In early July 2018, Susan Lindner Kelly sent me this photo of a strange object she noticed in the grounds of David Livingstone Centre. A stone object with the date of 1818 on it. Sending me over the picture she asked if I knew anything about it.

I immediately recognised it from old photos and fetched a 1915 postcard of Broompark Road at Barnhill.

Across from the old smiddy, on the right was a 2 storey tenement building, which you will see from the photo, when I zoom in, was constructed in 1818. The tenement building was directly across from the Templetons Smiddy on Broompark Road near what would later become the corner of Glenfruin Road. Today, modern homes are in that location.

The small dating stone on this building was unusually protruding above the gutterline as pictured and I’m almost positive that this is the same stone that is now lying on the ground in the Livingstone Centre. I have since raised this subject with David Livingstone Trust to ensure artefacts like these are not lost.

At the very least it should be given to the owners of the modern house that now stands on that spot, to be embedded into the garden or house walls.

Featuring Blantyre Project Social Media with permission. Strictly not for use by others on or offline, our visitors said:

Janet Cochrane My grandparents stayed in this building. My mother stayed in the new house that was built there for 30 years