ABOUT CPHS

Carluke Parish Historical Society (CPHS) was formed after a meeting in 5th December 1978 by Mr James Russell, Mr Donald Pearce and Miss Isobel Batters.Public interest in old Carluke had been aroused by the building of a new "bypass" which had resulted in many buildings in the centre of town, including the much loved Rankin Memorial Town Hall and Library being demolished.​

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After a talk by Mr Pearce, a steering committee was formed. The first AGM was held in the Community Centre in Carnwath Road on 25th January 1979, when our name and constitution were formally adopted. Since then succeeding committees have strived to follow the main aims of CPHS in that original constitution, namely:

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• To stimulate public interest in and awareness of the natural features of and human activity in the Parish past and present.

• To discover, acquire, copy, compile and preserve all records, objects and artefacts of local interest.

• To work towards the eventual establishment of and thereafter to maintain or assist in maintaining a local museum or permanent exhibition place

• To pursue these ends by means of meetings, exhibitions, lectures, publications, conferences and publicity.

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Over the years, CPHS has added to our extensive archive. The computer and digital age has helped us greatly in copying and preserving records and photographs. - gone are the days of dark rooms and negatives, we now have a scanner and computer which do the work at the touch of a button.

Our speakers have always gone out to spread the word about or rich and varied history.

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After much fundraising, we acquired our Heritage Centre in 1986. All are welcome at our monthly open mornings to browse and chat about Carluke. Visitors come from all over the world and the Centre can be opened at any time to make our records available to researchers.