Priory - Bothwell Castle Tunnel ... Bla'antir's Ain Website

Bla'an'tir's Ain Website

Blantyre Scotland

Priory - Bothwell Castle Tunnel

Priory - Bothwell Castle Tunnel

Could this be the entrance to the Priory Tunnel under the Clyde to Bothwell Castle?

Priory - Bothwell Castle Tunnel

Thread from calaterium in Secret Scotland

Hi there, I hope somebody can help me find out more about a pet subject I have been studying for a while now. Legend has it that a vaulted passage was constructed under the Clyde linking the Donjon at Bothwell Castle with Blantyre Craig (the site of Blantyre Priory on the other side of the river) This passage is mentioned in multiple books spanning the 18th/19th/20th centuries. and is used in the old novel Scottish Chiefs to enhance the story. It is also said that sometime in the year of 1945 this tunnel was found, but other than that I know nothing.

It was apparently a vaulted passage hewn out of the solid bedrock under the clyde, starting in the castle and ending either below the 100 foot precipice of Blantyre Craig, or reaching the Priory on top. The latter option is extremely unlikely.

The late Neil Gordon in his 2006 book describes a large boulder as blocking a cave below Blantyre Craig, which he believes blocks this passage.

The man that works in Bothwell Castle informed me that "in the old days" the masons who maintained the building knew secretly where the castle end of the entrance existed, but they kept it secret. He also informed me that he knew a bunch of boys in his youth who knew of the tunnel but kept it secret, and apparently ventured into the tunnel using tarred-up potato sacks to allow them to traverse a flooded section of this passage.

Considering the Castle was constructed entirely from the now gone adjacent cliff, and considering this sort of stone is easy to work, and that such passages were not uncommon in castles, and the fact the legend has spanned 4 centuries, it all acts as compelling evidence that this tunnel may exist.

Now my question is, Does anyone know more???

I want to find out how well-known this legend is, if anyone has seen it, or knows anything that may even relate slightly to the story.

I appreciate anything any of you can tell me.

Note: I do not plan to venture into this tunnel - The risk of collapse, lack of air, disorientation are far too great, but I would like to get photos of the entrance, inform WOSAS, etc...

Thanks

Comments fron Flickr

	James B Brown: Great info. We're going to have to have a good look now.
	mctaz: Over 40 years ago now, but I recollect up on the Priory ruins, hitting the flagstones with a stick to hear what sounded like a hollow echo from underneath. Even though it's perched on solid sandstone, it's very soft & as the carvings show, easy to work.!
	James B Brown: I think there is evidence of a 'basement' at the priory which is blocked by a large stone. Do you think that the tunnel went from the castle to the priory? With the stairs from the priory down to the river and the jetty at the castle side, I assumed that the river was the obvious link between the two, with the tunnel from the castle to the jetty.
	calaterium: I think your idea James is the most plausible, but there is no way the jetty as it exists now dates that far back. For all we know it was built over the earlier jetty if one existed. As for a tunnel descending vertically over 100 feet through Blantyre Craig.....hmmmmm..... I doubt it, but would very much love to think one did exist. I think many people are confusing probabaility with impossibility! And I think for this very reason the tunnel has remained unfound. All stories of its discovery in the 20th century relate to children who are unspoiled by the modish pesimistic views of many adults. I think if the excitement of the story is kept alive then these things will generally be found. This is what I use as fuel, and it has led to the discoveryo f over 130 archaeological sites in the area of Calderglen!

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