The Scottish War Memorials Project

David McNay · Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2008 8:42 pm Post subject: Major General William Roy

William Roy is often regarded as the "Father" of the ordnance survey. He is commemorated on a stone in Carluke Market square to "Famous Military Men of Carluke".

A biography of William Roy appears on the Royal Engineers Museum webpage, and cna be found here.

This memorial is situated near Carluke, at Miltonhead, the farm on which Roy was born. The farm itself no longer exists.

The memorial was erected in 1956, and takes the form of an Ordnance Survey pillar. I'm not sure what this is but I believe at one point there was a fitting for some form of surveying appartus on the top of this.

The memorial has been restored by local school pupils in recent years, as it had become quite weathered and partly vandalised.

I'm not sure what this is. An OS reference?

spoons · Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2008 9:19 pm Post subject:

The pillar is a Trigonometrical Point (trig point). They still exist on high points (summit of hills etc) and were used to fix theodolites to for surveying. The plate would be a unique reference for each individual trig point. The theodolite is normally fixed to 3 points on the top so I am not entirely sure what the apparent fixing above the 'crows foot' is for.

\Paul