Field Visit

Date 3 March 2016

Event ID 1019459

Category Recording

Type Field Visit

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1019459

Defending the Clyde

Two boundary stones respectively mark the SW and SE corners of the former War Department property at Fort Matilda. That at the SW corner (NS 25800 77860) has been set (at a height of 1.23m above street level) into the south face of a stone wall on the north side of Eldon Street. The hammer dressed stone measures 0.43m in width by 0.25m in height and contains a recessed panel bearing the incised letters ‘W’ and ‘D’ which flank an upward pointing arrow above ‘No. 5’. This number has been incised into what is clearly a cement patch and is therefore secondary.

The stone at the SE corner (NS 25857 77865) has been set (at a height of 1m above street level) into the east face of a stone wall at the junction of Esplanade and Eldon Street. It measures 0.55m wide by 0.31m high and 0.22m deep, and has a stugged/dabbed surface. A shallow recessed panel bears the incised letters ‘W’ and ‘D’ which flank an upward pointing arrow above ‘No. 4’. This number is also secondary.

Both boundary stones are depicted on an 1895 plan of Fort Matilda (National Archives: WO78_2443_03) and they are also shown on the 2nd edition of the OS 25-inch map (Renfrewshire, 1897, sheet II.1). At that time the sequence of markers ran clockwise around the property starting with ‘No. 1’ at the SW corner and ending with No. 10 at the SE corner. However, the 1940 edition of the OS 25-inch map (Renfrewshire 1940, Sheet 002.01) shows that by this time the location and numbering of the boundary stones had been revised, with the new sequence starting in the NE corner, close to the south end of the pier, and running clockwise. This saw stone No. 1 changed to No. 5 and stone 10 changed to No. 4.

Visited by HES Survey & Recording (AM, AK) 3 March 2016.