The canals and navigations of Scotland are particularly important cultural heritage assets and in many cases represent exemplars in canal development world-wide (for example the first sea to sea link with the building of the Forth & Clyde Canal). This resource, however, is not limited to the more obvious exemplars of the industrial age but also include the extensive riverine contexts in Scotland and examples of relict canals and navigations developed and utilised from early times.
The location of the major industrial canal building programmes in Scotland between the Moray Firth and Forth and Clyde. This shows quite clearly the geographic extent of the industrial enterprise but does not illustrate the many lesser-known and relict inland navigations and waters from earlier contexts, © HES
Many of the major Scottish canals fall within Historic Scotland’s (HS) remit as most of the waterways are protected as Scheduled Monuments. In addition to identified monuments are the many new sites and less well studied canals and navigations that make up the extensive cultural tapestry of our inland waters.
Scottish Canals manages the inland waterways in Scotland and has taken great steps in recent years to introduce measures to conserve and manage the cultural heritage of the canals – exemplified by the Millennium Link Project which saw the re-opening of the Forth & Clyde and Union Canals. The Project was the culmination of four decades of sustained campaigning by canal societies to reinstate coast to coast navigation. The canals currently under management include the Forth and Clyde, Union, Crinan, Caledonian and Monkland Canals (see figure to the right). These however only represent the tip of the iceberg; the extent and varied nature of the resource means that many facets requiring study are yet to be tapped.
There are a number of principal ‘big issues’ that need to be tackled to allow us to understand past communities’ relationship to waterbodies both as an artery of communication, and as the context for everyday life:
- There is a need to create a holistic framework that endeavours to quantify the current archaeological and documentary resource – from which targeted, well structured research agendas can be developed.
- These initiatives should not be seen as independent but can be linked with complementary disciplines including industrial archaeology and particular regional research topics and initiatives.
- The canals and navigations need to be placed within the context of the wider cultural heritage landscape.
- The wider resource outwith the remit of Scottish Canals and Historic Scotland needs to be quantified and better understood, leading to targeted research initiatives, perhaps in concert with academic institutions, national bodies and regional archaeological curators.
- The early, pre-industrial evidence for developments in canals and navigations needs to be addressed and better understood.