Lamington Hill is a lower summit in the Southern Uplands and this walk of around 4.5 miles includes some 530ft (160m) of ascent. The summit at 1614ft (492m) above sea level is marked with a trig pillar and there are great views of the surrounding countryside and the Clyde valley. Across the River Clyde, you’ll see the popular hill walking destination of Tinto.
Lamington Hill is classified as a Marilyn, which is a peak with a prominence of 150m or more on all sides. The name was coined as a pun in contrast to the better known Munros, which are the 282 Scottish mountains with a height of more than 3,000ft. There are more than 1,500 Marilyns in Britain.
The village is reputed to be the home of Marion Braidfute, the legendary wife of William Wallace. It is also said that the name is the origin of Lamington sponge cake, which is popular in Australia, although there are other claims to the naming of this sweet treat, too.
The building in Lamington looks ordinary until you walk around to the north side of the church. Here, as if inserted into the wall as an afterthought, are the blocked remains of a doorway surrounded by a magnificent Norman carved arch.
Start at the car park by Lamington Church on the A702.
Turn left out of the car park back to the A702 and head right to the minor road signed Baitlaws Estate Walkers.
The walk begins on an easy tarmacked road and makes for a pleasant start to the walk.
Continue along the tarmacked road towards Baitlaws House.
Just before Baitlaws house, there is a gate on the left. This is signposted for walkers.
Follow the track under the trees to another gate (don’t take the stile just before the gate).
At the foot of the hill go through the gate and down to the burn to a bridge over the burn.
Once over the bridge, follow the track up a short steep incline to an opening where you will see a gate and an estate track making its way uphill.
Continue on the estate track as it gradually rises up the hill towards a tree plantation.
At the tree plantation take the quad bike track on your left-hand side up the steep grassy slope of the hill. The trig point comes into view as you near the summit.
Once at the summit, there are fantastic views of the surrounding countryside and hills.
From the summit, you can either retrace your footsteps or take the obvious quad bike track along the ridge of the hill back towards Baitlaws House.
Once back on the main estate track, retrace your steps.
