These 1797 plans show the proposed re-routing of the River Carron and significantly, for Portonians, also shows the layout of the fledgling Grangemouth township. Whilst the Rivers course was altered significantly I am unsure if this plan was the one that was actually undertaken. There are other plans and details held by the National Records for Scotland which detail different proposals including a scheme that dates to 1761 before there was even a town or a Forth and Clyde canal. Documents like this allow us to understand just how much of a backwater our wee toon really was. The River Carron was being altered not just to help develop Grangemouth but to assist the servicing of The Carron Iron Works (founded 1759) further up river. Government contracts in 1764 for the supply of arnaments had been awarded to the company and despite poor quailty and deadlines missed they produced significant volumes before losing the contracts c1773 but regaining them with the development of the carronade around 1777. Before Grangemouth Harbour was developed along with the canal in 1768-1775, Carronshore was the main port and vessels (albeit relatively small) sailed up and down the river carrying raw materials one way and finished goods the other. Increasing the vessel size necessitated the straightening and dredging of the river to improve access. It should also be remembered that the river was tidal. The physical scope of the works was immense and the removal of tens of thousands of cubic metres of earthworks was undertaken. Special dredgers were also built with various spades to assist in the works. Hundreds of men were also employed to move the dredged material and also to make the physical cuts and create dams and coffers. It must have been an incredible sight and also a very expensive exercise. It ios strange to think that in the day, the River Carron and the canal were the fastest and most efficient way to move goods and materials which ended up in the four corners of the earth.....and which contributed to the reinforcement of the British Empire in the 19th century.... Source: Organisation The National Records of Scotland Reference number N/A Site ID RHP242 Date 1797 Description Plan of Carron River from Carron works to Grangemouth. Surveyed and engraved by John Ainslie. [1:3600] 1 in = 4 Scottish chains. 538 x 1678 mm. Coloured. Engraving. Dissected into two sheets. Linen backing. Plan showing old and new course of River Carron with dams, dykes, harbour and riverside industries including Carron works with branch canal, mills, brewery, limekilns, ropeworks, timber yards, quarries and granaries. part of Grangemouth, some buildings in elevation including Kerse House, Bothkenner church, Stenhouse and fire engine, Stenhouse Mill and lead, Potters farm, Skaithmoor upper and nether mills, Cable Brae distillery, Carronside, washing green, carronshore, warehouse, ford, Abbotshaugh, Dalbeath, Skinflats and Newton Pow noted. Names of landowners adjacent to river. Illustrated key. Part of Larbert parish included. Compass rose. Archival history. Found during the arrangement of the unextracted processes in the basement room of the office of Mr. John Adam.
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 21:47:00 +0000
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