| Drumclog | |
|---|---|
 Drumclog Memorial Kirk | |
  Drumclog Location within South Lanarkshire | |
| OS grid reference | NS 6397 3888 |
| Council area | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Police | Scotland |
| Fire | Scottish |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
Drumclog is a small village in South Lanarkshire, Parish of Avendale and Drumclog, Scotland. The habitation is situated on the A71, between Caldermill and Priestland in East Ayrshire at a height of 196.7m and about 5 miles west of Strathaven.
Drumclog is best known as the site of the 1679 Battle of Drumclog that took place on Drumclog Moss in which the Covenanters defeated the King's Dragoons who were under the command of Claverhouse. The Lochgoin Covenanters Museum on Whitelee Moor in Fenwick Parish has displays and artifacts from the battle. [1] A monument is located on the site of the battle. [2] Thomas Carlyle visited the battlefield in April 1820 and wrote a description of the "flat wilderness of broken bog, a quagmire not to be trusted". [3] At the nearby hamlet of Caldermill the Trumpeter's Well is located that is named after a government soldier who was killed and buried at the site in the aftermath of the battle.
Originally the village was a group of small farms however the opening of the railway in 1905 and the building of a substantial stone church in 1912 created a focus upon the area around Snabe and the habitation then formally achieved the status of a named village.
The post office has closed however the church remains in regular use (datum 2019).
Drumclog may have Brittonic origins. [4] The first part of the name may be the very common element *drum, indicating a place with "a back, a ridge", [4] and the second element *clog, "a rock, a crag, a steep cliff" (Welsh drum-clog), [4] in place names meaning a standing stone or other stones of perceived significance. [4] The second part of the name could also be the cognate Gaelic element clach. [4]
This church was opened in 1912 and replaced a corrugated-iron church that had been built in 1901 to serve this remote location in Avendale and Drumclog Parish. It was designed by J McLellan Fairley in a Gothic-style with a square tower crowned with an octagonal copper covered spire. The title "Drumclog Memorial Kirk" was given in remembrance of the Battle of Drumclog that was fought nearby in 1679 when the Covenanters defeated Government troops. The original remembrance stone for this battle, damaged by a lightning strike, stands on the west side of the kirk. [5] The stone's inscription reads "In commemoration of the victory obtained on this battlefield, on Sabbath the 11th June 1679, by our Covenanted forefathers over Graham of Claverhouse and his dragoons." [3] A stained glass window of the battle is a further commemoration together with a replica of the Covenanter's Flag.
The Old Memorial School was located away from the centre of the village in a location that was most convenient for the farms and their children. The plaque on the wall reads "On the battlefield of Drumclog, this Seminary of Education was erected, in memory of those Christian Heroes, who on Sabath the 1st of June 1679 nobly fought, in defence of Civil and Religious Liberty". The nearest primary school is now at Gilmourton.
Located at NS 63889 38645 next to the A71 this was a railway station on the Darvel and Strathaven Railway opened 4 July 1905 by the Caledonian Railway serving a rural area that included the village and farms in the rural area around Drumclog. The line had been intended as a through route between Lanarkshire and Ayrshire, however there was very little traffic along the route as the population in the area was very low. The station was closed from September until November 1909 and then again from January 1917 until December 1922. The last train ran on 10 September 1939, however the official closing date was two weeks later. [6] Loudounhill railway station stood to the west and Ryeland railway station to the east. A photograph can be found at this site. [7]
Joan Blaeu's map based on that of Timothy Pont circa 1560 to 1614 shows an 'O. Drumclogs' and a 'N. Drumklog'. [8] Adair's 1685 map shows Drumclog close to a track from Loudoun Hill to Renfrew. [9] Hill of Drumclogg and Laigh Crumclogg are shown together some un-named buildings and with Snaid recorded on the predecessor to the A71, the Ayr to Edinburgh by Haamilton and Kirk of Shotts Road. [10] Ross's 1773 map shows Drumclog to the north of the Ayr to Edinburgh road with the inaccurate note 'Clevers fought a battle 1684'. [11] In 1816 Forrest's map shows East, High and Laigh Drumclog together with Snabe (sic). Both coal and limeworks are shown. [12] In 1822 lime and coal works are still shown. [13] The 1858 OS map shows old limestone quarries and a number of old limekilns. [14] The 1911 OS map shows the presence of a post office, the church and Drumclog railway station. [15] In 1958 the OS map shows the railway to have been closed and lifted. [16]
In 1803 a buried hoard of Roman coins was unearthed at North Torfoot Farm. [16] In 1848 a Drumclog Tile Works was recorded. [17]
South Lanarkshire is one of 32 unitary authorities of Scotland. It borders the south-east of the City of Glasgow and contains some of Greater Glasgow's suburban towns, also containing many rural towns and villages. It also shares borders with Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire, North Lanarkshire, the Scottish Borders and West Lothian. It includes most of the historic county of Lanarkshire.
Avon Water, also known locally as the River Avon, is a 24-mile-long (39 km) river in Scotland, and a tributary of the River Clyde.
Strathaven is a historic market town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland and is the largest settlement in Avondale. It is 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi) south of Hamilton. The Powmillon Burn runs through the town centre, and joins the Avon Water to the east of the town.
Shotts is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located almost halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh. The village has a population of about 8,840. A local story has Shotts being named after the legendary giant highwayman Bertram de Shotts, though toponymists give the Anglo-Saxon scēots as the real source of the name. Shotts is the home of the 2015 world champion pipe band, Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band.
The Battle of Drumclog was fought on 1 June 1679, between a group of Covenanters and the forces of John Graham of Claverhouse, at Drumclog, in South Lanarkshire, Scotland.
Drumclog Moss is a flat wilderness of broken bog and quagmire in Lanarkshire, Scotland.
Loudoun Hill is a volcanic plug in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It is located near the head of the River Irvine, east of Darvel.
Stonehouse is a rural village in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is on Avon Water in an area of natural beauty and historical interest, near to the Clyde Valley. It is on the A71 trunk road between Edinburgh and Kilmarnock, near the towns of Hamilton, Larkhall and Strathaven. The population of Stonehouse is around 7,500.
Tillietudlem is a fictional castle in Walter Scott's 1816 novel Old Mortality, and a modern settlement in South Lanarkshire, Scotland.
John Brown (1627–1685), also known as the Christian Carrier, was a Protestant Covenanter from Priesthill farm, a few miles from Muirkirk in Ayrshire, Scotland. He became a Presbyterian martyr in 1685.
The River Irvine is a river that flows through southwest Scotland. Its watershed is on the Lanarkshire border of Ayrshire at an altitude of 810 feet (250 m) above sea-level, near Loudoun Hill, Drumclog, and 7 miles SW by W of Strathaven. It flows 29+1⁄2 mi (47.5 km) westward, dividing the old district of Cunninghame from that of Kyle, until it reaches the sea via Irvine Harbour in the form of the Firth of Clyde, and flows into Irvine Bay by the town of Irvine. It has many tributaries, some of which form parish, district and other boundaries.
Caldermill is a hamlet in South Lanarkshire, Scotland.
Dunscore is a small village which lies 9 miles (14 km) northwest of Dumfries on the B729, in Dumfriesshire, in the District Council Region of Dumfries and Galloway, southwest Scotland.
The Battle of Bothwell Bridge, or Bothwell Brig, took place on 22 June 1679. It was fought between government troops and militant Presbyterian Covenanters, and signalled the end of their brief rebellion. The battle took place at the bridge over the River Clyde between Hamilton and Bothwell in Lanarkshire, Scotland. The battlefield has been included in the Inventory of Historic Battlefields in Scotland and protected by Historic Scotland under the Historic Environment (Amendment) Act 2011.
The Darvel and Strathaven Railway linked, with the Darvel Branch to the former Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway in Scotland to allow trains to travel between Kilmarnock and Lanarkshire.
Loudounhill was a railway station on the Darvel and Strathaven Railway serving a rural area that included the landmark of Loudoun Hill in the Parish of Galston, East Ayrshire, Scotland.
Drumclog was a railway station on the Darvel and Strathaven Railway serving a rural area that included the village of Drumclog in South Lanarkshire, Scotland.
Strathaven Central or Strathaven was a railway station on the Darvel and Strathaven Railway serving the town of Strathaven in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The station opened as an extension of the line from Stonehouse and in 1904 was connected with the Hamilton and Strathaven Railway via a link to Strathaven North. It was renamed as 'Strathaven' a few months before closure.
Events from the year 1679 in the Kingdom of Scotland.
The Trumpeter's Well at Caldermill in South Lanarkshire is recorded as the site of the death of a government trumpeter or cornet who was killed in the aftermath of the 1679 Battle of Drumclog at which the Covenanters were victorious.
