Cramond: Difference between revisions

{{Use dmy dates|date=MarchApril 20182020}}

| static_image_name = Cramond Harbour.jpg

| static_image_caption = Cramond Harbour

| country = Scotland = Scotland

| official_name = Cramond Village

| gaelic_name =Cathair Cair Amain

| os_grid_reference = NT18667629

| population = 7,502

| population_ref = ([[United Kingdom Census 2001|2001]])

'''Cramond Village''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|r|æ|m|ən|d}}; {{lang-gd|CathairCair Amain}}) is a village and suburb in the north-west of [[Edinburgh]], Scotland, at the mouth of the [[River Almond, Lothian|River Almond]] where it enters the [[Firth of Forth]].

The Cramond area has a long history, with evidence of [[Mesolithic]], [[Bronze Age]] and [[Roman Scotland|Roman]] activity. In modern times, it was the birthplace of the Scottish economist [[John Law (economist)|John Law]] (1671–1729). Cramond was incorporated into the City of Edinburgh by the [[Edinburgh Boundaries Extension and Tramways Act 1920]] ([[10 & 11 Geo. 5]]. c. lxxxvii).<ref>[https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/museums-galleries/1920-city-boundary-extension-centenary/1 ReDrawing Edinburgh: The Edinburgh Boundary Extension Centennial 1920 Project] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303093221/https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/museums-galleries/1920-city-boundary-extension-centenary/1 |date=3 March 2021 }}, [[City of Edinburgh Council]]</ref>

It was once believed that [[Cramond Roman Fort]] was known to the Romans as ''Alaterva''. A stone altar was dug up in the grounds of Cramond House dedicated "To the Alatervan [[Matres and Matrones|Mothers]] and the Mothers of the Parade-ground."<ref name="rcahms">[http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/50409/details/cramond/ Site Record for Cramond Edinburgh, Cramond Roman Fort Details] -– Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland</ref> Early [[antiquarian]]s interpreted the inscription as referring to the place where the stone was found, but this idea is no longer accepted among scholars, and "Alatervae" is presumably a native name for the deities the [[Matres and Matrones|Matronae]], perhaps originating with the [[Tungri]]an cohort who erected the altar.<ref>"The ''Matres Alatervae'' (or ''Alatervia''), on the other hand, are mentioned only here, and the significance of the epithet they bear is wholly obscure. Sir John Clerk, in a letter which is printed by Gordon, suggested that it was local and that ''Alaterva'' was the Roman name of Cramond. Endorsed by [[William Stukeley|Stukeley]], this suggestion has been generally accepted. But it has no foundation in fact. It is much more probable that the Tungrians had brought the designation with them from their native land, and that it is there that Alaterva must be looked for, if indeed it be a place at all." ''Tenth report with inventory of monuments and constructions in the counties of Midlothian and West Lothian'', (1929), page 42. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions of Scotland</ref>

Archaeological excavations at Cramond have uncovered evidence of habitation dating to around [[9th millennium BC|8500 BC]], making it, for a time, the earliest known site of human settlement in Scotland.<ref name="Nuts give clue to 'oldest' Scots site">{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1352091.stm| title=Nuts give clue to 'oldest' Scots site| authorwork= BBC News| accessdate=2008-06access-date=28 June 2008 | date=2001-05-26 May 2001}}</ref> The inhabitants of the Mesolithic camp-site were nomadic hunter-gatherers who moved around their territories according to the season of the year.<ref name="hunter-gatherers">Cramond Heritage Trust (1996), p. 8</ref> Although no bones survived the acid soil, waste pits and stakeholes that would have supported shelters or windbreaks were excavated. Numerous discarded hazelnut shells, the waste product of the inhabitants' staple food, were found in the pits and used to carbon-date the site.<ref name="hunter-gatherers"/> It is thought the site was chosen for its location near the junction of the Firth of Forth and the River Almond, where the rich oyster and mussel beds proved a reliable natural resource. Many [[microlith]] stone tools manufactured at the site were found, and pre-date finds of similar style in England.<ref name="Earliest evidence found of settlers in Scotland">{{cite web| url=http://www.britarch.ac.uk/BA/ba60/news.shtml| title=Earliest evidence found of settlers in Scotland| author= British Archaeology| accessdateaccess-date=28 June 2008| archive-06date=19 July 2012| archive-28url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120719163636/http://www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba60/news.shtml| url-status=dead}}</ref>

Around 142, [[Roman Empire|Roman]] forces arrived at Cramond by order of the Emperor [[Antoninus Pius]], who had given themwith the task of establishing a [[fort]] at the mouth of the River Almond. This fort would guard the eastern flank of the fortified frontier known as the [[Antonine Wall]] (named after the Emperor, as with [[Hadrian]]'s Wall) that the Romans had established across Scotland. Nearly five hundred men worked on the site, building a fort that covered nearly six acres, andwith a harbour for communication. However, the fort was only inhabited for a short time, perhaps fifteen years, before it was abandoned by the troops who were ordered to retreat south to [[Hadrian's Wall]]. Pottery and coins of later date indicate that the fort and harbour were reinhabited and used as a base for the army and navy of the Emperor [[Septimius Severus]], sometime between 208 and 211.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Elliott|first1=Simon|last2=Hughes|first2=Tristan|title=The Scottish Campaigns of Septimius Severus|url=http://turningpointsoftheancientworld.com/index.php/2018/03/18/scottish-campaigns-septimius-severus/|accessdateaccess-date=21 May 2018|agency=Turning Points Ofof Thethe Ancient World|date=18 March 2018}}</ref>

In 1997, the ''[[Cramond Lioness]]'' was uncovered in the harbour mud by a local boatman (who received a substantial monetary reward for finding this major antiquity), and was identified as a sandstone statue of a lioness devouring a hapless male figure, probably one of a pair at the tomb of a military commander. After conservation, the statue was displayedput on display in the [[National Museum of Scotland]] in Edinburgh. It is one of the most ambitious pieces of Roman sculpture to have survived in Scotland.

After the departure of the Romans, little is known about the state of Cramond for several centuries. The historiography of the period ishas perhaps bestbeen summed up by the historian J. Wood, who wrote 'a dark cloud of obscurity again settled over the parish of Cramond, of which I cannot find the smallest memorial in any historian till the year 995.'<ref name="dark cloud of obscurity">Wood (1794), p. 12</ref>

A [[tower house]], [[Cramond Tower]], probably built in the early 15th century, and part of a now-demolished larger establishment, was once a manor house of the [[Bishop of Dunkeld|Bishops of Dunkeld]], of whose diocese Cramond was a part. It was made structurally sound and converted to a private dwelling in the 1980s.

Cramond is located at {{coord|55|58.78|N|3|18.04|W|region:GB_type:city(7500)|display=inline,title}} in northwest Edinburgh, about {{convert|5|mi|km}} from the city centre, at the mouth of the River Almond where it enters the Firth of Forth.

The area has a low, gently undulating [[topography]] that drops down from the top of Corstorphine hill to the shore in three gradual stages and is intersected by the River Almond which flows northward into the Forth.<ref name="topography">Cramond Heritage Trust (1996), p. 4</ref> [[John Philip Wood]] writing in 1794 calls the river "Amon" and notes the stretch running from Craigiehall to the Firth of Forth has wooded, high and steep banks, "frequently chequered with bold and overhanging rocks".<ref>Wood (1794), p. 2</ref> During the last ice age the area was heavily glaciated, and the main direction of the ice flow was west to east. Consequently, there are rock deposits on the east side of landforms such as the Almond river valley, and until the Cramond promenade was built in the 1930s large glacial boulders were strewn along the shore.<ref name="topography"/> The [[geology]] of Cramond consists of [[calciferous sandstone]], which mixed with two later [[Sill (geology)|sills]] to give the area its characteristic chocolate-brown soil.<ref name="topography"/>

The geology of Cramond consists of [[calciferous sandstone]], which mixed with two later [[Sill (geology)|sills]] to give the area its characteristic chocolate-brown soil.<ref name="topography"/> The leaflet “Geological"Geological history of cramond”cramond" provides information about the geology of the cramond area such as that there is a coal seam visible near the beach on the south west side of the river almond estuary.<ref> “Geological"Geological history of cramond Edinburgh ... copyright 2014 lothian and borders geoconservation, a committee of the edinburgh geological society, a charity registered in Scotland. Charity no: sc008011. The cramond heritage trust is a charity registered in scotland. Charity no: sc000754”

The 8 tonne work ''Fish'' has been permanently installed on the Waterfront at Cramond in 2009<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh/Neighbours-chip-in-to-net.5098132.jp | location=Edinburgh | work=The Scotsman | first=Hazel | last=Mollison | title=Neighbours chip in to net fish sculpture | date=2009-03-23 March 2009}}</ref> after a successful campaign by the Cramond community, paying homage to the eight months of carving of the pink granite there by [[sculptor]] [[Ronald Rae]] in 2002.

Cramond Kirk Church Hall also displays the smaller ''Cramond Fish''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ronaldrae.co.uk/pages/selectedartwork.php?artworkid=46&slideshowcode=UNAVAIL |title=ArchivedRonald copyRae Sculpture - Timeless, Hand Carved Granite Sculptures by a Renowned Scottish Sculptor |accessdateaccess-date=9 May 2009-05-09 |url-status=dead |archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071103205935/http://www.ronaldrae.co.uk/pages/selectedartwork.php?artworkid=46&slideshowcode=UNAVAIL |archivedatearchive-date=3 November 2007-11-03 }}</ref> In the car park, to the rear of the Kirk Hall, another sculpture (elephant) is taking shape.

The older houses along the wharf are typical of traditional south-east Scottish [[vernacular architecture]], constructed in stone with [[harl]]ing white [[lime render]] finish, with facing stone window and door surrounds and ''crow-step gables'', roofed with orangey-red clay pantiles imported from the Netherlands. A ruined water mill lies further up the Almond along a quiet walk past a yacht club and sailing boats moored in the river. To the east a sand beach and waterfront esplanade provides a popular walk to [[Silverknowes]] and [[Granton, Edinburgh|Granton]]. On the other side of the Almond, (once accessible by a rowing-boat ferry) the [[Dalmeny House|Dalmeny Estate]] has a pleasant walk through Dalmeny Woods along the shore of the [[Firth of Forth]].

* [[Russell Barr]], ministerMinister and Former Moderator of The Church of Scotland.

* [[George Muirhead (minister)|Rev George Muirhead]] (1764-18471764–1847) minister of Cramond 1816 to 1847

{{reflistReflist}}

* {{cite book|author=Robert Brown|title= Life in North West Edinburgh 1900-2000: Muttonhole, at the hub of the former greater parish of Cramond|year= 2000|publisher=Pillans & Wilson |location= Edinburgh|isbn=}}

* {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/antientandmoder00woodgoog|quote=cramond.|title=''The Antient and Modern state of the Parish of Cramond'' |author=[[John Philip Wood]] |author-link=John Philip Wood |publisher=Edinburgh: John Paterson |year=1794 }}