On a plan of Legbranock, Lanarkshire, dated 1809, I noticed a small cluster of buildings just south of Holytown in Lanarkshire. These buildings were annotated ‘Folly’, a place long since gone.
On the map the ‘Folly‘ was linked to William Hamilton:
I also noted that on the Woodhall estate map, of the same date, that the Folly was also identified:
On William Forrest’s map of 1818 it was annotated as ‘Ramsay’s Folly‘:
On John Thomson’s map of 1822 it was also marked as ‘Ramsay’s Folly‘:
The Ordnance Survey Book, 1859:
The description given of Ramsay’s Folly as given in the Ordnance Survey Book:
Bellshill Speaker, 18 January 2001: Holytown Historical Society:
Woodhall Estate, was owned by the Campbells of Shawfield and Islay. Woodhall once had a grand Palladian mansion and was surrounded by a wonderful designed landscape. It’s garden was celebrated. Here is how Woodhall was depicted on General Roy’s map c1750:
Caledonian Mercury, 15 July 1725: The fate of Woodhall:
Woodhall was rebuilt but finally succumbed to a fire in the mid 19 century. However it continued to be widely recognised for its fine garden:
Morning Herald, 7 March 1826:
Sometime around the turn of the 18th century, William Hamilton, mason, rented Holytown Inn and farm from the Campbell’s of Woodhall.
Caledonian Mercury, 15 April 1799:
It seems that Ramsay’s Folly, once part of the designed landscape of the Campbell’s Woodhall Estate, was part of the feu which William Hamilton eventually purchased. William Hamilton died in early 1841 and his property and land were sold:
Glasgow Saturday Post, 7 October 1848:
It would seem that the last incarnation of Ramsay’s Folly was as the home of ‘The Holytown Friendly Society‘. At sometime thereafter it was demolished .
After his death, William Hamilton’s family continued to live in Holytown. Mrs Hamilton was the Innkeeper in Mason’s Hall.
The Testament of William Henderson would seem to confer my speculation that Ramsay’s Folly was originally part of the Campbell’s Woodhall estate:
As far as I have been able to determine no image or description of Ramsay’s Folly survives. This saddens me.