Description

The monument comprises that length of waterway forming part of the Forth and Clyde Canal falling within the boundary of the civil parish of Old Kilpatrick and the boundary of Dumbarton District.

The length of the monument is approximately 700m and runs from Bowling Harbour (on the west) to the western edge of Old Kilpatrick (on the east). The monument includes the entire length of canal in water together with the banks on either side and the towing path running along one side. In addition, the monument includes the following canal structures:

[1] The harbour walls, locks 39 and 40 and the lower canal basin at Bowling Harbour;

[2] The bascule bridge immediately to the west of the upper canal basin, the upper canal basin itself and lock 38;

[3] Tinkers Burn Aqueduct;

The monument does not include the late 19th-century railway viaduct between the upper and lower canal basins, or existing (modern) fences and walls, but does include an area to either side of the area in water in which traces of activities associated with its construction and use may survive, as marked in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance because, as an integral part of the Forth and Clyde Canal, it is a superlative example of Georgian civil engineering. It was the first of Scotland's great inland waterways to be constructed (between 1768 and 1790) and even at the time of its opening in the 1770s it was christened 'The Great Canal', a recognition of its undoubted national importance even then. The particular stretch of canal covered by this scheduling was part of a scheme to extend the canal westward from its original terminus at Stockingfield, in Glasgow. The engineer was Robert Whitworth.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

References:

Hume, J. (1976) The Industrial Archaeology of Scotland: The Lowlands and Borders.

Lindsay, J. (1968) The Canals of Scotland.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland