General
History
-
Statistical
Accs.
Sheriffdoms of Renfrew and Lanark 1710
Statistical Account by Rev. Mr James
Morehead 1790
Statistical Account by Rev.
Hugh Dewar 1836
Statistical Account of Stonehouse
1904
Statistical Account of
Stonehouse 1937
Statistical Account by Rev. Robert
Clement Pollock 1950
Historical Account of Stonehouse
(mid 19th century) by Deanory of Lanark
Sheriffdoms of Renfrew and Lanark 1710
Stonehouse is a pleafant parte, tho it toucheth not Clyde: it lyes upon
the water of Aven. This baronie and perifh anciently belonged to the
Earles of Douglas; and after their forfaulture, the one half of it came
to Lord Hamilton, and the other half to the Laird of Stonehouse,
Hamilton; and continued fo for feverall ages, untill of late, it was
firft purchafed by the Lord Lee, and then by his fon, the Lord
Caftlehill, and now belongs to Martha Lochhart, his daughter, and John
Sinclair younger of Stevenfone, her fpoufe. The place is plentifull
both of grafs and corn; but the houfe which belonged to the land is now
ruinous, they dwelling elfewhere, at Cambufnethan. The Duke of Hamilton
is patron of the parifh. (as written)
Statistical Account by Rev. Mr
James Morehead 1790
The parish of Stonehouse is in the County of Lanark, in the presbytery
of Hamilton, and synod of Glasgow and Ayr; 18 miles from Glasgow, 7 and
a half from Hamilton; and nearly the same from Lanark. It is 5 miles in
length, and, at an average, nearly 2 miles in breadth. No exact survey
has yet been taken of it; but, by comparing what has been surveyed, and
what has not, it may be reasonably supposed to contain nearly 6000
acres. Of the above, it is computed, that about 12 acres consist of
moss, and about 24 of muir. All the rest is arable, excepting the banks
of the river. The soil, at the top of the parish, is light; in the
middle and lower end, it is also light, but mixed with some clay. It is
laid out mostly in small farms. Four or five, perhaps, may pay between
60 and L.80 of yearly rent; but, at an average, they do not exceed 20
or L.30. In the centre of the parish, there is a very thriving village,
called Stonehouse. In the course of the last 20 years, 35 new houses
have been built; and 2 or 3 more are to be built next summer. Some of
these houses contain 2, 3, 4, and even 5 families. The village is
principally inhabited by weavers. A few have begun to carry on business
for themselves: but, generally speaking, they are employed by
manufacturers elsewhere. Some begin working the loom at nine or ten
years of age. The females are remarkable for spinning fine. The village
above is supposed to draw L.500 annually for that article. Some years
ago, there was one woman, who span to the extent of ten spindles in the
pound.
PRODUCE
The produce, which principally consists of oats, barley, and pease, is,
in general, more than what is necessary for the consumption of the
inhabitants. The surplus is sent to Hamilton, Glasgow and Paisley.
About 12 years ago, an attempt was made to raise wheat; but, after
repeated trials, it was found not to answer, and is, therefore, mostly
given up. Every farmer lays his account to raise 10 or 12 bolls of
potatoes yearly; and to sow about a peck, or a peck and a half of lint
feed, for family uses. They have no fields either of potatoes, flax, or
turnip. In the middle and lower end of the parish, every farmer has
some parts of his ground in rye-grass. What they peculiarly attend to,
is the dairy. It is, in general, expected, that the half, and in some
parts the whole, of his rent should be paid by the produce of the byre.
They deal greatly in rearing calves for the butchers, which they fell
from 20s to 3 or L.4 each.
DISEASES
There is no disease peculiar to the parish. What has hitherto proved
most fatal, is the smallpox, which returns every 4 or 5 years. In 1778,
18 children were carried off in the course of a few weeks. Some have
begun to inoculate: In every instance where tried, it was successful;
but the prejudices of the people against it are too strong, that it is
not gaining ground. There are few instances of
longevity. Some have attained to 90, but none, (at least for these 30
years,) to 100 years of age.
RIVERS AND MINERAL SPRINGS
The Avon, which rises in the parishes of Avondale and Galston, passes
through a part of this district, and runs into the Clyde, not far from
Hamilton. - Near the village of Stonehouse, it has a fall which would
answer for a cotton mill. - There is a mineral spring at Kittymuir,
which has been found to be of service in scorbutic disorders. It would,
probably, be more resorted to, if some attention were paid to the well,
and if there were better accommodations near it.
MINES
Some years ago, there was a good coal-work in the parish, the property
of Mr Lockhart of Castlehill, which was afterwards, in a great measure,
abandoned. Of late, different trials have been made, and it is hoped,
it will again beset a going. The parish, in the mean time, has not
suffered much, being abundantly supplied with coal from 3, and now 4,
different collieries in the parish of Dalserf, the nearest, scarcely a
mile, and the farthest, not four from the village. At present, they
cost at the work, 10 1/2d. per cart, which is more than double what
they were 30 years ago. A cart is supposed to contain about 30 stone,
Trone weight. - The parish abounds in lime; which has been much used of
late, for the purposes of farming. It is generally sold in shells, at
L.2:10 to the kiln, and to the tenants of the proprietors, at L.2:5. A
kiln contains 100 bolls of flacked lime. In the river, and on the top
of the lime stone, there is plenty of excellent iron stone; which, in
all probability, will become soon an object of importance. - There is
also fine quarries of free stone, easy to be got at, which has been of
great service in the late buildings.
POPULATION
By a list taken in 1696, which seems to have been made out by Mr Foyer,
the then minister, there appears to have been, at that time, 872 souls
in the parish: of these 272 resided in the village, and 600 in the
country. The return to Dr Webster in 1755, was 823 souls. By a list
made out by the present minister in November last, there were found to
be 1060; of whom 593 resided in the village, and 467 in the country.
The village consequently has increased 321, and the country decreased
133, since 1696. The increase, on the whole, in the last 40 years, is
237. Of the above 1060, there are,
|
Males |
Females |
| In the village |
263 |
330 |
| In the country |
222 |
245 |
| Total |
485 |
575 |
| Majority of
females, upon the whole, is |
90 |
| Families in
the village |
161 |
| In the country |
99 |
|
360 |
Every family, at an average, will contain little
more than four.
General Division
| Farmers, who
make it their business |
56 |
| Weavers |
131 |
| Shoemakers |
15 |
| Masons |
9 |
| Wrights |
6 |
| Miners |
6 |
| Smiths |
4 |
| Different
millers |
6 |
| Taylors |
6 |
| Coopers |
2 |
| Married |
344 |
| Widows and
widowers |
57 |
| Under 20
years, supposed |
400 |
BIRTHS
It is impossible to ascertain the number of births: through there is a
register kept, yet it cannot be depended upon. Some of the ancient
Dissenters seem never to have registered their children at all. Many of
the Established Church forget it.
Since the last duty was imposed,
there are many who refuse it. Some on account of the expense, and some
from a mistaken notion of religion. Some who now reside in one parish,
register in another, because it happened to be their former place of
residence; and strangers sometimes register in this, because their
children, by some accident, have been baptized in it. As it stands, the
average will be found to be 25 precisely, reckoning from the beginning
of the register, which was in 1696, till November 1790, there being
2275 baptisms recorded. No register appears for the years 1721 and
1722, excepting 2 at the beginning of 1721, and 4 at the end of 1722,
which are not included in the above. Multiplying 91, the number of
years, by 25, the number of children, the product is 2275, precisely.
DEATHS
It is difficult to ascertain the number of deaths: Of these there is no
register kept. The only thing, that can throw any light upon it, is the
account of the mortcloths kept by the treasurer for the poor. But this
will not be found quite satisfactory; because some, who reside in this
parish, bury in another, and consequently get a mortcloth from them;
while strangers, sometimes, bury in this; and, supposing these to be
equal, which it is probable they are, the matter will be uncertain,
because mortcloths are seldom required for children under two years of
age. As it stands, the annual average for these last twenty years, will
be found to be 17 and 20/4.
MARRIAGES
There is no authentic register of marriages. A list of proclamations,
in order to marriage, is kept, both by the precentor and treasurer for
the poor. These two have been compared, and found to agree. According
to them, there have been, of proclamations, from the beginning of the
year 1761, to the end of the year 1790, in all 289: Of these 7 must be
discounted, because the marriages did not take place. Of the remaining
282, in 133 instances, both parties resided in the parish; - in 75, the
man resided, but not the woman; and 71, the woman resided, but not the
man.
These facts being ascertained, every person will be able to strike an
annual average, according as his views are, in making the inquiry.
DISSENTERS
It is not easy to ascertain in the precise number of dissenters from
the Established Church, principally, because many scarcely know to what
particular sect they belong. Such heads of families, as have come to a
determination on this point, are as under:
| Cameronians |
4 |
| Antiburghers |
5 |
| Presbytery of
Relief |
21 |
| Burghers |
5 |
On the supposition, that the above heads are
followed by their
families, and according to the average of families above mentioned, the
number of dissenters will be somewhat more than 140.
RENT
The valuation of the parish is L.2721 Scots: the real rent cannot be
exactly known. The heritors at present amount to 18. Four of these only
have L.100 of valuation; and none such reside in the parish. More than
one half is the property of Mr Lockhart of Castlehill; who is also
patron.
POOR
The stated poor on the list, in the year 1790, were 13. The expense of
maintaining them amounted to L.37:12; L.4 or L.5 more were distributed
in, what is called, occasional charity. The funds, for defraying the
above expense, are raised in the following manner:
| By
collections, (at an average) |
L. 1400 |
| Interest of
L.120 of principal stock |
600 |
| Money arising
from mortcloths, (at an average) |
400 |
| Money arising
from proclamations of marriage |
084 |
|
L. 2483 |
If the above is not sufficient, as has been the case for some years,
then a stent is laid upon the parish, one half of which is paid by the
heritors, according to their valuation, and the other half by the
inhabitants, according to their circumstances. None of the parishioners
are allowed to beg, through we are much troubled with beggars from
other parishes.
STIPEND
The stipend of this parish is 97 bolls, 7 pecks and a half of meal, and
L.16:12:6, in money. Some years ago, it was paid by 60 different hands;
at present by 42. The glebe is about 4 acres of arable ground, and
about an acre of pasture. At an annual average, stipend and glebe will
amount to a little more than L.84 sterling. The manse was built in the
year 1761: it cost the heritors, besides the old manse, valued at L.20,
to the extent of L.153. - The church was rebuilt in the year 1772; the
expense betwixt 400 and L.500.
PRICES OF PROVISIONS
The prices of provisions in November, 1790, were as follows:
| A boll of meal |
16s 6d |
| Beef, per
stone |
5s 6d |
| Hens |
1s 3d |
| Eggs, by the
dozen |
5d |
| Butter, by
the pound |
9d |
| Best cheese,
do |
4s 2d |
| Inferior, or
scum, do |
3d |
WAGES
| A man
servant, exclusive of victuals, per annum |
L.8 10 0 |
| A female, do
do |
.3 10 0 |
| A labourer by
the day, without victuals |
0 1 0 |
| In hay or
harvest |
0 16 or 5d |
| Women in
harvest |
0 10 |
| Masons |
0 10 |
| Taylors |
0 10 |
HORSES, COWS AND CARTS
The parish, in former times, was divided into forty ploughgates. On the
supposition, that every plough has 5 horses, young and old, 12 cows,
and 3 carts, the amount will be 200 horses, 480 cows, and 120 carts.
The carts are always drawn by one horse only. - There are some sheep,
mostly in the upper part of the parish. They are supposed not to exceed
5 score.
ROADS AND BRIDGES
The roads are not in good repair;
and it is not easy to say, how they
can be made better. They are much hurt by the carriage of coal and
lime. Materials to mend them are ill to be got. There are not turnpikes
within the parish. Two bridges over
the Avon were both swept away by
one flood, in the year 1771: but they were rebuilt in a year or two
after, - partly by private contributions, and partly from the county
funds.
MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS
The produce of the year 1782 fell short of what was necessary, for the
consumption of the parish. The deficiency was made up, by some of the
more wealthy inhabitants, who purchased foreign grain, and sold it
without profit. - By sobriety, frugality, and a more diligent attention
to business, the difficulties of that unfortunate season, were got over
more easily than could have been expected. - The parochial school
master has 100 merks of salary, which at present is paid by 47
different hands. His perquisites, at an average, amount to 20s
annually. The number of his scholars are about 50; - his wages 1 s 3d
per quarter; - one third is deducted for the vacation quarter. The
amount of the whole about L.18: - his payments are ill made; and
something ought to be done, to make his situation more comfortable. He
has a house, and schoolhouse allowed him by the parish. They were built
in 1781; and cost the heritors upwards of L.40. - Besides the parochial
school, there is one generally at the head, and another, sometimes, at
the foot of the parish. The expense is defrayed by the parents of the
children. There are 4 alehouses, who have taken out a licence, all in
the village. No very bad effects, on the morals of the inhabitants,
have yet been felt from them; but many suspect, that this will not long
be the case. - The difference betwixt employing cottagers and hired
servants, in agriculture, cannot be
ascertained here, few or none in
the parish, having employed the former. - There is no jail in the
parish; or were any of the parishioners in prison, during the year
1790. Indeed there has been no justiciary trials of any of the people
of this parish, for these 30 years, one excepted, who was punished by
whipping. - The people in general are of a middle size; - healthy in
their constitution; decent in their conduct, - and, though they may
have some real, and some imaginary grievances, yet they are as much
contented with their fate, as most of their neighbours.
Statistical Account by Rev. Hugh
Dewar 1836
TOPOGRAPHY AND NATURAL HISTORY
Name and Boundaries: The name of the parish is of doubtful origin, -
some deriving it from the mansion-house of the laird of Stonehouse,
which, in former times, stood at no great distance from the site of the
present village, and in those days was the only house in the parish which was built with stone and lime; the rest being
only mud cottages, or at best but built of layers of stone and turf
alternately. I find, in some very old records, the parish is called the
Stannaus; and by many people in the neighbouring parishes it is still
called the Stanis or Stenis. The extreme length of the parish may be
about 6 English miles, its breadth 3 miles at an average. It is bounded
on the south; by the water of Kype, which separates it from the parish
of Avondale; and for a considerable way on the west side, it is washed
by the river Avon, which separates it partly from the parish of
Avondale, and partly from the parish of Glasford; and which river
intersects the parish near the centre, where it is narrowest, and then
continues to bound it on the other side, from the parish of Dalserf, to
its utmost extremity on the north. On the east, it is divided from the
parishes of Dalserf and Lesmahagow, by the Cander water, which joins
the Avon at the point where that river intersects the parish.
Topographical Appearances: The whole parish presents a uniform
appearance. There are no hills in it, but from its utmost extremity on
the south, there is a gently and gradual descent towards the centre, -
from whence it again gradually ascends towards the north; but the rise
is not so great as to the south. The land is all arable, and the soil
in general good, and in many places not yielding in richness and
fertility to the best land in the county; particularly the land in the
vicinity of the town, which is let upon a lease of twelve years from
L.4 to L.6 and L.7, and upwards, per acre. The general appearance of
the parish, within these twenty or thirty years, has undergone an
entire change. Before that period there were few plantations to
beautify and shelter the land; now, there are everywhere springing up
fine thriving plantations of Scotch fir, larch, elm, ash, and other
forest trees; chiefly upon the lands of Robert Lockhart, Esq. of
Castlehill, the principal heritor; and also upon the lands of many of
the smaller proprietors. However, before the period alluded to, there
existed upon the estate of Spittal, some belts of very fine Scotch fir,
very tall and full-grown, and fit for almost all the purposes of the
carpenter; but most of them, previous to, and since that time, have
been cut down; and only a remnant of them remains, - together with some
beautiful oaks, elms, limes, and ashes of considerable magnitude and
age, on the avenue leading to the Spittal House, and about the garden.
The village of Stonehouse, also, was formerly adorned with plane trees
of immense size, which towered aloft on all sides of it; but these too
have shared the fate of all sublunary objects, - the last remnant of
them, so late as last summer, falling before the axe, to make room for
the habitations of man. There are still, around the manse and
church-yard, a few planes of great magnitude and beauty.
Draining has lately been introduced into the parish, and has
contributed not a little to change the aspect of the country, freeing
it entirely from those unsightly woods of rushes, and other aquatic
plants, that thrive so luxuriantly in wet marshy soil, and neglected
fields; so that, where the eye formerly wandered over almost a desolate
wilderness, it is now charmed and delighted, with the view of green
verdant fields, and waving crops of yellow grain.
There is only one moss of any considerable extent in the parish, called
the Hazeldean moss; and which of late years has been all drained and brought into a state of high cultivations, by the spirited
and enterprising proprietor, Mr William Smellie of Burn. This moss,
though formerly not worth 1s. per acre, is now yielding immense crops
of potatoes, oats, barley, wheat, rye, clover, and rye-grass.
Climate: The parish of Stonehouse being in the very centre of the
narrowest part of the island, equidistant alike from the sea on the
east and west, partakes of all the variety of weather incident to
places so situated. Most of the heavy rains and winds are from the west
and South-West; the most prevalent, however, is the west, which
sweeping over the vast Atlantic Ocean, often brings along with it vast
collections of clouds and vapours, which pour themselves down in heavy
drenching rains from the western shore, till they reach considerably
beyond the centre of the island before they are exhausted.
Geology: The parish abounds with freestone, and in some places, with a
kind of rotten trap or whinstone, excellently fitted for the making of
roads. There is also an abundance of lime of the best quality.
Ironstone is found in thin beds above the lime, but mostly in round
detached masses, of a very superior quality. Coal
is also abundant,
though not wrought at present, but for the purpose of lime-burning. In
the fissures occasionally found in the lime beds, there are beautiful
specimens of mica, delightfully bedropped on the surface with shining
globular particles of bright yellow substance, like the diamonds found
in some slates. There are also found, in these fissures, pieces of a
jet black substance, not unlike, and possessing in some degree, the
softness and elasticity of the Indian rubber; which easily ignites, and
burns with a bright flame, and entirely consumes, leaving little or no
residuum.
Hydrography - There are no lakes in the parish. There formerly existed,
at a place called Gozlington, a pretty large marsh, the resort of wild
geese, ducks, and other water-fowls; but now the water being all
drained off, it is converted into excellent meadow ground. The only
river that runs through the parish is the Avon, which has its source on
the confines of Ayrshire, - whence it takes an easterly direction,
flowing through the parishes of Strathaven, Glasford, and Stonehouse,
where, after being joined by the Kype, Cander water, and other small
streams, it turns to the north, passing through the parishes of Dalserf
and Hamilton, and falls into the Clyde, about a mile to the east of the
town of Hamilton. It is reckoned one of the best trouting streams in
Scotland. In the proper season for fishing, multitudes of people from
the surrounding towns and villages are seen busily plying on its banks.
Salmon also used to be very plentiful in the Avon, in the proper
season; but about twenty years ago, the mill-dam at Millheugh having
been greatly raised in order to procure a greater supply of water, few
or none can overleap it; and it is now a rare occurrence to hear of or
see a salmon in Stonehouse. The banks of the Avon are exceedingly
romantic, and from Stonehouse to Hamilton, an almost uninterrupted
range of rocks overhangs the river on both sides, the summits of which
are generally covered with natural wood of ash, birch, oak, elm, etc.
The bed of the river, in many places, is almost choked up with large
masses of rock, which from time to time in the lapse of centuries have
fallen from the superincumbent strata, and obstruct the waters in their
passage; so that, in the rainy season, when the river is much swollen,
the waters foam, roar, and thunder amongst these hugh blocks of stone,
in the most fearful and terrific manner. On the banks of this river, is
a sulphurous mineral well, called the Kittymure-well,
much
resorted
to
in former times by persons afflicted with scrofula, scurvy, and other
cutaneous diseases; it is still partially resorted to.
CIVIL HISTORY
Heritors: The principal heritors or landowners in the parish are,
Robert Lockhart, Esq. of Castlehill, the proprietor of more than one-half of the parish; His Grace the Duke of Hamilton; Mr McNiel of
Raploch; and Mr Rowat of Bonnanhill; but none of these have any
residence in the parish.
Antiquities: Under this head may be mentioned the remains of two old
castles, still visible on the banks of the Avon, known by the names of the Coat or Cat castle, and Ringsdale castle, both built on
precipitous rocks overhanging the river; but, except their names and
ruins, nothing more remains of them, as history and tradition are
entirely silent concerning them.
There also existed, at some remote period, a very strong military
position or encampment, at the junction of the Avon and Cander water,
still known by the name of the Double Dikes, which comprises an extent
of betwixt three and four acres of land, surrounded on all sides by
high perpendicular rocks, except at one point where the two waters
approach so near each other, as to leave a space of not more than 40 or
50 yards from rock to rock; which narrow neck of and is strongly
fortified across by three high dikes or walls, curved like the segment
of a circle. In some places these dikes are still entire, in others
considerably broken down; they are distant from each other only about
30 feet; and before the use of gunpowder, the position must have been
almost impregnable.
About two years ago, as the farmer in Westmains of Stonehouse was
removing a cairn of stones from an artificial
mound on the banks of the
Avon near Coat castle, for the purpose of draining, he found after
removing the stones, a fine rich black mould some yards deep, which
must have been conveyed thither from a considerable distance, as there
is no such rich earth in the vicinity of the place. It turned out to
have been an ancient Roman tumulus. Upon removing all the stones, and
coming to the bottom of the cairn, which was set round and covered with
large flat stones, the workmen found a great many urns, some of them in
a fine state of preservation, ornamented with flowers and other figures
elegantly portrayed on them. They seemed to be composed of a
light-coloured clay, the colour being nowise changed by the action of
fire; although, from their hardness and durability, they must have
undergone the process of burning. They contained pieces of burnt bones
and black ashes, with small bits of half-charred wood. This tumulus is
little more than a mile from the old Roman
military road from Ayr to
Edinburgh, which runs through the parish, commonly known to the country
people by the name of the Deil’s Causey, from some superstitious notion
they entertain that the personage alluded to had a principal hand in
paving it. This road, in some places, is still entire, very rudely
paved with large stones; in other places, it has been completely erased
by the country people, for the purposes of draining, building fences,
making roads, etc. There have been other tumuli found in the parish,
particularly one at the upper end of it; which, some years ago, was
ransacked to the centre, and a number of urns found therein.
Parochial Registers: There are no parochial records of births and
baptisms much beyond 100 years. There was one volume or two previous to
the present, said to have been lost some way or other; and it is now
very difficult to ascertain the number either of births or deaths in
the parish. There is a list of proclamation of banns kept by the
treasurer for the poor; but no register of the marriages that are
actually celebrated. The number of proclamations for the last ten years
amounts to 200, making an average of 20 couple yearly.
POPULATION
The population according to the last census taken in 1831 was as
follows:
| Inhabited
houses, |
412 |
| Families, |
412 |
| Houses
building, |
3 |
| Uninhabited, |
4 |
| All other
families, |
67 |
| Males, |
1147 |
| Females, |
1182 |
| Total
population |
2359 |
The following trades and occupations carried on in the parish, at the
same time, were,
| Blacksmiths |
8 |
Corn
dealers, |
1 |
Lime-burners, |
14 |
Grocers
and
drapers, |
17 |
| Plasterers, |
2 |
Millers, |
2 |
Masons, |
7 |
Publicans, |
7 |
| Butchers, |
3 |
Boot and
shoemakers, |
12 |
Carpenters, |
11 |
Straw bonnet
makers, |
4 |
| Carters, |
10 |
Tailors, |
9 |
Surgeons, |
2 |
Weavers
somewhat above, |
400 |
| Coopers, |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
At the census taken in 1821 the population of the parish was 2038, 1831
it was 2359, Difference, 321 of increase in the space of ten years.
| Number of
families in the parish, |
412 |
| chiefly
employed in agriculture, |
86 |
| trade,
manufactures, or handicraft, |
262 |
INDUSTRY
Agriculture and Rural
Economy: The valuation of the parish is L.2721
Scots; but the real rent, I find, cannot be easily ascertained. The
parish is generally supposed to contain upwards of 6000 acres Scotch;
although I believe there was never any actual survey taken of it, for
the purpose of actually ascertaining the fact. The whole is either
under cultivation at present, or has been cultivated at some former
period, such as what is commonly called the Stonehouse moor; which has
for many years been in pasture, and may consist of 30 or 40 acres, and
which probably may pay better in grass than under crop.
The common rotation of crops is, 1st, grass; 2d, oats; 3d, potatoes or
turnip, wheat either after summer fallow, or potatoes, and some barley.
Flax is now very seldom raised in the parish: though formerly almost
every farmer raised a little for family use. The land is generally all
well enclosed, either with stone dikes, or thorn and beech hedges, and
sheltered with thriving plantations in many places.
Leases: Leases of
land in most cases are for the term of nineteen
years: excepting what are called the town lands; that is, - land in the
vicinity of the village, which is let on a lease of twelve years; and
is usually taken by the inhabitants of the village at a very high rent.
Manufactures: There
is only one small establishment in the parish,
deserving the name of a manufactory; it was erected for the purpose of
manufacturing cotton into lamp and candle-wicks; and employs but a very
few hands. There is no other work worth mentioning, except a lime-work
which is carried on to a considerable extent, all under ground, -
together with a small seam of coal for the purpose of burning it.
PAROCHIAL ECONOMY
Village: The
village of Stonehouse stands near the centre of the
parish, and is a fine, airy, thriving place. The main street is nearly
a mile in length. The houses are mostly one storey, and generally
thatched; though there are a few substantial, well built two storey
houses and slated. The streets are all macadamized, and kept very clean
and smooth; and no filth allowed to be thrown on the streets, or to
remain thereon any length of time. The village is now rapidly advancing
both in population and appearance, from the very liberal encouragement
given to feuing and building, by Mr Lockhart of Castlehill, the
proprietor of more than one-half of the parish, who generally grants
leases of 999 years upon payment of a very moderate feuduty; and the
building is very cheap, as stones, lime, and other materials are got
just at hand. A great many new buildings are going on at present,
chiefly by two building societies, which have lately been formed, and
are now in active operation. Two new streets are about being opened up,
- which, when finished according to the specified plan, will both
greatly improve the appearance of the place, and also furnish ample
accommodation for the increasing population of the village; for the
want of which, some families have been obliged of late to seek
habitations for themselves elsewhere.
Means of Communication: The
new turnpike
road from Edinburgh to Ayr
passes through the village and has opened up an easy communication with
the country, both to the ease and west, which formerly was of very
difficult access from the want of a turnpike road through the parish.
By a very high and beautiful bridge over the Cander water, about half a
mile to the east of the village, on a new line of road already
mentioned, the approach to the village is alike easy from the east and
from the west. As the Edinburgh and Ayr road crosses the great road
from Glasgow to London, about a mile from the village, the
communication with these places is easy and expeditious.
Ecclesiastical State:
The parish church stands in the centre of the
village, and is a fine, light, handsome, modern building, with a neat
spire, and capable of accommodating with ease above 900 sitters. It is
generally well filled. Besides the parish church, there is also in the
village a small dissenting meeting-house belonging to the United
Secession, a good many of the members and supporters of which are from
the neighbouring parishes of Glasford, Dalserf, and Lesmahagow.
The manse is partly an old building and partly new. The new was built
about twenty years ago; it is very pleasantly situated on a very
commanding eminence near the Avon, about half a mile from the village.
The glebe consists of about four acres of exceedingly good arable land,
and about one acre of pasture, which may be fairly valued at L.24 a
year. The stipend, as modified 9th December 1829, is 17 chadlers of
victual, one-half meal, one-half barley, with L.10 for communion
elements; localled stipend, 125 bolls, 3 firlots, 2 pecks, 2 1/5
lippies oatmeal; 28 bolls, 3 firlots, 1 peck, 7/8 lippies, barley, with
L.121, 15s. 91/2d. in money.
360 families attend the Established Church. About 120 families are
Dissenters or Seceders.
Education: There
are five schools in the
parish, three of them in the
village of Stonehouse, and two in the village of Sandford; attended by
about 300 scholars, or about 1/8 of the whole population of the parish.
Four of these schools have no salary attached to them; two of them are
what are called subscription schools, and the masters have only a free
school-room; rent is paid for the school- rooms of the other two. The
parochial schoolmaster’s salary is about L.28 per annum. His fees may
amount to L.30 per annum, and he has about L.13 a-year besides, from
other sources.
Fairs: There are 3
fairs held in the village in the year, which are
styled the Martinmas, May, and July fairs,
the dues of which belong to
Mr Lockhart of Castlehill. These fairs are principally for black cattle
and wool, and are generally well attended.
Poor: The poor on
the list are generally between 20 and 30, and are
maintained partly by the collections made at the church door, and
partly by a regular assessment laid upon the parish; the one-half paid
by the heritors according to their several valuations, and the other
half by the tenants according to their respective rents, and
householders according to their means and circumstances. None of the
poor are either allowed or known to beg, their monthly allowance being
very liberal, and most of them get their house rents paid. The amount
arising to the poor’ fund from church collections was last year L.13;
and from legal assessments, L.168. The interest of L.50 is applied to
the education of children of the poor.
MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS
Till within these four or five years, it was a novel sight to see a
four-wheeled carriage of any kind pass through the village of
Stonehouse. But since the turnpike road from Ayr to Edinburgh has been
opened, the Edinburgh and Ayr coach passes every day through the
village; besides a coach from Strathaven to Glasgow by Stonehouse twice
a-day; and another with starts every morning from the Buck’s-head Inn,
Stonehouse, for Glasgow, and returns the same day; and all of them
generally are well employed. There is also a regular carrier betwixt
Stonehouse and Glasgow, twice a week. A post-office has likewise been
lately established in the village, so that the inhabitants of the
parish and village of Stonehouse now enjoy many advantages which they
formerly were deprived of, by the peculiar situation of the place.
In a moral and religious point of view, the inhabitants of the village
of Stonehouse (which contains a population of nearly 1600 souls) are,
with a few exceptions, an industrious, sober, and religious people,
nowise addicted to the many vices of the inhabitants of villages of a
similar population throughout the kingdom, - such as excessive
drinking, swearing, and fighting. Quarrelling and fighting are seldom
or never heard of; and though there are three well attended fairs held
in the village yearly, yet many of these pass over without the
slightest appearance of quarrel.
The due observance of the Sabbath is likewise a characteristic mark of
the inhabitants of Stonehouse. The hallowing of the Sabbath day is here
most scrupulously attended to, by all ranks of persons, both in town
and parish; and except in going to and from church, you will hardly see
a person on the street. All public houses are shut on Sabbath, unless
to the traveller for refreshment.
Statistical Account of Stonehouse
1904
Of the ancient history of “Caledonia, the name by which the northern
portion of the British Isles was designated, very little is known
authentically, and the earliest reliable record seems to have been
written by Tacitus, the historian of Julius Agricola, who invaded this
country for the purpose of conquering the native tribes. During the by
no means easy task of subjugatiori, the Romans taught the savage tribes
peaceful industrial arts, and in great measure did much to civilise
their fierce foes. But the tribesmen were not to be easily overcome,
although the Romans sought to crush them by sheer force of numbers and
superior equipment, so that it is little wonder we learn that the
natives speedily regained their independence after Agricola departed.
Time after time the Roman Emperors made strenuous efforts to regain the
territory Iying between the southern portion of the isles and the
northern, and the successes of war fluctuated alternately between the
hardy natives and the proud Romans. The experience gained in the long
series of conflicts with the disciplined Roman legions made the tribe
inhabiting the district between the Tyne and the Forth the most
powerful and civilised in “Caledonia”, and when the country was
ultimately abandoned by the Romans, we are
told that the tribes banded
themselves together and formed a kingdom, the first Sovereign of which
was Rydderch Hael (AD 573). This Cumbrian kingdom was governed by
Rydderch till his death in AD 603. It was during the reign of this
Prince that Kentigern and Columba exercised their benign influence over
the land, and there seems to be no doubt that the King came under their
Christian teaching while accepting, along with his family, the
Christian faith. This kingdom of Cumbria remained a distinct territory
long after the Picts, who had established themselves in Scotland, had
become extinct; but the civil strife and party feuds helped to lessen
their influence and reduce their power to such an extent that part of
their district became subject to England. Civil wars continued right on
till the time of the Malcolms of Scotland, and it was during the reign
of the third Prince of that name that the history of the parish of
Stonehouse comes into view.
The ecclesiastical history of the parish is veiled in the mists of
antiquity, but it is a matter of common knowledge that this parish is
one of the oldest in Scotland.
At a very early period the Druids worshipped their unknown gods in the
fashion peculiar to the heathens, by erecting circular structures of
stones, where they performed heathenish rites, and it is said stones
were objects of worship in those ancient times. The advent of St.
Ninian, St. Columba and St Augustine, with the blessed message of the
Gospel, changed completely the ecclesiastical history of Scotland, and
the people today are laid under an everlasting debt of gratitude to
those fine old evangelists. Who knows but that the people of these
islands might still have been going about in the spare garments of
their rude barbaric forefathers, and performing the same rites of
worship, had it not been for the teaching of St Ninian and his
successors! The name and memory of this missionary are still associated
with Stonehouse, as St Ninian’s well
appears to have been consecrated
to his memory. This well lies between the farm of East Mains and the
churchyard. It is only a matter of conjecture whence the parish
obtained its name. To say that the town obtained its name from the
first stone house which was built in the parish seems rather
commonplace. It is more probable that the name has an ecclesiastical
origin. At any rate, there is not the slightest doubt about the fact
that the Druids built their places of worship with stone, and after
them, those who introduced the new faith of Christianity used also to
build their churches with stone, so that it is more than probable that
the first house to be built of stone in the parish would be the church,
the House of God.
The earliest proprietor of the parish and barony of Stonehouse of whom
we know anything was Sir William de Douglas, who was also designated of
Stanhus (modern Stonehouse). This knight had a family of six sons, and
it appears that, although they took their title from the house of
Douglas, they styled themselves “of Stanhus”, thus showing a connection
of this parish with that illustrious family. In the age when prowess in
war was accounted a man’s greatest qualification to honours and wealth,
the barony of Stonehouse was in the possession of families whose
members were noted for their bravery and soldierly qualities.
Next in succession to Sir William “de Douglas” came Godfrey de Ross,
after whom came the Mowats, and then followed a long line of Hamiltons.
Patrick Hamilton, the
Proto-Martyr of Scotland was the most illustrious
of this noble lineage. He was the first preacher and martyr of the
Scottish Reformation, and it was in the parish of Stonehouse that he
first saw the light. The Hamiltons of Stonehouse began with James
Hamilton first of Stonehouse, who acquired the lands of Hyndlands,
Tweedie, Watstoun and Kittymuir about the year 1529. It was Captain
Hamilton of Stonehouse who so heroically and successfully defended
the
Castle of Edinburgh against the English under the Earl of Hertford. The
English were so enrages at their failure to capture the Castle that
they set fire to the city and left it burning. Going on to Leith, they
did the same wanton destruction there.
This heroic Scottish soldier was afterwards made Governor of Edinburgh
castle, and he was also made Provost of Edinburgh by the citizens. He
was slain in the streets of the city while trying to put down a fight
between the citizens and some French allies. His wife seems to have
been a lady called Grizel Semple, Lady Stonehouse, who, after his
death, married John Hamilton, Abbot of Paisley.
The forebears of the Lockharts settled in Lanarkshire about the twelfth
century, and it is possible that Simon Lockard and Stephen Lockard were
the first of the race to have any connection with this parish; at any
rate, they were the lineal descendants of those Lockards who became the
possessors of Castlehill, which formed a part of the barony of
Stonehouse. The right of patronage of the church of Stonehouse was
vested in a Lockhart of Lee about the year 1667, and this patronage is
said to have passed to Lockhart of Castlehill. A Lockhart of Castlehill
rose to a position of great dignity as an advocate. He was appointed
one of the Lords of Justiciary, with the title of Lord of Castlehill,
and he also at one time represented the county in Parliament.
A descendant of Lord Castlehill took the name Lockhart, with the
designation of Castlehill, Cambusnethan, and Stonehouse. The
Sinclair-Lockharts followed in succession the estates, and a direct
descent can be traced down to the late proprietor, Sir Graeme Sinclair
Lockhart, Bart., C.B., of Castlehill, who died early in the year 1904.
There are many places of interest in the district, and the antiquarian,
geologist, or botanist, have ample scope for the pursuit of pleasure
and study. There are several holy wells in the vicinity. St Ninian’s
well, already referred to, lies a few yards from the churchyard on
the
road to East Mains farm. This well was named after St Ninian, and it is
interesting to note that the parish, the well, the churchyard, and the
church itself were dedicated to this evangelist.
St Patrick’s Well may also be seen on the banks of the Avon, near its
junction with Cander Water. This holy well has been famous for its
curative powers in scrofula and other cutaneous diseases. The scenery
is very picturesque, and a visit from the photographer would be amply
repaid by getting a picture of rare natural beauty.
St Anthony’s Well bears the name of a saint who was famous in his day,
but owing to improvements on the lands very little of it can now be
seen. It is on the lands of Castlehill.
St Laurence’s Well is a spring of water at Chapel, where the Watson
burn takes its rise. It appears that an ancient chapel was erected
here, and dedicated to St Laurence.
Beauty spots worth visiting are the Avon Braes, where the botanist may
spend whole days in healthful pursuit. Here the Convalleria Majalis,
Digitalis Purpurea (foxglove), Conium Maculatum (hemlock), Scoparii
Vulgaris (broom), Valerian officinalis (valerian), etc, are found in
great profusion, and many other indigenous and medicinal plants abound
in this truly beautiful spot.
There are two bridges crossing the Cander Water, which overlook a bosky
dell of great loveliness, and if seen when the hawthorn blossom is in
full bloom, the picture presented to the eye will never be forgotten.
As the Avon is the only river that flows through the parish, it is to
the banks of this lovely winding river that the visitor in quest of
scenes worth seeing must wend his way, and he will be charmed with the
grandeur of the scenery, especially below the town. The Spectacle E’e
Falls is also a place of rare beauty, and is a favourite resort of the
photographer. These falls are situated close to the hamlet of Sandford,
about two and a half miles from Stonehouse, on the Kype Water, the
largest tributary of the river Avon.
The churchyard commands a magnificent panoramic view of the valley of
the Avon, and it would be hard to find in Scotland its equal for the
picturesque nature of its situation. The old gable and belfry is all
that stands of the old church. In the churchyard lies buried the
martyr, James Thomson, of Tanhill. His tombstone bears the inscription
- “Here lies James Thomson
who was shot in a re-encounter at Drumclog,
June 1st, 1679, by bloody Graham of Claverhouse, for his adherence to
the Word of God and Scotland’s covenanted work of Reformation. Rev. xii
11. Erected 1734. Memento mori”. Some families of the name of Thomson
in Stonehouse are lineal descendants; of this martyr of Covenanting
times.
Another walk of great beauty goes past the farm of Sidehead, up the
road knows as “The Broo”, past Udston Farm, until the mansion-house of
Dykehead is reached, and round the farm of Yards, where the road leads
to Boghead and Lesmahagow.
The Manse Road is still another favourite walk, going round by the
farms of West Mains, East Mains, and past the Manse, where the parish
minister, the Rev James Wyper Wilson, resides.
For the visitor there is plenty of fishing to be had in the river Avon,
which is said to be one of the best trouting streams in Scotland. As a
health resort Stonehouse stands second to none in the Middle Ward of
Lanarkshire. It lies about an equal distance between the East and West
Coasts, and owing to its favourable situation, it is almost entirely
free from the severe storms coming from either coast. The village has
been thoroughly drained, and this, combined with other sanitary
improvements, renders it one of the cleanliest and healthiest villages
in Scotland. The staple industry is handloom weaving, an industry now
fast dying out, owing to improvements in machinery. As the nearest
large coal pit is two miles away, the atmosphere is clear and pure.
Statistical Account of Stonehouse
1937
The parish of Stonehouse is bounded on the north by Strathaven,
Glasford and Hamilton parishes; on the East by Dalserf, on the
South-East and South by Lesmahagow and on the west by Strathaven. The
Kype Water, a tributary of the Avon forms the greater part of the
Western boundary line and then joins the Avon, which beautiful stream
forms the boundary of the North-Western corner and two-thirds of the
northern boundary then crosses the North-Eastern projection of the
parish to form the North-Eastern boundary. The Cander water forms the
boundary of the southern two-thirds of the eastern side and then joins
the Avon. So that Stonehouse is encompassed for the most part by
waters. The Avon which is a boundary on two sides of Stonehouse and
crosses the parish, is a remarkable feature. It is a trout stream; long
ago before mill dams formed too great a barrier, salmon came up the
Avon. (See Hamilton of Wishaw, p. 9.) Prehistoric man had good fishing
there. In its course northwards it forms a deep ravine; from Stonehouse
to Hamilton (Cadzow) an almost uninterrupted range of rocks overhangs
the river on both sides, the summits of which are generally covered
with natural wood of ash, birch, oak, elm. The bed of the river in many
places, is almost choked up with large masses of rock, which . . .
obstruct the waters in their passage; . . . in the rainy season . . .
the waters foam, roar and thunder amongst these huge blocks of
stone.... On the banks of this river is a sulphureous mineral well,
called the Kittymure-well, much resorted to in former times.’ (1)
PLACE NAMES
| Name |
Position |
Possible meaning |
| Brigholm |
W. (West from Cot castle) |
holm, flat rich land on bank of river. E.
and Dan. |
| Castlehill |
S.E. |
|
| Catcastle, Cotcastle |
W. |
? Cath, a battle, or Coed, W., a wood. |
| Katcastle (Blaeu’s Map) |
|
|
| Chapel |
Centre S. near Roman Rd. |
|
| Couplaw |
S. |
cp. Cowply, Strathaven parish |
| Cowplow |
|
= Oxgang ? |
| Cloxymill |
N. |
clock, to cluck, Sc., Jamieson. On the
Avon, which crosses the parish a few miles from northern extremity. |
| Crofthead |
N.
|
|
| Foulmire |
S.W. |
|
| Gozelton |
|
|
| Goslington |
S. |
|
| Gost-in-town (Blaeu) |
|
|
| Kittyrnuir (and |
N.
|
Other forms, Kythumber and hill) (Blaeu)
Kintumber.
|
| Patrickholm |
N. |
(Home of the Martyr ? See King Hewison.) |
| Patrickbrae J |
|
|
| Pidgeon cot |
S.E. |
|
| Raw |
S.
|
Rath.
|
| Ringsdale |
N.E. on Avon |
|
| Sandford (on Kype Water) |
S. |
|
| Spittal |
S.E. |
|
| Stonehouse |
M. towards N. |
See below. |
| Tafts or Tofts |
M.N. |
These were Templar lands. |
| Tweedie (mill, hall and side) |
W. |
|
| Udston |
M. |
|
| Vicars |
M. (west of Stonehouse vill.) |
Land before the Reformation allotted to
the Vicar. |
| Watston |
E. |
|
| Windy (Blaeu) |
|
|
The place-name Stonehouse has been
attributed by some to the fact that
the first stone house built in the district was that of the lord of the
manor, the other dwellings being bothies or erections in wattle work.
But the name is older than that; older, that is, than any grant of land
as a barony. It is more likely to be associated with the very ancient
foundation of the church dedicated to St. Ninian. The peculiar site of
the old church on the lofty promontory above the Avon appears to
confirm this. It was a pagan site and a place of ancient burial. Some
years ago a stone cist was discovered within the site of the old
church, which is now a ruin, indicating that this area had been a
shrine in pre-Christian times.
In dealing with this place-name Naismith makes remarks which seem to
throw light on the subject and what he says of customary expressions is
curious. After touching on the stone circle as a heathen place of
worship and mentioning Stonehenge as an example, he says: ‘ Stones were
also objects of worship in early times. These Christian evangelists . .
. erected new places of worship for the new faith . . . and it was the
custom in these rude times for the common people to say to one another,
when inviting to worship, “ Let us go to the Stanes.” This is a form of
expression that was common up to recent times in some localities. It
was the language of those who adhered to the new faith and furnishes us
with the original Saxon forms of Stanes, Stannas, Stanhus, Stanhous and
Stonehouse.’ (2) In the General Statutes of the Scottish Church of the
thirteenth century it is ordained:
‘Of the building of churches - We further ordain that in accordance
with the means of the parishioners, churches shall be built of stone by
the parishioners themselves’.
It may also be noted that Candida Casa is the white house, that is the
stone house, St. Ninian’s stone church, or the stone church erected and dedicated to St. Ninian.
ANTIQUITIES
The parish of Stonehouse abounds in traces of prehistoric man and
medieval habitation—but such have to be sought out. Besides the burial
cist, mentioned above, found within the site of St. Ninian’s Kirk, a
number of urns were found when a cairn of stones near Cat, or Cot
Castle, on the bank of the Avon was being removed by a farmer. It
proved to be an ancient place of burial. ‘There have been other tumuli
found in the parish, particularly one at the upper end of it, which
some years ago was ransacked to the centre, and a number of urns found
therein.’ (Statistical Acct.)
Cat castle, where there is a farm house and yard, stands high above the
Avon to the South-West of Stonehouse village. There is an artificial
mound here, on which probably a building once stood. The ruin of Ringsdale Castle stands on
a precipitous rock by the Avon north of the junction of Cander water with this stream. Nothing is
known of its history. It is a peculiar fact that the word Rings is
associated (as a corruption) with Ninian. But in this case it may not
be so. Cosmo Innes suggests that it is a corruption of Rydenhill.
(O.P., p. 109.) Another writer suggests the Welsh (British) word rhyn,
promontory, headland, hill.
There were four holy wells in Stonehouse
parish dedicated respectively
to St. Ninian, St. Patrick, St. Anthony and St. Laurence. St. Ninian
was evidently the missionary saint to the district; the old church
bears his name. The ‘ well between the Churchyard and the farm of
Eastmains is well known as St. Ninian’s Well, the Ringan well, and
often shortened into Ring well ‘. A recent observation is that the well
cannot be seen, but that the ground is wet and boggy as it slopes to
the Avon. St. Patrick’s Well is near the lands of Patrickholm (see
place-names) on the banks of the Avon; ‘ it has been from time
immemorial famous for its healing properties . . . this sulphurous
spring trickles through a stratum of rock and huge overhanging cliff.’
St. Anthony’s well or spring is difficult now to locate, but it was on
the lands of Castlehill (see place-names) and near Spittal where there
‘ was formerly an hospital endowed with the lands of Spittal, Spittal
Gill, Head-dykes and Langrigs ‘. Both hospital and well were dedicated
to St. Anthony, who was also the protector of animals. There is a
tradition that sick horses were taken to drink of its water, or that
the water was carried for the same purpose. The fourth well, that of
St. Laurence ‘ is a fine spring of water at Chapel (see place-names)
from which rises the Watston burn, and as an ancient chapel was erected
here and dedicated to St. Laurence so he would be the tutelar saint of
this well ‘. (3) St. Laurence cared for the destitute, helpless and
sick. These wells may have been sacred in pagan days, in days before
the invasion of the Romans; and sacred again in the early days of
Christianity onwards into medieval times. (See Introduction to Vol. 1.)*
The Roman road runs across the southern
portion of the parish from Sandford on
Kype Water
eastwards into the parish of Lesmahagow. Perhaps
the strangest and most unexplainable of the antiquities of Stonehouse
is that known as the Double Dikes. At the eastern side of the parish,
south of Ringsdale Castle, the river Avon and the Cander Water, flowing
at the bottom of deep gorges converge and join to form one stream. The
tapering piece of land between these streams is known as the Double
Dikes. About a quarter of a mile westward from the apex two or more
walls seem to have crossed from north to south, forming defences for
the base of the triangle. All that remains of the walls are slightly
raised lines crossing the fields. The other two sides of the triangle
slope downwards steeply to the streams and would be easily defended.
The rocks at some places seem undermined and could have formed caves or
shelter. The whole area may have been a place of strength from very
early times. (Compare the Statistical account, p. 47I.) Of late years
vandal hands have been at work, breaking down and removing some of the
stone work.
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY THE OLD CHURCH
The old church of St. Ninian has a strange and wonderful site,
beautiful also from its view across the river. It stands upon a high
promontory above the Avon, sloping precipitously on the north down to
the river. As mentioned before, it was a pre-Christian place of burial,
taken and dedicated to St. Ninian. The foundations are there, but all
that now remains of a building is a gable-end of a pre-Reformation
church, standing in the midst of an ancient burial ground which is
still approximately round.
In the Commissariat Records of Glasgow there is a will quoted by
Hamilton of Wishaw which sets forth that Joneta Bailye, lady of
Cruddildykis, wife of John Hamilton of Stanhous (Stonehouse) in her ‘
latter will dated at Stonehouse the tenth day of October 1552, ordains,
“ Corpusque meum sepeliendum in pulveribus Sancti Niniani “; that is
she wished that her body should be buried in the dust, or earth, of St.
Ninian. (4) She must then be buried in that lofty old churchyard or
church.
And at this date it was accepted that St. Ninian, or his companions,
had brought earth from St. Ninian’s church at Whithorn and scattered it
over the site of the church at Stonehouse, thus dedicating the church
to St. Ninian, or recognising that it was one of his foundations, or
belonged to him. Near the church is the site of the well dedicated to
St. Ninian.
| Pre-Reformation Clergy |
|
| Sir Roger |
Rector of Stonehouse 1267 and earlier |
| Hugh de Burgo |
1298 |
| A cleric presented by Edward II |
1319 |
Note: Archibald, Earl of Douglas erected Bothwell Church in I398 into a
Collegiate Church and mortified the teinds of Stonehouse (Hessildene
and Kittymuir) for the upkeep of three prebendaries in his Collegiate
Church. Thereafter Stonehouse Church would sink to the level of a
vicarage, served by vicars supplied from Bothwell, few of the names of
which have been preserved. The lands for these vicars lay between the
village and the Avon.
| Mathew
Sandilands |
‘notar and
curate ’ 1557 |
| Sir Thomas
Wilson, Vicar |
1560 |
| William
Taylor, Prebendary |
1560 |
| Robert
Hamilton, Prebendary |
1560 |
| D. Thomas
Neilsoun, Vicar |
1566 |
SIR ROGER, RECTOR
Roger, the rector of Stanhuss (Stonehouse) was one of the witnesses to
a charter in which Alexander de Vallibus (de Vaux) stated that ‘ his
father John de Vaux having committed an offence against the Church of
Glasgow, by way of amends had granted and confirmed by written document
to God, St. Kentigern and the Church of Glasgow a sum of 5 marks
annually to be paid in perpetuity by himself and his heirs for the
upkeep of divine service to be held in that church ’— Alexander de Vaux
on his oath promised to pay this penalty from the revenue of his mill
at Haddington (or other source should the mill be not working). His
father’s offence against the church is not stated. Robert, the
treasurer * of the Cathedral and Robert, the sub-dean both witnessed
this charter as well as ‘ Dominus Roger, rector of the church of
Stanhuss’. (5) At this date, 1267, the Bishop was the unpopular John de
Cheyam (Cheam), who died next year
in the north of France. (See the Monklands, Carmyle.)
HUGH DE BURGO
In September, 1298, Edward I made appointments to certain churches in
Scotland.
‘The King to John de Langeton his Chancellor. Commands. . . . Similar
in favour of Hugh de Burgo clerk, to the vacant church of Stonehouse in
the diocese of Glasgow.’ (6) Under letters to the Bishop of Glasgow
from Durham, this was confirmed in November.
A CLERIC UNNAMED
In 1319 King Edward II presented
persons to several churches in
Scotland, and among these was Stonehouse: ‘ Stanhous ‘, in the diocese
of Glasgow. (7) These presentations were not always effective. It was
in 1398 that Archibald, E. of Douglas erected his Collegiate Church of
Bothwell (see above). (8) A few of the names of prebendaries have been
preserved. (See Bothwell parish.)
SIR MATTHEW SANDILANDS
Matthew Sandilands was ‘ notar and curate Stanehouse ‘ in 1557 and
earlier. In October of that year he took part in a marriage ceremony of
a peculiar nature (when a marriage pall or ‘ cair claith ‘ was used)
whereby Claud Hamilton, son of John and Elizabeth Hamilton was legitimated. (9)
SIR THOMAS WILSON
Thomas Wilson was Vicar of Stonehouse in 1565 and ‘ with consent of the
provost and prebendaries of the Collegiate . Church of Bothwell, who
were patrons of the said vicarage ’, he rented out the vicarage lands
to John Hamilton of Broomhill—the same man who had contracted the
singular marriage mentioned above to legitimate his son. (10)
WILLIAM TAYLOR
(Tailzifer) held the prebend of Stonehouse in 1560 and it produced
£30 13s. 4d., from which he paid a substitute £16 to
officiate for him in the Collegiate Church of Bothwell.
Robert Hamilton held the prebend of Hezildeane, and the rectory of
Torrance. (11)
THOMAS NEILSOUN
In February 1565-6 D. Thomas Neilsoun is styled perpetual vicar. ‘ The
King and Queen confirm D. Thome Neilsoun as perpetual vicar of the
parish church of Stanehouse with consent of John Hamilton prepositus
(provost) of the Church of Bothwell.’ (12)
OWNERS OF STONEHOUSE LANDS
The early owners are of importance as they possessed the advowson of
the Church. ‘ The barony and patronage of the Church are found in the possession of the Earls of Douglas until their
forfeiture.’ (13) The earliest mention of a landowner
in
Stonehouse
appears to be about the year 1220. For ‘ between the years 1214-49 Sir
William the Fleming of Stanhus appears as a witness to a charter by
William Purveys of Mospennoc, along with Sir Archibald Douglas and
A.’of Douglas’. (14)
Here the difficulty arises as to whether Sir William the Fleming is to
be identified as a Douglas or as the immediate ancestor of the Douglases. It has been suggested that the Douglas family descended from
Theobaldus Flamaticus (the Fleming), who about 1150 received from
Arnald, Abbot of Kelso, land on the bank of Douglas Water, opposite the
lands of Douglas and that Theobald’s son William became owner of
Stonehouse. There is, however, no certain proof of this theory which is
upheld by Chalmers (Caledonia, II, p. 579) and other writers. This
grant of Arnald is contained in a short charter of great beauty in the
Book of Kelso, but Cosmo Innes in his preface points out that
deductions from it do not prove the Douglas origin. (15) (See
Bibliography below and Douglas Parish.) Another early mention of the
barony of Stonehouse is that recorded in the Acts of Parliament when in
1259 an Inquest was held at Dunbarton as to the lands of Polnegulan.
Among the baronies represented was Stahus: the owner is not mentioned,
but the probability is the Douglas. (16) The advowson of the church was
held by the Douglas family and in 1398 Archibald the Grim, as mentioned
above, mortified lands in Stonehouse for the support of three
prebendaries in his Collegiate Church of Bothwell.
Later, in the reign of James II, his policy of destroying the power of
the Douglases and turning to the Hamiltons is borne out in Stonehouse
parish. The Douglases were forfeited and the barony and its church
passed under the power of the Hamiltons. The first grant, however, of
James II to James, Lord Hamilton and his wife (Euphemia, Countess of
Douglas and Lady of Bothwell) was ‘ dimedietate baronie de Stanehouse
‘—(the half of the barony). (17)
Lands on the left bank of the Avon were at a very early date in the
possession of Godfrey de Ross. They are described in a charter
confirmed by David II in 1362 as having been given by Godfrey de Ross
to Alexander of Elfynston. (18) Andrew, son of Godfrey de Ros,
acknowledged the Sovereignty of Edward I; and this may have had
something to do with the change of ownership of land in Stonehouse. (19)
Another family that owned land in Stonehouse was that of Mowat, but
this family could not have influenced church appointments. (20) The
daughter of John Mowat, Janet, married William, Lord Somerville and the
land settled on her, upon her marriage, continued in the Somerville
family. (See Memorie of the Somervilles, pp. 152-179.) Hamiltons were
living in Catcastle about the year 1500.
Among the documents discovered in 1887 in the Hamilton Chamberlain’s
office is a notarial instrument, ‘ narrating that in terms of a charter
granted by himself, Alexander Hamilton of Catcastell passed to the
one-mark land of Wodland and the half-merk land of Brownland, Iying in
the barony of Stanehouse and sheriffdom of Lanark and there gave sasine
of these lands with his own hands to James Wynzet, his heirs and
assignees in usual form. 29th Jan., 1511-12.
Statistical Account by Rev.
Robert Clement Pollock 1950
The Physical Basis: The parish of Stonehouse, a thriving little
community, lies in the heart of Lanarkshire, the village being some 18
miles South-East of Glasgow, and midway between the townships of
Strathaven and Larkhall, about 3.5 miles from each. Roughly 5.5 miles
in length north to south and 2 to 3 miles in breadth, the parish covers
an area of 6,249 acres (not counting water). It is bounded to the
North-West by Hamilton parish, North-East and east by Dalserf,
South-East by Lesmahagow, South-West and west by Avondale, and west by
Glassford. The surface rises gently from 200 feet above sea-level in
the north to 600 or 700 feet in the south. The Avon Water intersects it
at its northern end, after bordering it in the west, and then serves as
its eastern boundary.
The tree plantations of nearly a hundred years ago have, almost all of
them, been cut down, except for that at Spittal, and only a few
isolated trees are left. Sycamores in the old churchyard, the copper
beech, beech and elm still stand round about the manse. In the main,
the parish presents undulating slopes of greenness, on which cows
contentedly graze, or crops of wheat or oats or hay, in season, push
their green heads through the rich soil.
Stonehouse village lies halfway between Edinburgh and Ayr. The main
arterial highway from Glasgow to Carlisle bypasses it about 2.5 miles to the North-East. The road junction is at Canderside Toll.
That main road carries all the heavy transport and most of the traffic, which, consequently does not pass through the village. Buses
run to Strathaven and to Glasgow, via Larkhall and Hamilton. In
appearance the village is like a taut thread, stretched from the Cander
Water, on the one side, to the junction of Manse Road and Strathaven
road on the other. Its expansion has been more or less in a straight
line along either side of the main street. The Cross is no longer its
geographical centre, even if it still be the social. Council houses
have been added at both ends of the village.
The little village of Sandford, with its
100 or so houses and its very
old school, is also in the parish. It lies beside the Kype Burn, which
marks the boundary in the South-West. There are no transport services
to cover the five miles that lie between Sandford and Stonehouse,
whereas some Glasgow-Strathaven buses extend their journey to Sandford,
so that Sandford people are more closely connected with Strathaven,
going there to church and to shop and to find their entertainment.
Strathaven supplies them with ministers and doctors, although the
Stonehouse district nurse attends them, and the ministers of Stonehouse
act as chaplains to the school.
Population: The population of the parish
increased steadily and rapidly
in the nineteenth century, rising from 1,259 in 1801 to 2,781 in 1851
and to 3,665 by 1901. In the present century the advance was checked,
the census totals being: 1911), 3,688; (1921), 4,204, and (1931), 3,703.
The 1951 census showed a complete recovery to 4,306, the maximum ever
recorded. Of these, 2,069 were males. Stonehouse village, with 3,483
inhabitants, accounts for fully 80 per cent. of the total parish
population.
In the main, the population is composed of people born in the parish.
In recent years, however, and especially since the end of the war, there has been a steady influx of ‘strangers’, still commonly
regarded by the villagers as ‘incomers’. If this stream of people
continues it will not be very long before most of the population will
have been born outside of the parish. As old folk come to die, families
that have been resident in the parish for generations are dying out
with them. Stonehouse has always been a little isolated, and so
hitherto the population has changed but slowly. Now that change is
beginning to move much more quickly.
Public and Social Services: Stonehouse forms part of the area known as
the Fourth District and is administered by the Fourth District Council.
The water supply to the Fourth District comes from reservoirs at Camps
and Glengavel, after being filtered at the large filter works at
Glassford. Electricity is supplied by Clyde Valley Electricity Company,
now taken over by the State, and is administered by the South Western
Electricity Board. Gas is supplied from the large plant at Uddingston,
formerly owned by the county council but also now state-controlled.
Sewage is dealt with by works situated at the North-Eastern end of the
village. There is, however, a part of Lawrie Street and Green Street
from which the sewage is taken in pipes to a field near the viaduct,
whence it runs to the river Avon. Maintenance and cleansing of roads
and streets is on a very high standard. The streets are gas-lit still;
only in the new housing scheme is electricity used to light the
streets. The health of the village is attended to by two doctors in
separate practices, and one district nurse. There is one chemist. A
500-bed general hospital - known as the County Hospital - is in the
parish. Originally it was a small orthopaedic hospital, designed to
meet the needs of orthopaedic-tuberculosis in the county. During the
war it became an emergency medical service hospital and wards were
added. When the war ended the hospital was still used in a small way
for general diseases, until in 1949 it was given its full status as a
hospital and training school. The health
service is, of course,
state-owned and state administered.
Housing: The total number of houses owned by the county council and
occupied to date is 332. Of that number 32 are two-apartment; 110
three-apartment; 130 four-apartment; and 60 are five-apartment. These
under construction and drawing near to completion number 104, (56
four-apartment, and 48 five-apartment). Of 214 council houses to be
erected on what was Newfield Estate about half have been completed and
are occupied. About 80 years ago a number of privately-owned houses
were built by various building societies on a 99 years lease. It is
almost impossible to discover how many there are. The extent of
overcrowding is rapidly diminishing; as new houses are being completed,
pressure on families is being eased.
Farming: There are 55 farms in the parish. Nearly all the land is
arable, and all the farms are dairy farms. More and more farm land has
been taken over for house-building purposes and these farms that lie
near to the village have suffered accordingly. On the outskirts,
however, and up towards Sandford, farms are in extent what they have
been for generations. Lockhart Estate, which formerly extended over
almost the whole parish, has been broken up. Only two farms, Hamilton
farm and the Yards farm, belong to the Lockhart Trustee and are farmed
by tenants. All the other farms in the parish are owned by the farmers
who farm them. The agricultural statistics for the parish, as supplied
by the Department of Agriculture for
Scotland, are as follows:—tillage,
1,205 acres; rotation grass, 1,466 acres; permanent grass, 2,466 acres;
rough grazings, 213 acres.
Fruit-Growing: Since the first world war
the parish has rapidly become
a fruit-growing district, until now one of its major industries is
tomato-growing and strawberry-growing. Around the outskirts of the
village there are some 30 holdings (so called because they are held by
their tenants from the Board of Agriculture). In addition, there are
some 15 large and privately-owned fruit-growing holdings—making a total
of 45 in all. The proper holdings extend usually to 5 or 6 acres—the
biggest privately-owned holding is about 20 acres.
Industries: About a third of the people are miners. The main source of
work is Canderrigg Colliery, more
commonly known as the Broomfield and
Canderrigg Mine, which lies nearby, but is now almost completely worked
out. Already some of the miners have been sent to the coal-fields in
Fife or Ayrshire. When, finally, the pit and the mine are abandoned,
those miners who are not old enough to retire will migrate with their
families to new areas.
Apart from two small firms, one making firelighters, the second (newly
in production) making potato crisps, there is no other source of
industry in the parish itself. There is, however, a fairly large firm
of builders (George Wilson and Sons), employing about 1,000 men, not
all of whom reside in the parish. Their work lies mostly outside the
parish itself, on housing schemes at present under construction
throughout the country.
A smaller firm of builders (Haston and McGhie), doing similar work,
employ about 50 men. A great new industrial estate, still in the
process of completion, has sprung up at Strutherhill, between Larkhall
and Stonehouse. Some of the factories are in production and employ
mostly female labour, part of which is taken, naturally enough, from
this parish. Quite a few girls from the parish work in one or the other
of the factories in Strathaven; offices in Stonehouse, Larkhall,
Hamilton and Glasgow employ a fair percentage of the girls and British Railways about one-sixth of
the men.
Churches: There are now three churches
in Stonehouse. In September 1946
the Presbytery of Hamilton united the two Church of Scotland
congregations - one the former Free church, known as Hamilton Memorial,
and the other the former Parish church, known as St. Ninian’s. A very
happy and harmonious union has resulted. Worship is held in the parish
church building. The old Free church building has been sold. The
congregation now numbers 725. The Congregational church, originally a
split from the Free church and about 60 years old, is situated in Angle
Street and has 240 members. The Paterson United Free church in Lawrie
Street was formerly the United Presbyterian church. The congregation
(about 400) refused to enter into the Union of 1929 and remained in the
United Free Church.
A gospel-hall, at the corner of Hill Road and Wellbrae, is the meeting
place for about 20 members of the Plymouth Brethren. They are ‘open’
brethren. The Salvation Army has its meeting-place in Kirk Street and
musters 23 soldiers. There is no Roman Catholic church in the parish
and the few Catholics resident here attend church in Strathaven, where
there is also a small R.C. school. And lastly, there exists a peculiar
little group of dissenters known as Jehovah’s Witnesses, numbering 3 in
all, who meet weekly in one another’s houses.
Education: Camnethan Street Public School, better known locally by its
name ‘The Dominie’, was closed in 1947, and all the pupils are now
housed in Townhead Street Public School. This building is awaiting
reconstruction to meet the many requirements demanded of a modern
school. As it is, accommodation is difficult and the school is crowded.
The technical subjects, woodwork and domestic science are taught in
Greenside School, Green Street, which is being used solely for that
purpose until proper accommodation has been built in Townhead School
itself. Townhead is a junior secondary school. All the children of the
village are educated there up to the qualifying class. If and when they
qualify, the children go to Larkhall Academy, a secondary school which
educates them up to the sixth year and prepares them, if they so
desire, for entrance to the University. It was possible until this year
to send children to Hamilton Academy, but that privilege, I believe,
must cease when the new Education Act
comes into force. The children
who fail to qualify, or who qualify and for any reason, e.g., home
circumstances, are not allowed to go on to Larkhall Academy, are kept
in Townhead School until they are fifteen years of age, at which age
they are allowed to leave and seek work. There are 11 teachers in the
school (a primary department with three, a junior department with six,
and a senior department with two). John McLachlan is the headmaster.
Social Activities: In Stonehouse, as in so many villages throughout
Scotland, social life and entertainments are arranged almost entirely
by voluntary organisations. In the last
two years there has been a
great increase in their numbers. The adult education schemes of the
County Council have been, in large measure, responsible for that.
A Girls’ Club meets in the school, on one night to sew, on another to
play badminton, and on yet another for a drama group. The Athletic Club
is in four sections, for boys and girls, young men and young women, all
sections separate. They meet on different evenings in the school
gymnasium for physical training, etc. The local troop of Boy Scouts is
known as the 67th Lanarkshire and has 24 Scouts, 24 Cubs, 4 Rovers and
4 Scouters. Recently, another troop has been formed amongst
boy-patients in the hospital. It is the 69th Lanarkshire, and has 10
Scouts, 10 Cubs and 3 Scouters. The 1st Stonehouse Company of Girl
Guides musters 25 Guides, with 12 Guides in the extension of the
Company in Ward 2 of the hospital. There are 3 Guide officers. There
are two Packs of Brownies. No. I Stonehouse has 30, and No. 2
Stonehouse has 25 Brownies. There are 12 Brownies in Extension Company
in Ward 2 of the hospital. There are 4 Brownie officers. A small
company of the Army Cadet Force in the village has 26 boys in it. It is
a part of the 4th Lanarkshire Battalion and, of course, the cadets wear
the insignia of the Cameronians.
A flourishing dramatic club in the village, with about a dozen members,
gives an annual performance in the Public Hall, which it takes for
three or four nights. The proceeds are devoted to charity.
The Youth Fellowship of the parish church meets every Sunday night
after the evening service for devotions, and every Tuesday night for
badminton; and that of the Congregational church meets every second
Sunday night and every second Tuesday night.
The parish church Woman’s Guild has a membership of 100; the
Congregational church Women’s Meeting has 40; the Paterson United Free
church, 60. In addition to the three guilds there is a very active
branch of the Scottish Women’s Rural Institute, with 200 members and a
very interested and varied programme, including a Highland dancing
team, a choir of 32 voices, and a drama group. There are also the usual
associations connected with a village. A Cage Bird Association and a
Horticultural Society both hold annual shows in the Public Hall. The
Agricultural Society, composed mainly of farmers, sponsors an
Agricultural Show about the middle of May. A Leaseholders’ Association,
formed originally to safeguard lease-holders, has developed into a
self-elected Town.
Improvement Committee: There is a very flourishing lodge of Freemasons
and a strong branch of the British Legion. A male-voice choir, of no
mean ability, was first in its class two years ago at the Lanarkshire
Musical Festival. It numbers about 40 voices. A self-elected body of
interested persons have formed themselves into a committee which plans
and carries through a Children’s Gala Day on
the third Saturday of June
each year. On that occasion the Flower Queen of the village is crowned.
The Queen, her champion and retinue are chosen by ballot by the school
children.
Way of Life: Perhaps the first thing to note is that the parish is
strangely self-contained. It forms a single unit on its own merits. To
this, the seemingly innumerable community activities bear witness.
Contact is made with Strathaven and Larkhall, but only spasmodically,
and mostly youths and girls out walking on a summer’s night. There is
no deep or abiding communication. For the most part, the people travel
further afield and merely pass through Strathaven or Larkhall. There
are no such inter-communications as might well be expected in
neighbouring villages, and they have no influence on each other. There
is, it is true, in Stonehouse a branch of each of the Larkhall
co-operative societies, but that is due to the fact that the indigenous
co-operative begun in Stonehouse failed and was assimilated.
There is an understandable and keen rivalry in church life, and on the
whole attendance at all the churches and various religious
denominations in the village is good. Average morning attendances at
the parish church number 200, save on the day of the Sacrament, when
the number rises to 450. In the Congregational church, morning
attendance remains static, also for Communion, at about 100. In
Paterson U.F. church attendances at the moment are falling off, mainly
on account of the serious illness of the minister.
There is also, comparatively speaking, a keen interest in all shades of
politics, with the Socialists
mainly to the fore in the village, keenly
contested every inch of the way by a small but well organised
Conservative Party. Recently the Scottish Nationalist Party has formed
a branch, which, I believe, numbers 22 members.
Historically, in the last generation, Stonehouse has changed back from
a weaving community to an agrarian community. In the New Statistical
Account (1836) it is noted that over 400, out of a total population
of
2,359, were weavers. Weaving became more and more popular as a means of
livelihood. That process developed and reached its height about 75
years ago and then the village was at the very peak of its prosperity.
Streets of privately-owned dwelling-houses, which also included four
and often six-loom weaving shops, still stand and are inhabited
memorials of the village in its heyday. They were handloom weavers and
could not for very long withstand the encroachments of the power-looms.
Gradually handlooms closed down one by one, until now there are only
two weaving shops left in the parish—these are kept principally as
museum pieces. All the others have been turned into very serviceable
dwelling-houses. No industry has really come to take the place of weaving, and now the result is a
distinct cleavage between the agrarian
community proper and the village. Once, when last the community was
agrarian, the village housed farm labourers, but now I think the best
description of the village is to liken it to a dormitory—as being a
place in which most of its people only sleep, leaving in the morning by
train or bus and returning in the evening to their home.. Any morning
about 10 o’clock, the children at school, the men and young men and
women away to their office or shop or factory, the streets are
deserted, save only for a few housewives going from one shop to another
with their baskets. In the early afternoons the streets are usually
completely deserted until the miners,
home from their work, their faces
washed and ‘shifted’ (as they describe their getting into the suits
they use for lounging about at the Cross) take up their usual stance
and get the latest racing results. The vast majority of the inhabitants
only sleep here and here find their recreation.
The people themselves, as in most other villages, are neighbourly, with
all the advantages and disadvantages that neighbourliness entails - too
much taken up with their neighbours’ business and yet at the same time
so neighbourly as to have no secrets from each other. They are, in
general - and here, as right through this section, I must qualify all I
say as being only my own personal opinion and therefore inclined of
necessity to bias - more douce than pleasure-loving. They seem to show
a fondness for pastel colours in their dresses. Perhaps this is due to
the fact that over most other parts of Lanarkshire industrial chimneys
make the wearing of such shades impossible. They find their relaxations
mostly in communal occasions, in their outdoor sports in the summer -
there is a very fine private bowling green that reached its jubilee
this year, and a district council tennis court and putting green in the
Park - and in their hosts of organisations in the winter time. I should
like to bear witness to the fact that the people are charitable to a
degree and many of their organisations are designed with charitable
ends in view. In conclusion, let me set it down that they are rather
like all such Scots villagers I have ever met, exercised in their minds
at the moment over the threat to world peace. They are a little
concerned at the possibility of their young men and women going off
again to fight, although it is just five years since most us came back
from the war. We are not sure of the atomic bomb. And yet,
notwithstanding, we discharge the work that is ours to do, in high
spirits. If there are tears in the homes of our mourners, there is
laughter in our streets. And if there be worry sometimes and deep
concern, there is also that calm under current of Scottish staidness
and stolidity that carries us through.
Historical Account of Stonehouse
(mid 19th century) by Deanory of Lanark
This parish consists chiefly of a plain or gentle slope, Iying on the
right bank of the Avon, which, with the Cander, forms for the most part
its eastern boundary. The Kype is its boundary on the west. The part of
the parish lying on the left bank of the Avon seems not to have been
anciently portion of the barony which constituted the parish. It
belonged to the parish, however, before the Reformation.
We have no early notice of this church. In 1267, Sir Roger, the rector
of the church of Stanhus, witnessed a grant of 5 merks yearly,
confirmed by Alexander de Vaux knight, as compensation for some offence
done by his father to the church of Glasgow.
The church was dedicated to St Ninian, and stood with its village near
the Avon, and not far from Catcastle, but
on the opposite side of the
burn; probably to the west of the present village.
On the farm of West Mains, on the bank of the Avon, near Catcastle, is
an artificial mount and large cairn, in which were found (in 1834) many sepulchral urns, described as highly ornamented.
The rectory of Stanehous, formerly independent, along with its
vicarage, was bestowed on the collegiate church of Bothwell (c.1398) by
Archibald of Douglas, its founder. The value of the rectory, as divided
among the “stallers”, or prebendaries of Bothwell, is stated in
Baiamund at £53, 6s. 8d. The vicarage, to which belonged a manse
and a glebe, was of small value. The vicar’s lands lay between the
village and the Avon, and are still known by the name of “Vicars”. They
were of two merks old extent. The whole vicarage was given up by the
provost of Bothwell, in 1561, at 10 merks.
A place, still known by the name of Chapel, in the south end of the
parish, seems to mark the site of a chapel anciently dedicated to St
Lawrence. It had a ten shilling land of old extent, and in 1608 the
land was in the possession of the Hamiltons of Goslinton.
On the Eastern side of the parish, near Castlehill, at a place still
called Spittal, stood formerly an hospital, which is said to have been
endowed with the lands of Spittal, Headdykes and Langrigs, all in its
neighbourhood, and with the lands of Spittalgil and the mill in
Lesmahago.
The Templars had a house and considerable possessions in the
neighbourhood of the village. In 1674, William Lockhart of Lead knight,
ambassador to France, was served heir to his father, among other church
lands, in the two Templar lands of Woodlands, in the Templar lands of
Catcastle, in the 3s. 4d. Templar lands in Stanehouse, in the half of
the Templar lands called Tofts, in the 40d. Iands of Tofts, and in the
6s. 8d. Templar lands on the west part of the village of Stanehouse.
The manor of Stanehouse appears to have been the property of the family
of Ros at an early period. In 1362, David II confirmed a charter
granted by Alexander of Elfynston to Alexander, son of Sir Adam
More, of the whole land of Kythumbre, in the barony of Stanehouse, (in
exchange for land in Erthbeg,) which Godfrey de Ros gave to Alexander,
the father of the said Alexander Elfynston.
The same king granted to William, the son of Maurice Murray, the
forfaultrie of Godfred Ross, within the barony of Stanehouse. Kythumbre
(Kitymuir) became afterwards the endowment of one of the prebends of
Bothwell. Another prebendary possessed the revenues of Hesildene.
The barony and patronage of the church are found in the possession of
the Earls of Douglas until their forfeiture, when the one-half came to
Lord Hamilton, and the other to the Laird of Stonehouse. On 1st
March, 1406, John Mowat of Stenhous was on the service of Sir Thomas de
Somerville, as heir to his father, Sir John; and in 1435 Sir John Mowat
of Stannas settled the fourth part of his estate on his daughter Janet,
married to William Lord Somerville. The estate continued in this family
for several generations.
Catcastle, the remains of which stand on a precipitous rock overhanging
the Avon, had a five merk land of old extent, and was vulgarly called
Crumach. Another ruin, similarly situated on the Avon, is called Ringsdale Castle, of which
nothing is known. The name is probably a
corruption of Rydenhill. Castlehill, the residence of the chief
proprietor, seems to be the place called Kempscastle in Bleau.
The village of Stonehouse is undoubtedly ancient, and the muir or
common of the barony was of considerable extent.
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