Contents
This selection of maps of the Parish of Strathblane spans a period of well over 400 years. Many of the historical maps are from The National Library of Scotland’s map collection.
Historic Maps
Timothy Pont Map published by Joan Blaeu in his Atlas Of Scotland in 1654
The earliest surviving detailed maps of Scotland were made by Timothy Pont in the 1580s and 1590s. His maps were not published in his lifetime. It was not until 1654 that 36 of them were engraved and published as a major part of Volume V of the Blaeu Atlas of Scotland published as “Atlas Novus” This contained maps and descriptions of Scotland and Ireland in a number of languages including Latin, Dutch, French and German but not English.
This map of our area shows a symbol for the K. of Strathblein (the Kirk of Strathblane) and a drawing of the hills to the east. A number of familiar names can be identified. The maps were hand coloured.
https://maps.nls.uk/view/00000438#zoom=5&lat=2699&lon=5470&layers=BT
Old Strathblane
This map was published in 1886 and is John Guthrie Smith’s portrayal of the parish 200 years earlier in the 1660s. His key to the map is shown below.
From the book The Parish of Strathblane and Its Inhabitants from Early Times
Roy Military Survey of Scotland 1752
After the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745-1746, the Hanoverian military commanders in Scotland found that there were no proper surveys or maps of the whole of Scotland.
In 1747 work began on a new Military Survey of Scotland. The responsibility for this was delegated to William Roy who was an Assistant Quartermaster in the Board of Ordnance, a body with responsibility for military infrastructure and mapping. It is thought that initially Roy undertook the surveying single handedly. From 1748 Roy was assisted by six surveying parties, with six men within each survey party. The survey was undertaken in two parts, Amazingly the Highlands were largely complete by 1752, while the Lowlands (south of the Forth-Clyde line) were completed by 1755.
To the Noblemen and Gentlemen of the County of Stirling… John Grassom 1817
This is part of an early 19th Century county map of Stirling. It would have been produced to be sold to wealthy gentlemen, hence the ornate dedication as seen on the title plate. The map shows little detail of the Strathblane area, with only the printworks, the church and the manse being named. We can see that Duntreath Castle was “in ruin”. The whole map included tables of distances and population in the bottom left hand corner. It would have been hand coloured after it was printed.
https://maps.nls.uk/view/74400332#zoom=6&lat=4126&lon=10972&layers=BT??
https://maps.nls.uk/view/216390139#zoom=7&lat=4075&lon=10527&layers=BT
https://maps.nls.uk/counties/rec/7435
Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, 1862
The National Library of Scotland website tells us that:
“This series (1855-1882), is the earliest detailed mapping for all the inhabited regions of Scotland. All towns, villages and cultivated rural areas were mapped, comprising over a third of the total land area of Scotland.
The maps allow practically every feature in the landscape to be shown. They provide good detail of all buildings, streets, railways, industrial premises, parkland, farms, woodland, and rivers. Their bold style and attractive, informative, hand-colouring allow easy interpretation for a wide range of uses.”
The Parish of Strathblane lies on the join of two of these maps, which have been joined together to produce the image below. Buildings are coloured red and we can see the print works and the old school in the area called Netherton. Edenkiln is now named Strathblane. The area between the two settlements has numerous fields including the Dumbrock Bleaching Fields.
https://maps.nls.uk/view/74984511
https://maps.nls.uk/view/74984508
Map of “Strathblane in 1886” from John Guthrie Smith’s book “The Parish of Strathblane and its Inhabitants from Early Times”
This is the second of the two maps in Guthrie Smith’s book.
It clearly shows the North British Railway line, the station at Edenkill, and the new Blanefield Station.
Blanefield House and Blanefield Print Works are prominently marked. We can also see the school and the site of St Kessog’s Well.
From the book The Parish of Strathblane and Its Inhabitants from Early Times
Ordnance Survey Maps – 25 inch 2nd edition, Scotland, 1892
This newer edition of the 25 inch Ordnance Survey maps clearly shows the extent of the print works by this time. Note the filtering beds downstream of the print works, designed to collect some of the impurities from the waste water from the print works. The remains of these can be seen beside the footpath along the Blane Water from the bottom of Station Road. The whole area is still largely agricultural, the big change from the first edition being the railway. We can also see the line of the Loch Katrine Waterworks pipeline.
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=15.7&lat=55.98622&lon=-4.31340&layers=168&b=1
Ordnance Survey, One-inch to the mile maps of Scotland, 3rd Edition – 1905
On this smaller scale map at the start of the 20th Century the villages are still separate, though more houses have been built in the area labelled Netherton. We can see the 3 churches, 2 stations, the smithy and the inn.
https://maps.nls.uk/view/216390513#zoom=7&lat=6480&lon=9472&layers=BT
Ordnance Survey, One-inch to the mile maps of Great Britain Seventh Series, 1972
Jumping forward to the 1970s the map looks more familiar. The two villages haven’t quite joined up and there is a lot of green space which is now occupied by houses. A new feature is the hospital to the South of Strathblane.
https://maps.nls.uk/view/197235569#zoom=7&lat=11588&lon=7414&layers=BT
Sketch map of Strathblane 1990s
This map was printed on a tea towel which was sold to raise funds for Strathblane Heritage Society.
Though it is not to scale, it shows many points of historical interest.
Contemporary maps
More and more maps are now accessed online from Google, Bing, OpenStreetMap and also the Ordnance Survey. Some examples are below
Open Street Map
https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=15/55.9849/-4.3169
Bing Map
https://www.bing.com/maps/?cp=55.98637%7E-4.307602&lvl=14.9&style=s
Ordnance Survey
The Ordnance Survey have created a new free Standard Map which can be accessed on their mobile app or on the OS Maps web application,
https://osmaps.com/en-GB/standard-map
The National Library of Scotland
The National Library of Scotland’s map website offers amazing features which allow one to view historical maps side by side with modern maps or satellite images. These features are well worth exploring.
The side by side maps feature shows maps from different periods, with a slider feature clearly showing changes over time.
The georeferenced maps feature allows one to overlay maps from different periods so it is easy to view the changes over time.
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=15.9&lat=55.98706&lon=-4.31566&layers=168&b=1