Often we get
blinded by the dearth of battlefields and historic sites around us, but often
neglect the more normal, but nevertheless significant heritage surrounding our
local area. Dotted in the right in the middle of the town I currently live,
Peel Park is more than the Victorian green space we are so used to. Undulating
in a curve around the North West peripheries of this site, there is what at
first appears to be a naturally occurring ditch, even under some
interpretation, a possible 18th century haw-haw. In actual fact this
forms the Roman mile castle on the Antonine Wall, according to Nennius, known as
Caerpentaloch, its obvious advantage over the surrounding country formed from
the presence of a underlying volcanic drumlin. Substantial finds, from
sarcophagi, bath house material, ballista bolts and sling shot show this to be
a significant site, as confirmed by continuous excavation between 1914-53,
covering a base area of 1.4ha, aligned East to West, extending into the present
Tesco’s car park.
Recutting of the Antonine Wall and
the extent of the Roman Fort
In the North
East section of this fort, there is a clear rise in the ground, in the form of
a Norman motte. The mound measures30mx17m and is said to have held a stone keep,
that has since been robbed out. However the lack of space required for the
production of foundation trenches, coupled with the forts proximity to Glasgow
and Cumbernauld, argues the point that this was merely a grey hag, or minor
fortlet manned by a sharpened stockade and palisade, the presence of an early
curving hornwork to the East reinforcing this. This is further reinforced by
looking at the livery and maintenance associated with manorial rights, as a
knights retainder, maintaining 27 knights and 19 crossbowmen The town, formed
as a burghal fort in 1211 by William Comyn (providing the name Comyn Castle), was
one of the first forts to be captured by Edward I after Dunbar on 10th
June 1296. An English garrison under Sir Phillip Moubray, one of the captors of
Wallace and governor of Stirling Castle was emplaced.
Kirkintilloch Motte
The summit, presenting not a lot of
space to erect a proper stone building
By the
summer of 1306 Bruce had been crowned king and was finding ways of legitimising
his claim. Part of this was to firstly take the Scottish home counties and form
a barrier against further incursion. Barely having time to be reinforced by 20
archers from Linlithgow, a force under Bishop Robert Wishart of Glasgow invested
the fortress. With a lack of siege engines Wishart requisitioned timbers meant
for the building of Glasgow cathedral for use in siege engines, although what
their nature actually was we cannot tell. What we do know is that this would
require a siege camp to be created, requiring flat, dry land for alignment and
ease of use of trebuchet, perrier and mangonel, within easy reach of the castle
walls. As the immediate fields surrounding the road at the base of the hill are
flat, but wetland, it can only be deduced that Wishart had already taken the
outer bailey of the town, likely running in parallel to the motte down
Kirkintilloch High Street (reinforced by the lower reaches being named
Cowgate). Alternatively two crossings of the Clyde possibly suggest likely
sites for approximate positions, although their distance from the motte would
suggest that counterweight and traction siege engines were constructed, rather
than small manpowered ones.
Kirkintilloch High Street, marking
the likely alignment and spread of the bailey. The half of the town over the
Forth-Clyde canal likely represents the annexing of the burghal form post 1400.
Possible position of
siege camp, although the fact that it is wetland means it is unlikely
Whatever the case, the siege was not to be a success and it
would not be until a follow up attempt under Sir John Comyn , during the 1314
siege of Stirling that Kirkintilloch fort was to fall. It was subsequently
slighted, like so many fortifications under Robert I (the Bruce) to prevent
their falling into English hands.
This was not to be an end to Kirkintilloch’s military
history. On 3rd January 1746, the Jacobite Army, having reached
Derby and turning back in the direction of Falkirk. A straggler was shot and a
couple of pot shots were made at Charles Edward Stuart from one of the barns
surrounding The Auld Kirk Conventicle. On hearing of this, Charles wanted to
burn the town. Only on the better judgement of his Quarter-Master General,
Colonel Sullivan and a substantial payment from the towns people, did Charles
spare the town.
The Old Kirk
Coventicle, site of an attempted ambush on “Bonnie Prince Charlie” Stuart’s
Jacobite Army
Bibliography
Brown, C. (2008) Scottish
Battlefields: 500 Battles that Shaped Scottish History Tempus Publishing,
Stroud
Cornell, D. (2009) Bannockburn: The Triumph of Robert the Bruce Yale University Press,
London
RCAHMS, Canmore:
Kirkintilloch http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/45204/details/kirkintilloch/
DOI: 25/01/2016 17:12
Watson, F. (1998) Under the Hammer: Edward I and Scotland 1287-1307 Tuckwell Press,
East Linton
Copyright, all rights reserved Warwick Louth
