Hamilton, South Lanarkshire
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Hamilton (Gaelic: Hamaltan) is a large burgh in central Scotland. The administrative centre of South Lanarkshire, Hamilton sits on the junction of Avon Water and the River Clyde.
The 2001 Census recorded a population of 48,546 in Hamilton and the town is twinned with Châtellerault in France. This connection dates from the 16th century when the title Duc de Châtellerault was conferred on James Hamilton. There is still a vast park next to Hamilton called Chatelherault Country Park (spelt incorrectly) which includes the Dukes' hunting lodge and is served by the new Chatelherault railway station.
The town of Hamilton was re-named in honour of the Duke of Hamilton (it was originally called Cadzow). The Hamilton family built many of the existing landmark buildings in the area including the Mausoleum in Strathclyde Park. Until 1900 they lived nearby in the Hamilton Palace, one of the most elegant houses in the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, coal mining caused severe subsidence and the palace was demolished. (It is thought by some local historians that the subsidence was in fact a cover story and that it was actually demolished for financial reasons.) Nowadays the Hamilton Palace is the name of the town's only nightclub.
More recently Hamilton has become a seat of power for local government. The Edwardian Town Hall building sits overlooking Cadzow Street and now houses the library and Townhouse concert hall. The high-rise County Buildings on Almada Street tower over the area as the seat of South Lanarkshire council.
Other historic buildings include Hamilton Old Parish Church - a fine Georgian building (1734), the only church to have been built by the architect William Adam. The ruins of Cadzow Castle also lie in a country park outside the town.
Hamilton Town Centre has been regenerated over the last decade by creating an indoor shopping centre on Regent Way and the Palace Grounds Retail Park and leisure facilities. This development transformed the Hamilton side of Strathclyde Park, the original site of the Duke's palace and, in the mid-1990s, T in the Park, Scotland's main music festival (which moved to Perthshire).
Many of Hamilton's main facilities have been moved out of its traditional town centre to the Palace Grounds including the Vue (formerly SBC) cinema and large Asda store visible from the M74 motorway. The creation of a circular Town Square here on the edge of the town, and the mixture of artworks leading to it, have been controversial. The most infamous of these was the constantly-vandalised glass clocktower in the Town Square which has now been taken down and moved to another area in the county.
To the north of the Palace Grounds is the Low Parks Museum, housed in an old inn and recently refurbished. The museum contains extensive exhibits on Hamilton Palace, and also on the local Cameronian Scottish Rifles regiment (disbanded in 1968).
The area near Hamilton West railway station and Peacock Cross has also changed with the demolition of Hamilton Accies' original Douglas Park stadium in 1994. A retail park was built on the site with New Douglas Park added behind it in 2001. Hamilton Academical Football Club (the Accies) were formed in 1874 and are one of Scotland's oldest senior clubs. They take their name from Hamilton Academy, now called Hamilton Grammar, the oldest school in the town.
Many Hamilton primary and secondary schools are being rebuilt or refurbished during 2005/6. This includes the controversial closure of Earnock secondary school, which is being merged with Blantyre High. This leaves three high schools - the Grammar and the two denominational schools, John Ogilvie and Holy Cross. [South Lanarkshire Council Secondary Schools Modernisation Programme] Hamilton also has one private school - Hamilton College, a Christian school on Bothwell Road, next to the modernised Hamilton Park racecourse. It hosts a nursery, a primary school and a secondary school. Bell College - Hamilton's only tertiary education college - has its campus nearby, behind its main building on Almada Street.
On February 7, 2005, Hamilton was granted Fairtrade Town status.
Areas of Hamilton:
Burnbank, Barncluith, Hamilton, Cadzow, Eddlewood, Fairhill, High Earnock, Earnock Hillhouse, Laighstonehall, Little Earnock, Low Waters, Meikle Earnock, Silvertonhill, Udston, and Whitehill.
Main centres near Hamilton:
Communication Links:
Location and getting there
Hamilton is on the Hamilton Circle railway line and can be reached in 30 minutes from Glasgow Central station. By road it is to the west of the M74 motorway, which is the main southerly link to England. From the northern areas of Scotland Hamilton is reached via the M80 and M73 (which connects to the M74 at Uddingston). The main route from Edinburgh is the M8 (leave at junction 6 or 7). The nearest commercial airport is Glasgow International Airport.
Hamilton District
| Hamilton District 1975–1996 |
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During the 1975–1996 period Hamilton lent its name to a local government district (Hamilton District) within the Strathclyde region.
Town twinning
References
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