The 1747 Map of Greenhall
I find this particular section of the 1747 map truly fascinating. In a time long before the EK Expressway, or even the modern route exiting Blantyre up the hill Westwards to Greenhall, there was an older road in this area and it took you through some amazing scenery.
If this 1747 map of Greenhall is to be relied upon (and i see no reason to doubt anything on this map, which i’ve so far found to be accurate), then there is evidence of an older road from High Blantyre leading up to Greenhall.
To put the road in context, i’ve plotted the current roads from Blantyre with grey dots for the current road leading from Shott farm up to Greenhall and the yellow representing the A725 EK Expressway.
It’s the point from Shott farm i find fascinating. The old 1747 road goes through the fields (roughly behind where Armour Court is now). It leads up to where the entrance of the park was, but in those days, the main road and indeed, only road in that location actually was the one going through the centre of the park, into Greenhall Estate and out the other side back on to the Stoneymeadow Road near Crossbasket. In those times Crossbasket still had the old spelling of Corsbasket. The map serves as a good record of how the old infrastructure looked in High Blantyre and just what a focal point the Church in the Old Kirkyard was, with all road spiraling out from it. (more on that in another post!)