Drumsagard Village


Drumsagard Village is a new construction village in Cambuslang, South Lanarkshire. It is built around the site of Drumsagard Castle and immediately south of the site of Cambuslang Iron and Steel Works, also known as Hallside Steelworks.
The steelworks were established in 1873 and closed in 1979. Drumsagard, also spelt Drumsagart, means "ridge of the priest".

History

The Parish of Cambuslang in the Barony of Drumsargard – whose castle ruins can be discerned to the south-east of Hallside - can be traced back to the time of King Alexander II of Scotland when it belonged to Walter Olifard, Justiciar of Lothian. The Barony of Drumsargard passed to Archibald Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas in 1370, as part of the settlement in his marriage to Johanna, daughter of Thomas Moray of Bothwell. In 1452 the Douglases were displaced in favour of James Lord Hamilton, who became tenant-in-chief in 1455. This feudal superiority remained with the Dukes of Hamilton – who were also the largest landowners – up until 1922, though the abolition of feudalism in Scotland did not come until the end of the 20th Century.
In the 19th and early 20th century there were several working farms and a small colliery on the land which is now modern housing. Hallside House, the mansion overlooking the area,, was located off Manse Brae at the eastern side of the district; it survived until the 1930s. There was also a small village built for the steel workers and the managers which had associated schools and churches but that has all but disappeared, save for a group of sandstone houses known as Hallside Village which were restored in the late 20th century.
The majority of the modern suburb was constructed in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In the 2010s one of the remaining farms was demolished and converted into a further area of new housing.

Facilities

Drumsagard is within the Cambuslang East ward of the South Lanarkshire Council area which is also the extent of the neighbourhood community policing zone. There is a small collection of shops at the southern edge of the development, and the closest area with a wider range of amenities is Halfway.
There are currently two schools in the vicinity of Drumsagard - Hallside Primary and Park View Primary. Both of these schools are non-denomonational - the nearest Catholic schools are St. Charles in Newton and St. Cadocs in Halfway.
At the north side of the district is Newton railway station which links to Glasgow city centre, Cambuslang, Rutherglen and Hamilton. A major bus route between Glasgow and Hamilton serves Drumsagard with stops near to the shops at the southern boundary.
After securing a grant from Award for All, the residents association funded a feasibility study which resulted in the addition of sporting facilities in the village in 2010. A multi use games area and sports pitch are part of the sports facilities.