History

Greenhead Moss Community Nature Park

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The history of our site

Our park has changed proprietor, purpose and public use over the centuries. Here you can download articles about different aspects of the site from planning & land use changes to the story of the 17th century body found in the bog or view some pictures of the site taken during the land reclamation works.

Do you know the history of our site?

We are always looking for any historical photos, memories or maps of the site in the past. Contact us if you know of any.

1930s workers of the "Benhar Moss Litter Company" that operated on Greenhead Moss

A short history of the park

10,000 years ago - peat starts to form in Greenhead area

4,000 years ago - people begin farming around Wishaw

2000 years ago - people cutting local peat for fuel

200 years ago - Murdered man buried in bog - now known as the Cambusnethan Bog body.

120 years ago - coal mining at its height in local area

1932 - Murdered man uncovered on bog by Peat digger Gerald Rohlink

1989 - Perchy Pond Local Nature Reserve designated

1996 - Commercial peat cutting stops

1998 - Landfill operations cease

1999 - Greenhead Moss Community Trust formed

2000 - Trust raise funds to employ staff on site

2001 - Initial regeneration works completed

2001 - Greenhead Moss wins numerous awards for community engagement and site regeneration.

2006 - Greenhead wins 'People's Millions' money with votes from the public

2008- Earthship Visitor centre build begins
2010 - Earthship burnt down by vandals
2011 - Trust folds and new group formed to manage site

A long history of the park!

Click on the titles below (opens in another page)

A planning history of the site

17th Century body found in Greenhead Moss

Shoes of the 17th Century body found in Greenhead

Some historical pictures of the reclamation work:

(Click on the pictures to enlarge)

Natural solutions - Reed beds

Our reed beds were built in a framework of stone gabions and planted up with Phragmites australis and Typha species to filter out water pollution. When the park was established, the quality of water leaking from the opencast and landfill area caused some concern for the Perchy Pond Local Nature Reserve. The water quality is still checked regularly but we have no records of any contamination since installing the reed beds. They work by 'silting up' the beds and filtering any pollution through this silt.

The crater - before the reclamation and creation of the "Serengeti"

The crater was once used as a landfill site to fill a hole made by the opencast coal mining activity. Once this was completed, the site was 'capped' by a series of soil, clay and stone layers and evenutally sewn with the wildflower meadows that you see today.

In this picture you can see the depth of the peat in the background - this created a lot of work in trying to stop the peat bog from leaking water and drying out, a job we are still working on today.

Picture taken around 1997.