !"
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40]Jonathan Wordsworth, MA and Alistair R Gordon, MA
with contributions by Jill Kerr, D Hall, J D Bateson, A Young, Dorothy A Lunt, Catherine Smith, G WI Hodgson and
A Sharp
Summary
In 1978 proposed redevelopment of the site of the Priory of Lesmahagow, founded in 1144, was mooted and the Clydesdale District Council permitted its excavation. This revealed the foundations of the cloister garth and walks, the south range including the complete lay-out of the refectory, almost the full extent of the west range and part of the east range of the monastic complex. Such was the extent of the remains that the District Council decided to amend the development scheme and to preserve the remains as a public amenity. Although the structural remains were extensive, with the exception of a long sequence of coins, the survival of finds from the monastic period was poor; the majority of these belonged to the post-monastic period.
Introduction
The site of the Priory of Lesmahagow has always been known. The present parish church, built in 1804, was erected on the site ofthe earlier post-Reformation church which had been fashioned from the nave of the priory church. The west tower of the priory church had survived as the west tower of the early parish church (pi. 1), but like that church, was demolished in 1803 to make way for the present building. The church occupies the north side of Church Square (fig. 1), and it was to the S of the church that the claustral complex of monastic buildings might be expected to lie (White 1773). There were no upstanding remains, as these had been mostly demolished in the post-Reformation period, to be replaced in the 18th century by a garden with rows of cottages on the W, Sand Esides. In the 19thcentury a school replaced some of the cottages on the W side. This building subsequently became the premises of W Perry, Builders. The cottages on the E side were removed about 1950 to be replaced by a garage, while the cottages on the S side were demolished in 1970 and the site left
vacant; the remaining cottages on the W side were removed only in 1978 just prior to the proposed development of the area.
In advance of this redevelopment Clydesdale District Council (formerly Lanark District Council) gave permission for the archaeological examination of the area. Excavation began in February 1978 with a group of 18 people employed under the Jobs Creation Scheme. Work was hampered initially by poor weather conditions and restricted access. However by July 1978 over840 m2had been investigated (pi. 2). Since sufficient structural remains of the priory had by then been revealed, the Council decided that these should be preserved and the area laid out as a public amenity. A further period of excavation then took place lasting until December 1978. During the following year the consolidation of the revealed foundations and walls was undertaken. Presently the site is being landscaped by the Parks Department of the District Council.
Topography
Lesmahagow is situated in a sheltered valley on the west bank of the River Nethan, which flows NE to join the Clyde at Crossford. The course of the Nethan marks approximately the fault-line separating the Old Red Sandstone to the N from the Carboniferous deposits to the S in the county of Lanarkshire (3SA, 1960, p. 465). The local sandstone has been used for centuries as building material. The alluvial deposits in the valleys of the Clyde and its tributaries, such as the Nethan, have long made this an area of agricultural settlement.
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