The written history and archaeological records of Central Scotland takes
us back to Pictish times some 5,000 years ago. The geology of the area
stretches back a further 400 million years.
The oldest rocks are found near Lesmahagow and in the Pentland Hills.
Known geologically as 'inliers'- small areas of rocks from an older age,
surrounded by younger strata - these strata have yielded some of the
oldest fish on earth and are highly prized for what they tell us about
early life on the planet. Rocks of the Old Red Sandstone and the
succeeding Carboniferous era underlie the rest of Central Scotland in
almost equal measure. Explosive volcanic rocks, thick layers of lava,
desert sandstones, limestones and productive coal measures make up this
bedrock patchwork. Then, sometime later, a covering of ice, some two
kilometres thick, blanketed the landscape. It sandpapered and burnished
the bedrock into the familiar scenes we see today - our matchless
Scottish landscape.
The coal and iron ore which lay beneath the ground between Edinburgh and
Glasgow provided the raw materials that drove the Industrial Revolution
in Scotland, and the early focus on understanding the rocks beneath our
feet was unsurprisingly initially concentrated on the most useful
minerals resources.
