| Elvanfoot | |
|---|---|
 View of A74(M) crossing the River Clyde near Elvanfoot | |
  Elvanfoot Location withinSouth Lanarkshire | |
| OS grid reference | NS953171 |
| Council area | |
| Lieutenancy area | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BIGGAR |
| Postcode district | ML12 |
| Dialling code | 01864 |
| Police | Scotland |
| Fire | Scottish |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| UK Parliament | |
| Scottish Parliament | |
| 55°26′13″N3°39′20″W / 55.437°N 3.6555°W /55.437; -3.6555 | |
Elvanfoot is a small village inSouth Lanarkshire, Scotland.
Elvanfoot is located at the confluence of theRiver Clyde andElvan Water.[1] The Clyde is crossed by a pedestriansuspension bridge that has been closed since 2007 for want of repair.[2] The unused church is on theBuildings at Risk Register for Scotland,[3] as are the stables of Newton House, once home to the Scottish judgeAlexander Irving, Lord Newton.[4][5]
The name 'Elvan' includes the element*al-, which occurs in river names in Roman Britain and continental Europe. A number of meanings have been suggested, including 'bright, shining, white', 'sparkling, speckled' and 'holy' amongst others. Almost all attestations of the root occur with theProto-Indo-European suffix-*awe- and "root-determinative-*n- or participial-*ant-", giving the proto-form*al-au-n-.[6]
Andrew Breeze has suggested that the name is derived fromCumbric*halẹ:n 'salt',cognate withWelshhalen, which is found in a number of Welsh river names. As Elvan Water passes through a mining area, Breeze suggests that there may be high levels of salt in the river. The loss of initial /h/ could be explained as a result of the name's transmission viaGaelic.[7][8]
Elvanfoot is at the junction of theA702 andB7040 roads and1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) south from junction 14 of theM74 motorway. Until 1965, it was served byElvanfoot railway station on theWest Coast Main Line. The village is also served by the number 102 bus from Edinburgh to Dumfries, which operates once daily in each direction, There used to be two buses per day, but this was cut due to council funding being reduced.
