The South Calder Water, known locally as "The Cawder", or simply "Calder", is a river in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It runs west from the high plateau between

Shotts Shotts is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located almost halfway between Glasgow () and Edinburgh (). The village has a population of about 8,840. A local story has Shotts being named after the legendary giant highwayman Bertram de ...

and

Fauldhouse Fauldhouse ( sco, Fauldhoose; gd, Falas)
is a village i ...

to its joining with the much larger

River Clyde The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major cit ...

. The high plateau is also the watershed of the River Almond, which flows east into the

River Forth The River Forth is a major river in central Scotland, long, which drains into the North Sea on the east coast of the country. Its drainage basin covers much of Stirlingshire in Scotland's Central Belt. The Gaelic name for the upper reach of th ...

Etymology

The etymology of the name is not confirmed but is most likely from the

Cumbric Cumbric was a variety of the Common Brittonic language spoken during the Early Middle Ages in the ''Hen Ogledd'' or "Old North" in what is now the counties of Westmorland, Cumberland and northern Lancashire in Northern England and the souther ...

language, a language closely related to

modern Welsh The history of the Welsh language (Welsh: ''Hanes yr iaith Gymraeg'') spans over 1400 years, encompassing the stages of the language known as Primitive Welsh, Old Welsh, Middle Welsh, and Modern Welsh. Origins Welsh evolved from British, the C ...

and was spoken across the

Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government et ...

area throughout the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

to about 1200 AD. The proposed etymology would come from the words "''caled dwr"'', meaning "''hard water"'', most likely either referring to the strength of the current or the rocky riverbed beneath the water.

History

It is known that the

ancient Romans In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom ...

constructed roads through

Wishaw Wishaw ( sco, Wishae or Wisha ; gd, Camas Neachdain) is a large town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, on the edge of the Clyde Valley, south-east of Glasgow city centre. The Burgh of Wishaw was formed in 1855 within Lanarkshire. it formed ...

and

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

not too far from the river, and the ruins of the fort at Bothwellhaugh lies at the convergence of the Calder with the Clyde. Supposedly, a bridge that crosses the river at Bothwellhaugh was indeed built by the Romans, but the true age of the bridge is doubted. In the early 1600s, a large

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

was constructed on the banks of the river and named Wishaw House, as well as the purchase of several local farmsteads. It is thought that this house was inherited through generations of nobles until it was abandoned and eventually demolished in the 1950s.

Course

The South Calder Water follows a short course of approximately , during which it winds round

and

before flowing into the Strathclyde Loch. Between its source at Calderhead and

Newmains Newmains is a village and former mining community on the eastern edge of Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, Scotland, south-east of Glasgow. Although it is considered by the local authority to have a town centre in its own right. History The story of a ...

the stream follows a wide glacial valley and passes the villages of

Bonkle Bonkle is a village 3 miles (4.8 km) north-east of Wishaw in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is sited on the east bank of the South Calder Water. Murdostoun Castle is located nearby. See also * Murdostoun * South Calder Water * North Lan ...

and

Murdostoun Murdostoun is an estate in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, which includes a castle (Ordnance Survey Grid ReferencNS8257, which lies on the South Calder Water near the village of Bonkle in the parish of Shotts, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The ...

Castle, but after Newmains, until its end at Strathclyde Loch in

, it cuts through a very deep and meandering valley. It lies on the edge of areas of Wishaw such as

and

Coltness Coltness is the largest suburb of the town of Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The 2001 census indicated a population of almost 4,500. Lying to the north east of Wishaw town centre, Coltness is an area of mainly local authority built h ...

. This valley was filled in at

Ravenscraig Ravenscraig is a village and new town, located in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, around 1½ miles east of Motherwell. Ravenscraig was formerly the site of Ravenscraig steelworks; once the largest hot strip steel mill in western Europe, the st ...

during the construction of

Ravenscraig steelworks The Ravenscraig steelworks, operated by Colvilles and from 1967 by British Steel Corporation, consisted of an integrated iron and steel works and a hot strip steel mill. They were located in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. Motherwell ...

to provide a large flat area. The river is therefore placed in a "

cut and cover A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

" tunnel as it passes for approximately underneath the site, before reappearing at

Jerviston Jerviston is a country estate on the north-eastern edge of the Scottish town of Motherwell in North Lanarkshire which is now occupied by ''Colville Park Country Club''. The estate was once the location of a small castle (Laird's House) construc ...

. Driving across the now derelict Ravenscraig site gives no clues as to the underground river flowing below. The river ends at Strathclyde Loch, where it used to join directly with the River Clyde. The River Clyde was diverted about west of this point in the 1960s to create the large man made loch, which is now fed purely by water from the South Calder Water. The river is referenced in man-made features near its course, including Calder public park in Coursington (Motherwell), Calderbridge Primary School in

(Wishaw) and Calderhead High School in Shotts.

References

{{Coord, 55.7963, -4.0291, display=title, region:GB_type:river, format=dms Rivers of North Lanarkshire Rivers of West Lothian River Clyde