Work begins on return of Sighthill stone circle
IT is an unlikely location to walk in the footsteps and recreate the archaeological wonders of our Neolithic and Bronze Age ancestors.
But on a massive inner-city building site, astronomers will spend the days around this year’s summer solstice recreating Britain’s first authentically – and accurately – aligned stone circle to have been erected in more than 3000 years.
From dawn to dusk throughout this week, the team behind the successful campaign to save Glasgow’s Sighthill Stones will chart the movements of sun, moon and stars to astronomically align the structures and mirror the work of Scotland’s ancient builders at Callanish and Stenness.
Remarkably, t he ‘Sighthill Megalith’ will be constructed as part of the biggest regeneration of its kind in the UK outside of London, a stone’s throw from the busiest stretch of road in the country and a short walk from Glasgow city centre.
Created in the late 1970s by amateur astronomer and science writer Duncan Lunan and John Braithwaite, the stones were part of the national Jobs Creation Scheme in which £4million was offered to Glasgow and its parks department on the condition a series of special projects would be created.
But just a fortnight after the stones were put in place, Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government came to power and the project was halted.
Although they remained in place, the council had earmarked them for removal as part of the £250m regeneration of Sighthill, triggering one of the highest-profile and unexpected campaigns in the city in recent years.
The authority later committed to retaining the stones but a problem remained.
Despite their best efforts, the 1979 circle was several inches from accuracy and the team hopes advances in technology, forecasts for decent weather and more time to carry out their studies, the circle will be exactly aligned with the sun.