In a very interesting lecture Derek Alexander detailed his studies on Mediaeval castles in his native district of Refrewshire. This is generally accepted to be the birthplace of William Wallace and was an area of much castle building activity during the Scottish Wars of Independence. There have been at least a dozen earthworks identified in the district and Derek described the survey work that he had been involved with at mote and bailey castles at Bridge of Weir and Greif Castle. Contrary to general opinion these earthwork defences lasted into the 15th century in Scotland as they were cheap and easy to build. A more popular defensive work in Refrewshire was the ringwork. Crookston Castle was an example of this type of structure which had been surveyed. At the time of Wallace, stone castles were the exception rather than the rule. There was known to be a castle in Renfrew, but this had been destroyed in the 19th century to build a soap works. As part of the Renfrew 600 celebrations work was undertaken to find the site of this structure. A site shown on ancient maps as the castle had been built over by Castlehill House, which in turn had been demolished in the 1930's. Excavation on that site revealed sandstone blocks and a number of fragments od Mediaeval pottery. A number of photographs of the excavation and the finds were shown.
Further work on the Wallace connection had sent Derek to Elderslie, generally regarded as Wallace's birthplace. The
house locally regarded as Wallace's House was in fact a 16th century structure which was demolished a number of years
ago after falling into disrepair. Work on the site of the house led to the discovery of a structure which was 100m by 90m.
Evidence that this structure was of a defensive nature came from the distinct raised walls and large moat. However, the
interpretation of this structure as the home of William Wallace was according to Derek highly speculative at best.