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Lanark
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.jpg) Lanark High Street, August 2006 | |
 Coat of Arms of theRoyal Burgh of Lanark | |
  Lanark Location withinSouth Lanarkshire | |
| Population | 8,880 (2022)[1] |
| OS grid reference | NS8843 |
| • Edinburgh | 29+1⁄2 miles (47.5 km) |
| • London | 325 miles (523 km) |
| Council area | |
| Lieutenancy area | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LANARK |
| Postcode district | ML11 |
| Dialling code | 01555 |
| Police | Scotland |
| Fire | Scottish |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| UK Parliament | |
| Scottish Parliament | |
| 55°40′30″N3°46′37″W / 55.674903°N 3.777019°W /55.674903; -3.777019 | |
Lanark (/ˈlænərk/LAN-ərk;Scottish Gaelic:Lannraig[2][ˈl̪ˠaun̪ˠɾɪkʲ];Scots:Lanrik[3]) is a town inSouth Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east ofHamilton. The town lies on theRiver Clyde, at its confluence withMouse Water. In 2016, the town had a population of 9,050.
Lanark was aroyal burgh from 1140 to 1975, and was historically thecounty town ofLanarkshire, though in modern times this title belongs to Hamilton. Notable landmarks nearby includeNew Lanark, theCorra Linn and the site ofLanark Castle.
Lanark railway station and bus interchange have frequent services toGlasgow. There is little industry in Lanark and some residents commute to work in Glasgow andEdinburgh. Its shops serve the local agricultural community and surrounding villages. There is a large modern livestock auction market on the outskirts of the town.
The town's name is believed to come from theCumbricLanerc meaning "clear space, glade".[4]
Lanark has served as an important market town since medieval times, and KingDavid I made it a royal burgh in 1140, giving it certain mercantile privileges relating togovernment andtaxation. David I realised that greater prosperity could result from encouraging trade. He decided to create a chain of new towns across Scotland. These would be centres of Norman civilisation in a largely Celtic country, and would be established in such a way as to encourage the development of trade within their area. These new towns were to be known as Burghs.Bastides were established in France for much the same reason.
When a site had been selected for a new town the King's surveyors would lay out an area for the town's market. Each merchant who came to the town was granted a plot of land (usually rent free for the first few years) bordering on the marketplace. These plots were known asfeus or in royal burghs such as Lanark as burgages. Each burgage in a burgh was the same size, though the size varied between burghs. InForres in the north of Scotland each feu was 24 feet 10 inches (7.57 m) wide and 429 feet (131 m) deep. The layout of the burgages in Lanark can still be easily seen between the north side of Lanark High Street (the former market place) and North Vennel, a lane which runs behind the burgages. Amotte and bailey castle was also constructed at the bottom of Castlegate.
Lanark had four town gates, West Port, East port, Wellgate and Castlegate. West Port gate was demolished in the 1770s.[5]
The first aviation meeting to be held in Scotland was held atLanark Racecourse between 6 and 13 August 1910. This location was chosen because the land was relatively flat, the racecourse already had facilities for a paying public, there were stables to act as hangars for the aeroplanes and the racecourse was accessible by both road and by rail, especially asThe Caledonian Railway Company were prepared to construct a new station near the main entrance. The aeroplanes were transported to the meeting by rail, as aviation technology at the time was not advanced enough to safely fly there. The Lanark meeting took place shortly after a similar event inBournemouth at whichCharles Rolls died. Influenced by this, it was decided that no aircraft would fly closer than 300 yards (270 m) away from the spectators. For the first time, aeroplanes were accurately timed over a straight measured distance, allowing the first world records to be set, covering flights over 1 mile (1.6 km). The meeting was described byThe Aero magazine as 'the most successful yet held in Britain'.[6]
A permanent military presence was established in the town with the completion ofWinston Barracks in the 1930s.[7]
On 29 June 1953, QueenElizabeth II visited Lanark to mark her coronation.[8]
The people of Lanark form part of various different constituencies. In local elections, they are the main component of theClydesdale North ward which elects three representatives toSouth Lanarkshire Council.[9] In elections to theScottish Parliament, Lanark elects its representatives as part of theClydesdale constituency, and also contributes to the election of seven additional list members as part of theSouth of Scotland region. The current Clydesdale MSP isAileen Campbell of the SNP, who defeated the Labour incumbentKaren Gillon in the2011 election after Gillon had held the seat since 1999. InWestminster elections, Lanark is part of theLanark and Hamilton East constituency. Labour'sJimmy Hood represented the area in Parliament from 1987 until 2015; since then the MP has beenAngela Crawley. Prior toBrexit in 2020, the town was part of theScotland constituency which elected six MEPs to theEuropean Parliament.
There are 14 historical closes or vennels in the town - alleyways allowing access to the High street. Some are named after an original shop owner, one is named Wallace close as it depicts key moments of William Wallace's life in Lanark[10]
Visitors to the town can visit the nearbyWorld Heritage Site ofNew Lanark,[11] close to theFalls of Clyde, theCorehouse estate and theScottish Wildlife Trust'sCorehouse Nature Reserve.[12]
The Lanark Museum[13] is located in West Port, inside the YMCA building.
A large boating lake,Lanark Loch, adjoins Lanark Golf Club which has a lovely and historic 18 hole course for more experienced golf players and a 9-hole golf course. The former racecourse now offers pony-trekking activities.
The town's Castlebank Park lies near the former site ofLanark Castle,[14] and allows access to theRiver Clyde and theClyde Walkway.
An ornate gas lamp, known as theprovost's lamp stands at the bottom of the High Street. After the burgh council was abolished in 1975,[15] the provost's lamp, which had historically been placed outside the house of the provost as one of their marks of office, was relocated to the pavement just to the east ofLanark Tolbooth on a permanent basis.[16]
One of the churches in the town bears the name of The Old Church of St Kentigern (perhaps better known asSt Mungo), who set up many medieval churches in theScottish Lowlands, includingGlasgow, and died c.612 AD. The town's cemetery stands on the site of The Old Church of St Kentigern, and includes manyCovenanter graves.
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St. Nicholas Parish Church stands at the bottom of the high street. The church bell is believed to date from 1110, and may be one of the oldest church bells in the world. It was moved from The Old Church of St Kentigern when St. Nicholas Church was built in 1774. It has been recast four times, including 1659 and 1983. There is an 8-foot (2.45 m) statue of William Wallace in the steeple. This was sculpted by Robert Forrest, from an ancient drawing in the possession of the Society of Antiquaries.
This historic background forms the basis for theLanark Lanimers, which take place each year for one week in June. Local primary schoolchildren elect a Lanimers queen and court; and a Lord Cornet is chosen from local businessmen. On the Monday night the Perambulation of the Marches takes place, when townspeople turn out to walk around half the town boundary, following the Lord Cornets past and present as they inspect the border-stones. Traditionally, the townspeople carry "birks" (Scots for "sticks of birch"), which are small branches of birch trees cut from the woods at the Glenburnie estate. This tradition was started in 1948 by Joseph Doolan, whose family owned the land. The other half of the boundary is inspected on the Wednesday night, again led by the Lord Cornet accompanied by many local riders who participate in the Riding of the Marches, locally referred to as the Rideout. On the Thursday morning, schools and other organisations parade before the Lanimer Queen in themed dress, accompanied bypipe bands. The best Lanimer Lorries win prizes, and after the parade the crowning of the Queen takes place on a temporary stand erected in front of St Nicholas' Church, under the statue ofWilliam Wallace. The Queen holds a reception party in the town's Memorial Hall[17] on the Friday night, where children perform songs and dances.
William Wallace is one of the most notable people in Lanark's history. A key leader in theScottish Wars of Independence, he is known to have first "drawn his sword to free his native land" atLanark in 1297, killing the English sheriff Haselrig.[18][19] An 8-foot statue of Wallace sits on St Nicholas Church at the town cross dating back to 1817 which was sculpted by Carluke-bornRobert Forrest.[20]
Other notable figures from Lanark include:
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![The "Girnin Dug" statue of a dog erected as a reproach to a neighbour suspected of poisoning the pet[34]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aThe_Girnin_Dug%2c_Lanark.jpg)
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