Strathbrock is the old name for the area around the Brox Burn, which gave its name to the town of Broxburn, near Livingston. "Brox" is a bastardisation of Scots brock ("badger"), which in turn derives from Brythonic broch (Welsh). The placename "Strathbrock" is thus a Scotticisation of the Brythonic, Y Strad Broch, or "River-valley of the Badger". The local Presbyterian church still goes by the name of Strathbrock Parish Kirk, and other local placenames still retain this form. Click here for a location map provided by StreetMap.
Unfortunately, Strathbrock Castle no longer exists, and little or nothing of its site remains. C18th and C19th sources indicate that the remains of the castle were located on a small circular hillock (possibly a motte) called Castle Hill, just to the South of Broadyetts Farm, which also no longer exists.
Ordnance Survey Map of 1856
The location of the castle, just on the South side of Uphall's Main Street, was built over for residential purposes in the C19th and early C20th. However, a possible embankment on the North side of the Brox Burn is still discernible.
Approximate Site of Strathbrock Castle
In Strathbrock Castle and the History of Uphall, Peter Caldwell considers an alternative location. Following Joan Blaeu's seventeenth century map, he suggests that the castle may have been located on the North side of the Brox Burn.[1] However, this theory probably arises from a confusion about Blaeu's iconography - Blaeu's symbol for a town or village is a small castle-like icon.
From Joan Blaeu, "Lothian and Linlitqvo", 1630
Yet this symbol is used to denote many settlements which clearly never had a castle (see above), and it is certainly the case that Strathbrock/Uphall as a town was indeed on the North side of the burn (and still largely is). In all likelihood, the "castle" symbol is in fact a "town-hall" symbol denoting civic, rather than military architecture. It also seems likely that Blaeu's map is not entirely accurate anyhow, not least since he shows Strathbrock as an entirely seperate settlement to Uphall.
One of the earliest appearances of the castle in history is in the C12th, when the lands of Strathbrock were granted by David I to a Fleming called Freskyn. In 1130, he aided David I in suppressing an uprising in Moray by the Alpin nobles, and was subsequently granted lands in Morayshire at Duffus (1150) and also in Glen Fiddich, where he built further castles. He was also instrumental in repelling a late Viking invasion of Sutherland. Freskyn's descendants included the powerful Murray nobles of Atholl and Sutherland, from his two sons, Hugh and William, respectively, the latter adopting the name "de Moravia". The Freskyn male line ended in 1270 with two female offspring, at which point other family names become associated with the estate.
By the C15th, Strathbrock Castle passed into Douglas hands, as did the nearby Abercorn Castle, but suffered the same fate as many of their castles during the dynastic civil war between the Black Douglas and James II. Unlike Abercorn, however, something of Strathbrock appears to have survived the Douglas defeats, and in the C16th, it was owned by one J. Dingwall, rector of the nearby Strathbrock Parish Kirk.[2]
One local tradition claims that during the C17th, the bodies of Plague victims were thrown into the cellars or dungeons of the increasingly derelict castle. Although little was left of the castle by the C19th, the 1845 Statistical Account of Scotland nevertheless states that the Earl of Buchan's lands in this area included "the estate of Strathbrock", which was separate to the estate of the Shairps of Houston House, at the very top of Uphall.[3]
It also seems that, following the defeat of the Black Douglas by the monarchy, some of the people of Strathbrock went into exile in the parish of Kilpatrick in the mid-West. According to John Bruce:
It is interesting to note that the surname of Brock, so common in the west end of the parish [ie. Kilpatrick] in the early part of the century and still well and honorably known in the county, appears in the rental roll in the year 1460 as "de Strabrock"... Thome de Strabrok is entered as tenant of the mill at Duntocher, at which the Kilpatrick tenants were bound to grind..... In addition to the mill, Thome de Strabrok is entered as one of the tenants in the Miltoun at the rent of 43s 4d; and also in Faifley, along with John of Strabrok, the rent being 20s. John of Strabrok appears as one of the Duntiglennan tenants, paying 23s 4d of rent.[4]
Whether or not these Kilpatrick Strabrocks and later Brocks were actually defeated and exiled nobles is unclear from this, although the use of the Norman French de would appear consistent with that hypothesis. However, it is certainly clear that at least some of the residents of the area, if not the castle itself, went into exile following the demise of the estate. Intriguingly, Bruce also claims that one Abbot Henry Crichton aided these Strathbrocks in their move West, and it is more than likely that he had associations with the collegiate kirk in Midlothian at Crichton, the lairds of which adjoining castle were also implicated in the Douglas wars.
Another local tradition claims that two pineapple or acorn-shaped decorated stones (presumably decorative gate-posts) now in the grounds of Houston House are the sole surviving remnants of Strathbrock Castle.
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| "Pineapple/Acorn" Stone 1, now at Houston House | "Pineapple/Acorn" Stone 2, now at Houston House |
It does seems likely that these two stones did come from Strathbrock Castle, being carved in a style more medieval than the later Renaissance date of Houston House (c.1600), where they are now located. Furthermore, it seems likely that the sole known remaining fragment of the other Douglas castle at Abercorn is a similar gatepost stone, now used as such at a private house near Abercorn. We would certainly expect that, both castles being in the hands of the same family towards the end of their functional use, they would demonstrate shared characteristics of ornamentation and even, perhaps, similar structural extensions.
thanks to janice lodge (new zealand) for many discussions and sources on the kilpatrick brock family and their connections with stratbrock
footnotes
[1] Peter Caldwell, Strathbrock Castle and the History of Uphall (West Lothian District Libraries, 1997), p.7.
[2] "Strathbrock Castle", CANMORE entry (http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/canmore).
[3] George Boag, "Parish of Uphall" (1843), in The New Statistical Account of Scotland (Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1834-45), Vol.2, p.85.
[4] John Bruce, History of the Parish of West or Old Kilpatrick and of the Church and certain Lands in the Parish of East or New Kilpatrick (Glasgow: John Smith & Son, 1893), pp.82-83.