Now, I have to admit if I was walking at Calderglen Park and saw this and knowing there was a former castle nearby, I would have walked on thinking it was part of the demolition rubble. To my untrained eye, this looks like a piece of ornate sandstone. However, I would have been wrong in saying that.
Pauline Brannigan found this at Calderglen Park on Friday last week near the falls. She suspected it was actually natural rather than manmade and mentioned that it was heavy. Posting on a fossil website, she had it confirmed that it WAS actually a fossil of a root likely from Sigillaria/Lepidodendron species that are known to exist at Carboniferous exposures in Calderglen.
It is little wonder David Livingstone, as a young boy spent countless hours in the elevated regions of High Blantyre looking for fossils.
An interesting find indeed and even more remarkable when you consider this fossil is likely to be many, many MILLIONS of years old! The period in history this came from would have had abundant forests existing in a hot, humid climate, very different from today’s temperate environment.
With thanks to Pauline Brannigan for this photo.
