Battlefields›Strathaven march, Scottish Radical War, 1820
modern

Strathaven march, Scottish Radical War, 1820

1820
South Lanarkshire, Scotland
Era
modern
Battle Type
march
Location
South Lanarkshire, Scotland
Status
Unregistered
Forces involved

Around 25 Strathaven weavers ('the Strathaven Pioneers') took part; no government or opposing force numbers are recorded since no clash occurred.

Outcome
The marchers were told a French army awaited at Cathkin Braes to support a Radical rising, but this proved false, an entrapment scheme aided by a government informer. James Wilson, suspecting treachery, turned back at or near East Kilbride; the remaining marchers reached Cathkin, found no force, and dispersed without violence. Wilson was nonetheless arrested, tried for high treason at Glasgow, found guilty on 24 July 1820, and publicly hanged and beheaded on Glasgow Green on 30 August 1820 before a large crowd; his was one of three executions arising from the wider Scottish Radical War.
The Battle

History & Significance

Strathaven march, Scottish Radical War, 1820 was a modern march, fought at South Lanarkshire, Scotland in 1820. The marchers were told a French army awaited at Cathkin Braes to support a Radical rising, but this proved false, an entrapment scheme aided by a government informer. James Wilson, suspecting treachery, turned back at or near East Kilbride; the remaining marchers reached Cathkin, found no force, and dispersed without violence. Wilson was nonetheless arrested, tried for high treason at Glasgow, found guilty on 24 July 1820, and publicly hanged and beheaded on Glasgow Green on 30 August 1820 before a large crowd; his was one of three executions arising from the wider Scottish Radical War.

Confirmed battlefield location
The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Strathaven march, Scottish Radical War, 1820 lies on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Dinantian, bedrock that formed in the Mississippian. The rock here is mafic lava and mafic tuff.

Casualties & Losses
  • None recorded during the march itself; James Wilson was subsequently executed (hanged and beheaded) following trial for treason.
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Monuments
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Battlefields
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Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Stat Accounts
The parish Statistical Accounts of the 1790s and 1830s, describing life, work and population here.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
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Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
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Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Strathaven march, Scottish Radical War, 1820

Avondale Castle
Avondale Castle
Scheduled monument · ~0.3 mi

Avondale Castle is a late medieval fortified stronghold located in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The castle dates from the fifteenth century and represents the defensive architecture typical of the Scottish nobility during the later medieval period. The site preserves substantial remains of its st…

Crooked Stone, standing stone 225m N of Crookedstone
Crooked Stone, standing stone 225m N of Crookedstone
Scheduled monument · Bronze Age · ~3.7 mi

Crooked Stone is a Bronze Age standing stone located in Lanarkshire, Scotland, situated approximately 225 metres north of the settlement of Crookedstone. The monument stands as testament to ritual and territorial practice during the Bronze Age, when such stones were erected across the Scottish la…

Fairhill, cairn 20m N of 96 Millgate Road
Fairhill, cairn 20m N of 96 Millgate Road
Scheduled monument · ~5.8 mi

Fairhill Cairn is a Bronze Age burial monument situated 20 metres north of 96 Millgate Road in Lanarkshire, Scotland. The cairn is constructed upon bedrock formed from the Scottish Coal Measures Group, a sequence of mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete deposits that date…

Cadzow Castle
Cadzow Castle
Scheduled monument · ~6.1 mi

Cadzow Castle is a medieval stronghold situated near Hamilton in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The castle occupies a naturally fortified position on a steep-sided peninsula formed by a bend in the River Clyde, with substantial earthwork defences including a motte and bailey arrangement that reflec…

Regional War Room, 130m NW of Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride
Regional War Room, 130m NW of Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride
Scheduled monument · ~6.5 mi

Regional War Room is a scheduled monument located 130 metres north-west of Rankine Avenue in East Kilbride, Lanarkshire. The site is protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM11068. The war room occupies ground underlain by bedrock of the Clackmannan Group, Westphalian sediment…

Netherton Cross, cross, Hamilton Old Parish Kirk
Netherton Cross, cross, Hamilton Old Parish Kirk
Scheduled monument · ~6.9 mi

Netherton Cross is a cross located in Lanarkshire, Scotland, near Hamilton Old Parish Kirk. The monument stands upon bedrock of the Scottish Coal Measures Group, a geological formation dating to the Moscovian period, comprising layers of mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricr…

Tweediehall,mound 410m NNE of
Scheduled monument · ~1.4 miles
Burnbrae,barrow 170m NW of
Scheduled monument · ~1.9 miles
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