Douglas Castle
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Douglas Castle was a stronghold of the Douglas (later Douglas-Home) family from medieval times to the 20th century. The first castle, erected in the 13th century, was destroyed and replaced several times until the 18th century when a large mansion house was built in its place. This too was demolished in 1938, and today only a single corner tower of the 17th-century castle remains. The castle was the former family seat of the
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
, Sir Alec Douglas-Home. The castle was located around north-east of the village of Douglas, South Lanarkshire, in south-west
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. The remains are protected as a category C
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.


History

The Douglas family built the first Douglas Castle, which was constructed of either wood or stone, sometime before 1288. In 1307, during the Wars of Scottish Independence the castle was captured and garrisoned by the English under Lord Clifford. Sir James Douglas, companion of
Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (), was King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329. Robert led Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence against Kingdom of Eng ...
successfully recaptured his family seat by storming the castle on
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, while the garrison were at chapel. He had the garrison killed and thrown into a cellar, before the structure was burned. The event has become known as "Douglas' larder". Robert the Bruce rewarded Sir James's loyalty with vast holdings, and in 1357 Sir James' nephew, Sir William Douglas, was created the 1st Earls of Douglas/Earl of Douglas. In 1384, Sir James's illegitimate son, Sir Archibald Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas/Archibald Douglas, became the 3rd Earl of Douglas, and Douglas Castle was rebuilt as one of the Douglas strongholds. In the 15th century, the power of the "Black" Douglases had come to threaten the Stewart monarchy. In 1455 James II led an expedition against the rebellious 9th Earl, defeating his forces at the battle of Arkinholm. Douglas Castle was sacked then and the family's lands and titles forfeited. The "Red" Douglases,
Earls of Angus The Mormaer or Earl of Angus was the ruler of the medieval Scottish Provinces of Scotland, province of Angus, Scotland, Angus. The title, in the Peerage of Scotland, is held by the Duke of Hamilton, and is used as a courtesy title for the eldes ...
, had sided with the king against the senior branch of their family, and it was they who gained the Douglas lands in Lanarkshire. It is likely that the castle was rebuilt soon after 1455. Regent Morton came to Douglasdale in June 1574 to survey the house of the Earl of Angus with a view to repairing it and living there. In 1703, Archibald Douglas, 3rd Marquess of Douglas was created Duke of Douglas, with his principal seat at Douglas Castle. The castle was again rebuilt around this time, as a tower house and an enclosed courtyard with a corner tower. This castle was destroyed by fire in 1755, with the exception of the corner tower. From 1757, the Duke began construction of an enormous castellated mansion at Douglas. The architects of this, the final Douglas Castle, were the Adam Brothers ( James Adam, John Adam, and
Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (architect), William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and train ...
). Had it been completed the castle would have been the largest in Scotland. As it was the Duke of Douglas died in 1761, and only around half of the original design was ever completed. The five-storey building had round towers to the front and square towers to the rear facade, and stood in a very extensive park spanning the valley of the Douglas Water. The Duke's estate became the subject of a famous and bitter legal dispute, known as the " Douglas Cause", between his nephew Archibald James Edward Douglas and the
Duke of Hamilton Duke of Hamilton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in April 1643. It is the senior dukedom in that peerage (except for the Duke of Rothesay, Dukedom of Rothesay held by the sovereign's eldest son), and as such its holder is the pr ...
. Douglas was eventually victorious and ennobled as Baron Douglas in 1790, and the castle descended through his daughter, and granddaughter, to the Earls of Home. In the 1930s Charles Douglas-Home, 13th Earl of Home allowed the mining of coal in the park adjacent to the castle, in an attempt to relieve desperate levels of local unemployment. The mining caused dangerous subsidence to the castle and it had to be demolished in 1938.


The castle today

Today, only a ruined corner tower of the penultimate castle remains, built in the late 17th century. Three storeys and 9m in height, the tower once stood at the corner of an enclosure, estimated at around 40m across. The tower stands on a prominent rise in the valley, to the south of the river, and was retained as a garden folly when the later mansion was built. Below is a small cellar block with glazed tiles on the interior walls. Nothing visible remains of the mansion. Sir
Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...
used the location and early history of Castle Douglas as the inspiration for his novel '' Castle Dangerous''. The castle is still sometimes referred to by this alternative name. A former lodge to the castle is preserved in the Cairn Lodge service area on the M74.


Notes


References

*Coventry, Martin ''The Castles of Scotland (3rd Edition)'', Goblinshead, 2001 *Mason, Gordon ''The Castles of Glasgow and the Clyde'', Goblinshead, 2000 *Salter, Mike ''The Castles of South West Scotland'', Folly Publications, 1993 *Thorpe, D. R. (1996). ''Alec Douglas-Home'' * National Monuments Record of Scotland Site Reference NS83SW


External links


Photo of the 18th century Douglas Castle from RCAHMS

Visual images of St Bride's Church and the castle
{{Castles in South Lanarkshire Buildings and structures demolished in 1938 Scottish country houses destroyed in the 20th century Castles in South Lanarkshire Category C listed buildings in South Lanarkshire Listed castles in Scotland *Castle Douglas Wars of Scottish Independence 1938 in Scotland World War II prisoner-of-war camps in Scotland Alec Douglas-Home