Lanark

Lanark (Lannraig, Lanrik) is a small town in the central belt of Scotland. Its population of 8,253 makes it the 100th largest settlement in Scotland. The name is believed to come from the Cumbric Lanerc meaning "clear space, glade".

Lanark was the county town of the former county of Lanarkshire, though for many years Hamilton was the county town, before the formation of Strathclyde. Lanark railway station and coach station has frequent services to Glasgow. There is little industry in Lanark and some residents commute to work in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Its shops serve the local agricultural community and surrounding villages. There is a large modern livestock auction market on the outskirts of the town.

History
Lanark has served as an important market town since medieval times, and King David I made it a Royal Burgh in 1140, giving it certain mercantile privileges relating to government and taxation. King 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 as feus or rigs. Each feu in a burgh was the same size, though the size varied between burghs. In Forres each feu was 24 feet 10 inches wide and 429 feet deep. The layout of the feus 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 feus. A motte and bailey castle was also constructed at the bottom of Castlegate.

European Parliament
Lanark is part of the constituency of Scotland which elects six representatives to the European Parliament.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Lanark is part of the constituency of Lanark and Hamilton East. Jimmy Hood has represented Lanark and Hamilton East in the UK Parliament since 1987.

Scottish Parliament
Lanark is part of the constituency of Clydesdale. Karen Gillon represented Clydesdale in the Scottish Parliament since 1999. Clydesdale is one of nine constituencies in the South of Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members by a system of proportional representation. The 2007 electoral results are given in the Clydesdale article and in the article for the Scottish Parliament election, 2007. In 2011, Aileen Campbell (SNP) defeated Karen Gillon (Labour) in the Scottish Parliamentary elections, to become the newly elected MSP for Clydesdale.

Local Council
Lanark is within the South Lanarkshire council area.

Landmarks


Visitors to the town can visit the nearby World Heritage Site of New Lanark, close to the Falls of Clyde, the Corehouse estate and the Scottish Wildlife Trust's Corehouse Nature Reserve.

The Lanark Museum is located in West Port.

A large boating lake, Lanark Loch, adjoins a golf course and the former racecourse, the latter offering pony-trekking activities.

The town's Castlebank Park lies near the former site of Lanark Castle, and allows access to the River Clyde and the Clyde Walkway.

An ornate gas lamp, known as the 'Provost's Lamp' stands at the bottom of the high street. The lamp used to be placed outside the home of whoever was Provost of Lanark at the time.

One of the churches in the town bears the name of The Old Church of St Kentigern (perhaps better known as St Mungo), who set up many medieval churches in the Scottish Lowlands, including Glasgow, and died c.612 AD. The town's cemetery stands on the site of The Old Church of St Kentigern, and includes many Covenanter graves.

St. Nicolas' 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. Nicolas's 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.

Lanark Lanimer Day
This historic background forms the basis for the Lanark Lanimer celebrations, which take place each year for one week in June. Local primary schoolchildren elect a Lanimer 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", 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 by pipe bands. The best floats 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 of William Wallace. The Queen holds a reception party in the town's Memorial Hall on the Thursday and Friday nights, where children perform songs and dances.

Music
Pipe Bands: Lanark & District Pipe Band previously had two units which competed in competitions run by the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association - one competing in grade 4b and one in grade 3a, having been upgraded from 4b to 4a to 3b to 3a in consecutive years from 2004. In the 1980s, the band competed as high as grade 2 and as of 2011, the band is thriving in numbers and competes in Grade 4b.

The 'Music in Lanark' programme began in 2000 with the aim of bringing a variety of the highest quality live music to the town. In the first five years there were three classical concerts, one jazz concert and one traditional (Scottish) music concert. The programme continues to grow.

Climate
As with the rest of the British Isles and Scotland, Lanark experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. In terms of the local climate profile, Lanarks inland, rural, river valley setting means frost is very common, having been recorded in all months. Typically almost 100 nights will report a frost per year, and even in a statistically average year the temperature should fall to as low as -14.3 C on the coldest night.

Notable Lanarkians
Some would argue that William Wallace is one of the most notable people in Lanark's history. A key leader in the Scottish Wars of Independence, he is known to have first "drawn his sword to free his native land" in Lanark in 1297, killing the English sheriff Haselrig. His name is well known through the town, with first year pupils at Lanark Grammar School studying Wallace and the Wars of Independence in detail. An 8 foot statue of Wallace sits on St Nicholas Church at the town cross dating back to 1817 which was sculpted by Carluke man Robert Forrest.

Other important figures in Lanark history include:
 * George Gray, born in Lanark in the 1620s, a POW from the Battle of Dunbar (1650), Durham Cathedral survivor, and New World refugee upon arrival to Berwick, Maine.
 * William Smellie (1697–1763), obstetrician
 * Lord Braxfield (1722–1799), High Court Judge
 * John Glaister (1856–1932), forensic scientist
 * The rallying family of Jimmy, Alister and the late Colin McRae
 * Scotland goalkeeper and former Glasgow Celtic goalkeeper, Robert (Rab) Douglas
 * Scotland and Middlesbrough defender Stephen McManus
 * Scotland and Rangers manager Walter Smith
 * Scotland and Hearts goalkeeper Henry Smith
 * Billy Ritchie Rock music's first lead keyboard player, born in Lanark
 * Lee Miller, Carlisle United striker
 * Dougie Imrie, St. Mirren midfielder, started career with Lanark United
 * Stephen Pearson, Derby County midfielder, formerly of Motherwell
 * Johnny Reid, a Scottish/Canadian country music singer, who is very popular in Canada where he has 2 platinum albums and one gold album
 * Darren Smith, former Motherwell winger
 * Stewart Greacen (born 1988), footballer on Rangers F.C.

Primary schools
There are three main primary schools in Lanark: 1 Indicates non-denominational school 2 Primarily a Roman Catholic school, but will accept other religious groups
 * Lanark Primary School (LPS) 1
 * Robert Owen Memorial Primary School (ROMPS) 1
 * St. Mary's Primary School 2

Secondary schools
There is one secondary school in Lanark:
 * Lanark Grammar School (LGS), a non-denominational school