HAMILTON TOWN HOTEL: A HISTORY LESSON...

The Hamilton Town Hotel building dates back to the mid-19th century.

Over the years the hotel, based at 29 Townhead Street, has been known as the Commercial Inn, Commercial Hotel and latterly the Town Hotel.

However, it has lain empty, along with two retail units, for more than a decade.

The building is also listed on Historic Environment Scotland’s Buildings at Risk Register. As the plans to demolish the site emerged this week, the West of Scotland Archaeology Service submitted their report to South Lanarkshire Council stating the historic significance of the site itself.

The report said:“the application site itself is located in an area of the town occupied prior to the mid-18th century, meaning that there may be some potential for buried deposits or artefacts, to survive below the current ground level.”

They recommended that if the South Lanarkshire Council were minded to grant permission that “no development should take place within the site until the developer has secured the implementation of a programme of archaeological works.”

A detailed report on the site’s history can be found on the planning application at the council’s website.