A PROJECT which tracks the change in the Glenkens habitats and landscape over time is underway.
The Glenkens Rectified Estate Mapping and Land Information Network, or ‘GREMLIN’, project will analyse pre-ordnance survey maps and categorise land use.
Upon completion, around 40 maps covering a large chunk of the Glenkens from 1799-1815 will be available for all to review on the National Library of Scotland Estate Maps website.
It is a partnership project between the Dumfries Archival Mapping Project, the Galloway Glens Scheme and the National Library of Scotland.
The maps in question are primarily the Forbes maps from the Earlstoun Estate in the 1800s.
The public will be able to interrogate these data sets and map change from the past to inform decisions for the future in areas including hay meadow restoration. wetlands and woodlands.
Galloway Glens project officer Nick Chisholm said: “In the 18th century, earnest men were scurrying around with lengths of chain, posts and, at the time, cutting edge optical instruments. I wonder what they would have thought if we said their maps still had huge value a few centuries later?
“They would probably have been confused by the concept of GIS but surely these early cartographers were also early GIS pioneers. The value of lifting their hard work into modern digital media that can be shared and used by all is an invaluable tool for land managers and conservationists.”
Archie McConnel, from Dumfries Archival Mapping Project, added:
“This should be a fun project and should enable people to see at a glance the type of landscape that there used to be.
“Land use is an increasingly important topic and seeing how a varied approach worked in previous times should give us pointers as to how we can perhaps behave in current circumstances.”
It is expected that work will be complete by July and the results will then be published under ‘Estate Maps’ on the National Library of Scotland Mapping website: https://maps.nls.uk/.
ABOVE: Nick Chisholm, right, and Archie McConnel with some of the old maps
