The Duke Who Destroyed a Palace

Weaving together various elements that in the end saw the demise of Hamilton Palace, from coal-mining to lost villages and the financial ruin of a man of supposed wealth, Ed sets the scene for what was without question the biggest architectural scandal ever to have hit Scotland: demolition of the grandest stately home in the country. Hamilton Palace, stately home of the Dukes of Hamilton, was demolished in the 1920s. The story goes that coal-workings beneath the palace led to the structure being considered unstable, and it was pulled down. But the picture is not just as simple as that. Starting at Chatelherault, the hunting-lodge and summer house of the Dukes of Hamilton, we make our way along the Great Avenue leading to the site of the palace. Along the way we look at the large number of collieries around Hamilton, and how some mining villages like Eddlewood and Cadzow have been completely erased. It's almost as if the villages and the coal mines beside them never existed. We also look at the location of the Bent Colliery just south of Hamilton. The Bent Colliery also owned Hamilton Palace Colliery by the now vanished mining village of Bothwellhaugh, and played a significant role in the downfall of the palace. As did the 12th Duke of Hamilton. The poor man got himself into financial difficulties, racked up debts of over a million pound, and in the end sold off the entire contents of Hamilton Palace, including any number of archaeological treasures and art. He then moved out, and gave instructions to the trustees looking after the palace. These instructions eventually led to the demolition of the palace. Meanwhile, the good people of Bothwellhaugh continued working at the Hamilton Palace Colliery until 1959 when the mine closed. By 1965 the village had become desolate and demolished. In the 1970s Strathclyde Country Park was created, and any remnants of the mining village of Bothwellhaugh were then submerged below the waters of Strathclyde Loch. Just six years after the last of Hamilton Palace was pulled down, the National Trust for Scotland was formed. Their role is to care for and preserve Scotland's heritage, whether in buildings or the countryside. Their formation was just too late to save Hamilton Palace.