Re: Drive Thru Henge | Forum — The Modern Antiquarian

Normangill 1

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Drive Thru Henge

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tjj Apr 22, 2015 09:29:37

Replying to moss

moss wrote:

Interesting blog, or at least a good read. I find it sad that the henge had first a railway and then the road driven right through it, but following roads, even roman roads, can take you on a prehistoric journey. Also like the idea that as we travel in our cars to prehistoric places, so henges were also part of the journeying prehistoric track system as well.

https://theurbanprehistorian.wordpress.com/2015/04/20/drive-thru-henge/

I like the idea of 'urban prehistorian', also his bit about the WWI ...

A little railway line that appears to have serviced a prisoner of war camp at the end of the valley. This was in use in the First World War and there German prisoners were engaged in building the dam that holds back Camps Reservoir that now lies at the end of the little road which bisects the henge. This is one of only 39 such camps in Scotland associated with the Great War, and like most such camps, almost nothing is known about it and barely any traces survive (it has NMRS number NS92SE 66).

Ironic in a way that the henge was originally bisected by a railway as a hundred years ago there would have been few cars around. He mentions the obvious example of Avebury which seems to have had road going through it via its north and south entrances for centuries with a focal point being the water source/well in the middle - where the Red Lion now stands.

Howburn Digger Apr 22, 2015 21:54:03

Replying to tjj

I know Normangill well. It's situation just outside Crawford is a fascinating one, and one which appears to show a very detailed knowledge as far as river valleys, watersheds and connected through-routes go, back in the time of its construction.

It is not far (just a few miles) from the massive Meso/Neo settlement discovered here.

http://www.biggararchaeology.org.uk/news22_311010.shtml

And this wee video shows some of that excavation.

https://youtu.be/Uk0ypV-ugmA

Later on, Normangill Henge (almost) acted as a roundabout for two main Roman Roads which met up near Crawford Roman fort. One route came up what is now the M74 corridor (from the Roman Camp at Little Clyde) and the other, the great upland branch of Roman Road, which connected the Nithsdale Roman network with Crawford fort via The Dalveen Pass.

Even today, Normangill Henge lies in a incredibly central position within Scotland's communications network. It sits a few hundred yards of the River Clyde (and its confluence with the Daer Water), next to the M74 Motorway, close by the main Glasgow -> England Railway Main Line, yards from the A702 which connects Edinburgh and South Lanarkshire to Dumfries and Galloway.

At Clyde Law just beyond Normangill Henge, are the sources of the three major rivers of Southern Scotland, the River Tweed (flows into the North Sea), the River Nith (flows to Solway Firth) and the River Clyde (flows to Firth of Clyde). They all rise from different sides of that same hill.

The siting of Normangill Henge was very carefully chosen!