Carnwath | As described in F.H. Groome's Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4)

Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for Carnwath

Carnwath, a village and a parish of E Lanarkshire. The village stands on a burn of its own name, ½ mile E of the Caledonian railway, 1¼ NNE of a loop of the river Clyde, 6½ miles ENE of Lanark, 25 SW of Edinburgh, and 27 -ESE of Glasgow. Long a dingy and disagreeable place, it has been greatly improved, but still consists mainly of one old street, nearly ¾ mile long. It has a station, a post office, with money order, savings' bank, and telegraph departments, a branch of the Commercial Bank, gas-works, 4 inns, an old tolbooth, a masonic hall, and fairs on the last Friday of February, the first Wednesday of April, the first Wednesday of May o. s., the first Thursday of July, the second Wednesday of August o. s., and the Friday before 31 Oct. Carnwath has given the title of Earl to the Dalzell family since 1639; its present and fourteenth holder is Hy. Burrard Dalzell (b. 1804; suc. 1875). An ancient artificial mound at the W end of the village was formerly encompassed with a deep ditch and an earthen rampart; is supposed to have been constructed in the 12th century by Sir John Somerville of Carnwath and Linton, as a defensive work in the interest of Robert Bruce; and, in 1833, was planted with hardwood trees. A former ford adjacent to this mound was long the only pass across Carnwath Burn, and gave the parish its name (Gael. 'ford of the cairn'). The present parish church, built near the Moat in 1798, is a plain Gothic edifice, containing 1021 sitting's. Its collegiate predecessor was founded in 1424 by Sir Thomas Somerville for a provost and six prebendaries, and, Second Pointed in style, is now represented by a fragment of the N transept, with a five-light window and sepulchral effigies; here many of the Lords of Carnwath barony lie buried-Somervilles down to the beginning, and Lockharts since the latter half, of the 17th century. There are Free and U.P. churches; and two public schools, New and Old Carnwath, with respective accommodation for 81 and 182 children, had (1880) an average attendance of 45 and 126, and grants of £39,4s. 6d. and (11881,) 8s5. Pop. (1841) 796, (1861) 895, (1871) 864,

The parish, containing also the villages of Wilsontown, Braehead, Auchengray, Forth, and Newbigging, with part of Carstairs Junction, is traversed by the Caledonian and by the lines to Wilsontown and Dolphinton. It is bounded N by West Calder in Edinburghshire, E by Dunsyre, SE by Walston, S by Libberton, and W by Carstairs. Its greatest length, from N to S, is 8¾ miles; its breadth, from E to W, decreases southward from 9 to 4⁵/8 miles; and its area is 30,565 acres, of which 118¾ are water. The South Medwin, flowing westward to the Clyde, and the Clyde itself, over a distance of 1½ mile, trace the southern boundary, whilst the North Medwin rises on the NE border, and runs southward partly on the boundary with Dunsyre, but chiefly in the interior, to the Clyde. Mouse Water traces, for some distance, the boundary with Carstairs, but soon passes into Carstairs; and Dippool Water, rising on the northern border, runs about 7½ miles south-westward to the Mouse, at the boundary with Carstairs. Low flat lands along the South Medwin and the Clyde sink to 600 feet above sea-level; thence the surface rises somewhat gradually northward, attaining 799 feet near Spittal, 966 on Hare Law, 922 on Braehead Moss, 950 at Beveridgehall, 1079 near Climpy House, 1121 at Lambeatch, 1101 at Upper Loanhead, and 1177 on the West Calder boundary. Comprising a large extent of moss and moor, it presents, for the most part, a bleak and -dreary appearance, but has redeeming features of wood and culture along the streams, and of swell and ridge in the general ascent. The rocks, over a considerable portion of the area, particularly NW of Dippool Water, belong to the Carboniferous formation, and are rich in coal and ironstone. The soil, adjacent to the Clyde, is deep clay; on the Medwins, inclines to sand; on other arable tracts, is chiefly a mixture of moss and cold stiff clay. About 400 acres are under wood. White Loch, with extreme length and breadth of 2¼ and 1¾ furlongs, lies 1 mile WNW of Carnwath village, and has long been famous as a resort of curlers from a large extent of surrounding country; Cobinshaw Reservoir just touches the NE border. The minor poet, Jas. Græme (1749-72), and Rt. Anderson, M.D. (1750-1830), editor of the British Poets, were natives. The chief antiquity is the ruined castle of Cowthally; and in that curious history of its ancient lords, The Memorie of the Somervilles (2 vols., 1815), are recorded the chief events in Carnwath's history. Carnwath House, at the W end of the village, belongs to Sir Simon Macdonald Lockhart of Lee, fifth Bart. since 1806 (b. 1849; suc. 1870), and owner of 31,556 acres in the shire, valued at £21,919, including £869 for minerals. Eight other proprietors hold each an annual value of £500 and upwards, 21 of between £100 and £500,10 of from £50 to £100, and 24 of from £20 to £50. Carnwath is in the presbytery of Lanark and synod of Glasgow and Ayr; the living is worth £443. Besides the churches at the village, there are Established mission chapels of Auchengray and Forth; a Free church of Forth and Wilsontown; and a U.P. church of Braehead. Eight schools- Auchengray, Braehead, Forth, Haywood, Newbigging, New Carnwath, Old Carnwath, and Wilsontown Colliery-with total accommodation for 1434 children, had (1880) an average attendance of 886, and grants amounting to £756,2s. 4d. Valuation (1860) £19,109, (1881) £22,063,7s. Pop. (1801) 2680, (1831) 3505, (1861) 3584, (1871) 5709, (1881) 5836.—Ord. Sur., shs. 23,24, 1865-64.

Linked entities:
Feature Description:	"a village and a parish" (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units:	Carnwath ScoP Lanarkshire ScoCnty
Place:	Carnwath

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