Duncan Lunan - Sighthill Stone Circle

Sighthill Stone Circle

As Manager of the Glasgow Parks Department's Astronomy Project in 1978–79, Duncan Lunan supervised the building of the first astronomically aligned stone circle in Britain in 3,000 years in Sighthill Park.

The conceptual inspiration for the circle came from Lunan's interest in the works of Professor Alexander Thom and his son Dr. Archie Thom, who promoted the understanding of megalithic astronomy, and the subsequent expansion of their work by Dr. Ewan McKie and Professor Archie Roy. The location of the stone circle, on a low hilltop between tower blocks, the M8 motorway and an incinerator, at a first sight seems hardly ideal. However, Lunan has written that the clear sightline to the sky and a fine view of the city center met the project's objectives. Lunan has written that "In later research, I found that summer solstice fairs had been held on the Summerhill, from which the midsummer Sun rises over the true Sighthill, until they were stopped by the church in the 17th century".

Once he had identified the best location, Lunan organised the transportation of the stones by a helicopter from HMS Gannet. The Moon Stones, being too heavy, had to be transported by specially adapted lorries.

The project was not completed due to criticism by the incoming Thatcher government in 1979, and four stones – two of which were intended to mark equinoctial sunrise and sunset, East and West – are still lying under a bush in Sighthill park. Lunan is at present campaigning to have the circle renovated and completed, including plans for wheelchair access. The first initiative undertaken to draw attention to the megalith was a summer solstice gathering organised at the site on the evening of the 21 June 2010 preceded by a presentation on the circle given by Lunan. Lunan reported "positive discussions with Heritage Lottery chiefs in relation to funding for the project, estimated at around 30,000 GBP".

Lunan presented plans to make the stone circle a key feature of a city-wide astronomy map, including the entire Solar System represented on the correct scale within the city limits as first proposed by Gavin Roberts, who was the Arts and Photographic Supervisor on the original Project. If the stone circle represented the Sun, Lunan said, Saturn would be by the River Clyde near the Glasgow Science Centre, Jupiter in the campus of the University of Strathclyde, Uranus on Maryhill Road and Neptune and the dwarf planet Pluto at Cathkin Braes, south of Castlemilk.

The history of the stone circle was featured in the BBC Radio Scotland show Out of Doors in January 2011.

In 2011, Duncan Lunan and his wife Linda founded the Friends of the Sighthill Stone Circle association.