Chatelherault Primary School

Chatelherault Primary School, in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland was built in 1972 to serve the recently built estates around Sivertonhill and to take pressure off Low-Waters Primary and Barncluith Primary, where most of its pupils moved from. Arguably one of the "baby boom" schools it was built with prefabricated concrete walls to a standard design which can be seen all over the UK. It still offered a greater standard of comfort and facilities than the old Victorian schools which it supplemented.

The name was chosen by vote from a list of possible names suggested by locals. 'Chatelherault' reflects the name of the Duke of Hamilton's hunting lodge some distance away in Chatelherault Country Park but was at the time an unfamiliar name for even locals to pronounce.

Built on ground originally within the Duke of Hamilton's estate, an area of woodland still forms part of the school grounds. The rest of the school occupies what was a grass meadow which used to contain one of the ancient oaks for which the area is renowned.

A small stream through the woods was known as the "warm burn" because at its issue from the nearby old pit bing or slag heap, it was warm to the touch. This was due to internal combustion in the bing's interior which broke to the surface in the 1970s.

A brand new school has now been open since the beginning of the school year 2006/2007 on the same site, although the playground and grounds are still being completed.

Actress Katie Leung, of Harry Potter fame, attended the school, before going to Hamilton College.

External links

* [http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/scottishschoolsonline/schools/chatelheraultprimaryschoolsouthlanarkshire.asp Chatelherault Primary School's page on Scottish Schools Online]