Carstairs, South Lanarkshire
| Carstairs | |
| Scottish Gaelic: Caisteal Tarrais | |
 Carstairs Village Green |
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| Council area | South Lanarkshire |
|---|---|
| Lieutenancy area | Lanarkshire |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Police | Scottish |
| Fire | Scottish |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| EU Parliament | Scotland |
| UK Parliament | Lanark and Hamilton East |
| Scottish Parliament | Clydesdale |
Carstairs (Scottish Gaelic: Caisteal Tarrais) is a village in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. Carstairs is located 5 miles (8.0 km) east of the county town of Lanark and the West Coast Mainline runs through the village. The village is served by Carstairs railway station. Carstairs is best known as the location of the State Hospital for Scotland and Northern Ireland.
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History [edit]
During the 1920s, the Ministry of Labour acquired Lampits Farm, Carstairs Junction, for use as a labour camp. By 1938 there were 35 so-called "Instructional Centres", with a capacity of over 6,000. Their role was to 'harden' young unemployed men and prepare them for work elsewhere. Lampits Farm was originally intended in 1929 to train young men in farm and forestry work, with a view to their emigrating to Canada or Australia; it became an Instructional Centre a year later. Many of the Carstairs inmates came from coal-mining and other industrial backgrounds in the West of Scotland. The Instructional Centres were closed in 1939, when it became clear that unemployment was declining in the run-up to war.
Carstairs has also gained a certain notoriety as the location of the State Hospital for Scotland and Northern Ireland (also known as Carstairs Hospital), a maximum-security psychiatric facility where some of Scotland and Northern Ireland's most severe cases of mental illness are treated. Many of the patients have been convicted of serious offences and some are incarcerated at the facility indefinitely.
Transport [edit]
The main road running through Carstairs is the A70 road. Carstairs is served by bus route 37 and 137, operated by Stuart's Coaches of Carluke.
Carstairs is served by Carstairs railway station on the West Coast Mainline and Carstairs is also the location of a triangular junction where the line to Edinburgh diverges from the mainline.
References [edit]
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This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. (July 2006) |
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This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (May 2008) |
Source: John Field, "Learning through Labour: Training, Unemployment and the State, 1890-1939", Leeds University Press, 1992, ISBN 0-900960-48-5
External links [edit]
Media related to Carstairs, South Lanarkshire at Wikimedia Commons Coordinates: 55°42′N 3°42′W / 55.700°N 3.700°W
