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Glasgow, Bankton

Boat

Site Name Glasgow, Bankton

Classification Boat

Alternative Name(s) Clyde Haugh; Mavisbank Quay; Broomielaw; Clydehaugh

Canmore ID 44272

Site Number NS56SE 14

NGR NS 571 649

NGR Description NS c. 571 649

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/44272

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Administrative Areas

  • Council Glasgow, City Of
  • Parish Govan (City Of Glasgow)
  • Former Region Strathclyde
  • Former District City Of Glasgow
  • Former County Lanarkshire

Archaeology Notes

NS56SE 14 c. 571 649.

An oak canoe was found in May 1853 on the property of Bankton, south of the Clyde next to Clydehaugh (where the dug-out canoes noted on NS56SE 6 were found) during river widening operations. It lay some 250' back from the river bank as shown on maps of about 1800. Not dug-out like the others (at Clydehaugh), this canoe was formed of a strong keel with transverse ribs, covered with planks about 8" broad overlapping each other. It also had an ornamental cut-water, and a stern similar to a modern one. The canoe, which measured 18' x 5', fell to pieces on exposure to the air.

(From the above description, the find spot would be in the area centred NS 571 649.)

J B 1856; J D Duncan 1882; J Buchanan 1855.

[Formerly NS56SE 3, classified as Canoe].

(NS 5848 6493) Dugout Canoe found [NAT]

A dug-out canoe was found in widening the Clyde below the Broomielaw, 19 ft below gound, 100 yds back from the original bank of the Clyde. No further information was found during field investigation.

The OS publication, on the authority of Mr Henderson (Kelvingrove Museum) is in error. Buchanan is referring to the canoe found at Bankton (NS56SE 14) on the opposite side of the Clyde, downstream from the Broomielaw. No published references to a canoe found at the Broomielaw have been found.

Visited by OS (WMJ), 30 August 1951.

The vessel that was found at Bankton in May 1853 was not a logboat in the strict sense, but the unusual nature of its construction, its location within the main area of Clyde logboat discoveries, and its traditional designation as a 'canoe' make it worthy of record.

The boat measured 18' (5.5m) in length, 5' (1.5m) in beam amidships and 3'6" (1.1m) across the stern. A single oak trunk had been dug out to form the keel and the lower part of the hull. Heavy oak frames and overlapping planks had been attached to this section by treenails and possibly also by iron nails, while set into the upper planks there were holes similar to the type commonly drilled for thickness-gauges. The stern was of transom form and at the bow there was a projecting cutwater.

When the boat was discovered (presumably during the construction of Mavisbank Quay) the boat was lying with its keel uppermost and the prow towards the river. It subsequently disintegrated but the remains were transferred to the offices of the River Trustees and have apparently been lost.

J Buchanan 1855; J D Duncan 1883; [Buchanan] 1884; R J C Mowat 1996.

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