Hamilton Low Parks Museum

The Low Parks Museum is located in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland and traces the local history of South Lanarkshire through numerous exhibits on provincial industries and events of local historical importance.

The Low Parks Museum first opened on 3 November 1967 as the Hamilton District Museum, and is housed within two historic buildings, both closely linked to the history of Hamilton and its Dukes throughout the years. The Museum is located next to the site of Hamilton Palace, demolished in 1927, and the history of the buildings is directly linked to the palace.

The first of these buildings, now known as Portland, was designed by the architect James Smith and built in 1696 as the private home of David Crawford, secretary and lawyer to Anne Hamilton, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton, and was sited near the foot of the 'Hietoun' close to the precincts of Hamilton Palace. It is believed to be the oldest building now standing in Hamilton. To the rear of the building is an assembly room and fives court, added after the 8th Duke bought the house in 1784. The house subsequently became a coaching inn on the London to Glasgow road, until the road was realigned in the 19th century. From 1835 the inn became the Duke of Hamilton's estate offices. The building was then purchased by Hamilton Burgh Council in 1964 and subsequently made into the museum that now stands today. The second building is the former Palace Riding School, built in 1837 by Alexander Hamilton, 10th Duke of Hamilton, to designs by William Burn to replace the stables court within the Hamilton Palace complex. The Riding School building became the regimental museum of the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) in 1983. A refurbishment project in 1993 added new linking buildings and an entrance to the combined museums, which are category A listed for their national importance.

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