House & Family History: Originally built in the 19th century as a hunting lodge, during World War II Dungavel was used as a hospital; after the war it became a training center for the National Coal Board. The House has been a prison since 1982. Dungavel is most notable historically as Rudolph Hess's intended destination on the night of May 10, 1941. Flying a Messerschmitt Bf 110, Hess, deputy führer of the Nazi Party, was headed to Dungavel in hopes of meeting the 14th Duke of Hamilton as part of an attempt to begin peace talks between Britain and Germany. The duke, as Marquess of Clydesdale, was a noted pilot in the inter-war years (he was the chief pilot on the first flight over Mount Everest in 1933), and had installed a landing strip at Dungavel. Hess believed that the duke, who had flown his own plane to the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games at the invitation of the German government, was an opponent of Churchill's war policy and that he was sympathetic to Germany. Hess missed Dungavel; he parachuted out and landed at Floors Farm, Eaglesham, south of Glasgow, where he was discovered by local ploughman David McLean, who turned him over to the authorities. Hess spent the rest of his life in prison, dying in 1987, at the age of 93, in Spandau Prison in West Berlin. One of Hess's Messerschmitt engines is on display at the RAF Museum; the Imperial War Museum has, in its collection, another engine and part of the fuselage.
Garden & Outbuildings: The grave of the 13th Duke of Hamilton, a naval officer, is on located the Dungavel Estate.
Architect: John Burns Cromb
Date: 1900-12House Listed: Category C
Park Listed: Not Listed
Past Seat / Home of: Lieutenant Alfred Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 13th Duke of Hamilton and 10th Duke of Brandon, 1919-40; Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton and 11th Duke of Brandon, 1940-42.
Current Ownership Type: Government
Primary Current Ownership Use: Other
Ownership Details: Today Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre, owned by the UK government and operated as an immigration detention facility by a private prison firm.
House Open to Public: No
Historic Houses Member: No