In early 1977, at the building of new shops at Larkfield, some of Blantyre’s historians were called in to investigate some bizarre worked stone found at shallow depth below the ground. Contractors remarked at the time, the stone had been cut and could possibly be toppled standing stones and wondered if that had given rise to the name ‘Stonefield’?
Mr John Hamilton of Blantyre’s Historical Society said in May 1977, “Some time ago, we did find reference to the stones in a 19th Century book on Lanarkshire, then about 6 months ago whilst work was going on putting in the foundations of the new shops on Stonefield Road, stone blocks were found.”
Mr Hamilton noted that the blocks looked man made, were up to 6 feet long by around 2 feet thick. He added, “Some were broken, so they could have been double that height. The stones were taken away for disposal whilst work continues on finishing the shops.”
The Society put out a call to anybody who knew more about standing stones asking them to get in contact with the Society at the Elizabeth Scott Centre.
Looking back on this from a modern perspective, unfortunately even without even seeing these ‘standing stones’ , I don’t agree with the suggestion that they were some ancient artefact or that they gave rise to the name Stonefield. Though antiquities have been found in Blantyre, I think these are more modern….For a few reasons:
- Larkfield is the name of this district, at a push reaching to Barnhill. Stonefield was more to the north, where now Glasgow Road is and the name Stonefield certainly relates back to the farm of that name (later Hasties) and the surrounding difficult fields, which became the public park.
- These ‘worked stones’ were found in the location of the back gardens of former tenements, which had washhouses. I’m almost entirely sure, these were foundations to these washhouses, which I have photos of here.
- Another possibility is that on the boundary of lands of Broompark Farm, these stones were agriculturally related, perhaps part of older outbuildings or served some purpose for the farm itself.
- Finally, a last possibility is that immediately adjacent where now Burnbrae Road is, this used to be a former mineral railway line. i.e where the road is now. This line once led across Stonefield Road by means of a level crossing to the colliery at what is now the Bing. Perhaps the stones were related to the railway or the colliery.
I’ve marked up the 1859 map with the location of the later shops where the stones were found. At empty field in the 1850s with no features, part of Broompark Farm belonging to the Gardiner family. The later photo from the 1950s shows the former outbuildings and washhouses at the back of the former tenements on Stonefield Road, which now is the carpark at the back of the Larkfield Shops.
