that they acquired. They were shown the main
sources of current archaeological information
such as the Royal Commission's Volume on
Prehistoric and Roman Lanarkshire which was
published in 1976 and other useful works such
as Miller's book on the Romans in South West
Scotland. They were also shown the individual
parish histories such as they are and the
valuable parish surveys done in the Statistical
Accounts of Lanarkshire - 1795, 1842 and
1954. They also saw the important work undertaken by Irving and Murray in the early 1860s.
Looking for information on the Net was a new
area for most of the participants and this came
about as a result of a training session at the
Royal Commission for Ancient Monuments
Scotland at Salisbury Place in Edinburgh. Here
they were introduced to the Commission's
website called Canmore; this is invaluable as an
aid to looking for information on the sites
which were to be investigated. In general terms
this was an especially valuable experience as it
showed the participants the importance of using
the Net as a way of getting together information. 'I he principal beneficiary of this was a
lady who, due to her disabilities, was unable to
come to the Commission, but has been able to
play an important part in the project. Her
reaction to this was that it has given her an
insight into how the Net can help to liberate
those people who would have normally been
unable to take part in this sort of project to play
their part. Also the project gained the benefit of
a design artist, also disabled with ME, who was
responsible for the cover design for the project.
One other benefit was that at the end of the
project everybody had a reasonably clear idea of
what exactly had been expected of the participants e.g., for each site - grid reference /
maps / site history / old photographs / new
photographs / site observations and comments.
The learning of new skills such as basic surveying, finding out about the importance of the use
of the GPS equipment, digital cameras, laptops
and archaeological tools was useful. These skills
are useful in the longer term in that these skills
are transportable.
'I he equipment will also be useful for a long
time ahead and it has been used in an archaeological excavation in Lanark where some of the
course participants have been learning the techniques needed in a dig.
'1 he project also benefited from a volunteer
outwith the project acting as project manager to
co-ordinate the necessary people to produce the
report and ensure that everything was delivered
within a specific timescale.
Although the work undertaken by the volunteers is not maybe the quality that one might
expect of a professional team yet it is an
important addition to the knowledge of local
history / archaeology within the designated area.
In addition it does pull together a bit of new
knowledge which has not previously seen the
light of day.
In conclusion one of the most significant
achievements was that the group decided that
they would like to build on the project using the
skills that they had already acquired. Their
vision was that, subject to finance and approval,
they would like to learn how to use a resistivity
meter, do more fieldwalking and do a small
scale excavation. '1 hey wanted to use a resistivity meter to find out more about such sites as
Castledykes where excavation would not be
permitted - see recommendation section for
further information. Carrying out fieldwalking
in a number of localities near sites that are little
known would be useful, for example, Castle
Qua. They were also keen to participate in a
targeted excavation which would be small and
manageable, but useful. It was felt that Wilsontown Ironworks would be the best site for this.
Problems
The number of sites was too ambitious in terms
of the capabilities of the volunteers to deliver
results within the time schedule. '1 here were
two principal reasons - the first being training. It
had been anticipated that the training would
give the volunteers the confidence to go and
look at a site with a view to making a report on
it. his was to involve a lot more training than
was originally anticipated. What had not been
foreseen was just how much training would be
necessary to give each person the confidence to
tackle the assigned projects. Since this project
was to be open to all, it was inevitable that the
people taking part would come from a wide
sector of society with varying skills and abilities.
It is only now towards the end of the project
that the majority of the group are acquiring all
the necessary skills to make a difference. In
effect, what was being attempted was to give
the participants the equivalent academic skills
to a first year Archaeological Student.
Obviously this was not possible given the time
constraints and the spreading out of the course
over almost a year, but in effect this was about
six months as the specialized equipment did not
come till May.
For a variety of reasons, the training sessions
had to be spread over a number of months and
it was not possible to do the training sessions
when the trainer would have preferred.
However the main overall introductory training
session was good but, due to the budget and
costs restraints, it was not possible to have a
trainer on the visits. 'this would have speeded
up the visits and reporting. However, part of
the overall aim of the project was that the
participants, with some guidance, would be
responsible to some degree for their own
learning.
Since several people joined the project after it
was started there were inevitably problems
about people being focused on what exactly was
happening in the project and precisely where it
was going to end up. '1 his was put to bed at the
end of the project, but the point was taken that
the focus of the project should have been much
clearer at the beginning and a project objective
sheet should have been issued. This comment
has been taken on board for future projects as a
better way to manage a project.
Originally it had been anticipated that Derek
Alexander, the National Trust Archaeologist for
Southern Scotland would play a prominent part
in the training of the volunteers and the assessment of the sites suitable for further investigation. In reality this proved impossible due to the
reorganization and reassignment of tasks within
the National Trust for Scotland which is
currently undergoing a major restructuring
exercise, so the burden of undertaking the role
of Archaeological Consultant and trainer fell on
the shoulders of Ed Archer, Development
Officer of CSV/RSVP.
Unfamiliarity with equipment was another
stumbling block, in particular if a change had
been made in the way that it operated. 'I he GPS
acquired for the project did not give the grid
reference as another one of exactly the same
type. Fortunately for some of the time another
but older model was borrowed.
Another problem was to face the volunteers and
that was the weather. This summer was one of
the worst on record for rain, so this obviously
curtailed the number of opportunities for
investigation of the sites. Other minor problems
included illnesses and other similar issues.
However, despite all these issues and those previously mentioned, the volunteers managed to
accomplish a great deal during their involvement in the project.
If the weather in itself was a problem there was
the foot and mouth epidemic which effectively
put most of the sites out of bounds for visiting.
Though the chances of spreading the disease
were minimal, it was felt that it was better to be
safe than sorry and respect the control orders
that were put in place. Altogether three weeks
investigation time was lost due to this. But, fortunately, there was time enough to bring the
project back on track.
Recommendations
The group decided after some discussion with
the Archaeological consultant that they would
like to progress the project in a number of ways.
The first idea was to do a more in-depth study
on certain places that were on the project list.
The site that appealed to everybody was Eastshield Farm as the group had been given permission to copy a family history '1 his was felt
to be a good idea as it would add to the work
already undertaken there and could be easily
added to information already researched. The
same idea could also be applied to other sites
that have proved very interesting and exciting.
Fieldwalking was also high up on the agenda.
The success which members have had with this
particular mode of research has been noteworthy and it was felt that, if it was done near the
sites that had been difficult to write up, then it
might provide additional interesting information.
Use of the Resistivity Meter was seen as definitely useful especially in areas which were
scheduled under the Ancient Monuments Act.
Castledykes was thought to be a site meriting
this particular type of investigation. Some
investigation has already been undertaken using
this method at Castledykes and the results have
been very encouraging and, since there were
done, a new piece of software has been created
which now permits vertical surveys to be done.
It was also thought that this type of equipment
could be used at Blackcastle to try and locate
the original Blackcastle that gave the present
farm its current name.
Excavation was discussed and it was thought
that two small scale excavations could be done
and it was felt that excavating two dwelling
house sites would be useful. The site for this
would be Wilsontown as it would be ideal for
just such an exercise and could be done with
Historic Scotland and the Forestry Commission.
Also it would tie in with the considerable local
interest that the site has engendered. The same
idea could also be applied to other sites that
have proved very interesting and exciting.
Acknowledgements
Bibliography
 Derek Alexander - National Trust
The following sources of information have been
consulted:
'I he Statistical Accounts of Scotland Edinburgh 1791 -9
New Statistical Account of Scotland,
Edinburgh, 1845
Irving and Murray - 'I he Upper Ward of Lanarkshire described and delineated, Glasgow, 1864
Royal Commission on Ancient and Historic Monuments of Scotland - Prehistoric and Roman
Lanarkshire - HMSO - 1978
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries - report
on Hyndford Crannog -1898-1899
Miller - The Roman Occupation of South West
Scotland, Glasgow University, 1952
Professor Ann Robertson - 'I he Excavations
at Castledykes - Glasgow University - 1964
James Wilson - A contribution to the History of
Lanarkshire - 2 Volumes - Glasgow - 1936
Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland Volume VI - Scottish Record Office
Nigel Tranter - The Fortified House in Scotland
South West Scotland - James Thin - 1977
Caroline Robison - Wilsontown - A study in
Entreprenurial Failure (1779-1813)
Archaeological Adviser
 Ed Archer - Archaeological Consultant
 Chic Meehan - Project production Manager
 Ian Wallace - Finance Organizer
 Andrew Wallace - Report Collator and
Organizer
 Royal Commission of Ancient
Monuments Scotland
 National Library of Scotland - Map
Department
 Paul Archibald and Ian McIver Lanark Library
 Scottish Forestry Commission
 All the property owners who gave access
to members of the study group
 All the members of the national
bodies mentioned above and who helped
the volunteers
Other works have been referred to through the
project but chiefly through information held by the
Royal Commission in Edinburgh
Maps too have been consulted principally Timothy Pont - Map Of Lanarkshire - 1596
J. Blaeu - Upper and Lower Wards of
Lanarkshire - 1654
William Roy's Map of Lanarkshire - 1764
Forrest's Map of Lanarkshire - 1819
Ordnance survey maps from 1859 - present day