Editing River Clyde (section)

== History ==
[[File:Source of the River Clyde - geograph.org.uk - 5291765.jpg|thumb|The confluence of the Daer and Potrail Waters, which marks the beginning of the Clyde proper]]
[[File:Corra Linn in spate, 4 November.jpg|thumb|The [[Falls of Clyde (waterfalls)|Falls of Clyde]]]]
[[File:New Lanark (45324811821).jpg|thumb|The Clyde flowing past [[New Lanark]]]]
=== Prehistory ===
Humans have settled along the Clyde since the [[Paleolithic]] era. Artifacts dating from 12,000 BC have been found near [[Biggar, South Lanarkshire|Biggar]], a rural town close to the river. Biggar is home to an archeological site at which Britain's most ancient artifacts have been unearthed.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Scotland's oldest home found at 14,000 years old|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/scotlands-most-ancient-home-found-14000-years-old-2509577|website=The Scotsman}}</ref> Prehistoric [[canoe]]s, used by ancient peoples for transport or trade, have been found in the river.<ref>{{Cite web|date=21 December 2020|title=The Glasgow Story|url=https://www.theglasgowstory.com/image/?inum=TGSE00196}}</ref> There are a number of [[Mesolithic]] sites along the Clyde, especially in the Upper Clyde Valley.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Vol 14 (2005): People and their monuments in the Upper Clyde Valley:a programme of survey, field walking and trial excavation in the environs of the Blackshouse Burn Neolithic enclosure, South Lanarkshire, 1989--99 {{!}} Scottish Archaeological Internet Reports|url=http://journals.socantscot.org/index.php/sair/issue/view/30|access-date=2021-07-28|website=journals.socantscot.org}}</ref> Permanent settlements and structures, including what is believed to be a temple to [[Lunar deity|moon gods]] in [[Govan]], were constructed in the area during the [[Neolithic]] and [[Bronze Age]]s. [[Celts|Celtic]] art, language, and other aspects of culture began spreading to the area from the south during this period, and prehistoric artifacts suggest that, by around 1000 BCE, they had become the dominant cultural influences there.

=== Ancient history ===
Before the [[Roman legions|legions]] of the [[Roman Empire]] arrived in southern Scotland, the river and the area surrounding it had been settled by the Brythonic-speaking [[Damnonii]] tribe. It has been suggested that a Damnonii town called ''Cathures'' was located there and was the precursor to modern Glasgow.<ref>{{Cite web|date=22 December 2020|title=The British Damnonii Tribe|url=https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsBritain/BritainStrathclyde.htm}}</ref> The Damnonii tribe originally likely distributed power among individual chiefdoms, but at some point before 500 AD the political framework was a British culture of Welsh speakers that was politically unified and formed a centralised [[Realm|kingdom]] known as Alt Clut, representing the power centre at Dunbarton Rock.

None of the documentary or archaeological evidence from the period when the Roman legions arrived suggests that battles took place in the area. Therefore the Roman legions and Damnonii tribespeople are assumed to have been on good terms and to have co-operated by means of trade and the exchange of military information. The Romans did, however, construct several [[Roman fort|forts]] ({{lang|la|castra}}) in the area, notably on the banks of the Clyde. These include Castledykes, [[Bothwellhaugh Roman Fort|Bothwellhaugh]], and [[Old Kilpatrick]] and [[Bishopton, Renfrewshire|Bishopton]]. The Romans also constructed several roads along the river, both small ones and larger ones designed to be used as trade routes and to carry entire legions. The [[Antonine Wall]], which lies only a few miles from the river, was constructed later by the Romans as a means of defending the area against invasion by the [[Picts]]. Despite the strategic location and flat terrain of Glasgow and the surrounding Clyde basin, no Roman civilian settlement was ever constructed. Instead, the region may have functioned as a frontier zone between the Roman province known as [[Britannia Inferior]] and the [[Caledonians]], an indigenous group that was hostile to the Romans.

=== Kingdom of Strathclyde ===
Strathclyde was founded as an independent unified British kingdom, quite some centuries after the [[Roman occupation of Britain]]. The kingdom's core territory and much of its arable land was located around the Clyde basin in the area traditionally associated with Alt Clut. The kingdom was ruled from its original capital, the near impenetrable [[Alt Clut (fortress)|Alt Clut fortress]] (Dumbarton Rock), which was situated on the river and overlooked much of the estuary. This fortress was noteworthy enough to have been referred to at the time in several letters and poems about [[Sub-Roman Britain]], written by [[Gildas]] and others. Strathclyde remained a powerful kingdom during the early medieval period in Britain. It was also a reservoir of native [[Welsh culture]]: Its territory expanded along the Clyde Vae Southern Uplands and Ayrshire, and eventually southwards into Cumbria. 

In the [[7th century]], [[Saint Mungo]] established a new Christian community on the banks of the Clyde, potentially replacing Cathures if this is assumed to have occupied the same locus. This community was the beginnings of what would become the city of Glasgow. Several villages along the Clyde that were founded in or before this period have endured to this day, and have grown to become towns, including ''Llanerc'' ([[Lanark]]), ''Cadzow'' ([[Hamilton, South Lanarkshire|Hamilton]]), and ''Rhynfrwd'' ([[Renfrew]]). The fortress of Altclut fell in the [[Siege of Dumbarton]] of 870 AD, when a force of [[Norse-Irish]] raiders from the [[Kingdom of Dublin]] sacked it. After that, the kingdom, now politically weakened, possibly moved its capital to [[Govan]]. However, it never fully recovered, and in the [[11th century]] it was annexed by the [[Kingdom of Alba]]. It did however retain some autonomy under the Church of Glasgow, which became the secular successors of much of the territory when it was treated as a Principality of the Scottish Crown.

=== Medieval and early modern history ===
In the 13th century, Glasgow, then still a small town, built its first bridge over the river Clyde. This was an important step in its ability to eventually grow into a city. The establishment, in the 15th century, of both the [[University of Glasgow]] and the [[Archdiocese of Glasgow]], vastly increased the importance of the town within Scotland. From the [[early modern period]] onwards, the Clyde began to be used commercially as a trade route; trade between Glasgow and the rest of Europe became commonplace. In the centuries that followed, the Clyde became increasingly vital to both Scotland and Britain as a major trade route for exporting and importing resources.

===Port authority===
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Clyde Navigation Act 1840
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act for further deepening and improving the River Clyde, and enlarging the Harbour of Glasgow, and for constructing a Wet Dock in connexion with the said River and Harbour.
| year                  = 1840
| citation              = [[3 & 4 Vict.]] c. cxviii
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 4 August 1840
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = Clyde Navigation Consolidation Act 1858
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = repealed
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = 
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Clyde Navigation Consolidation Act 1858
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = 
| year                  = 1858
| citation              = [[21 & 22 Vict.]] c. cxlix
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = 
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = 
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Clyde Port Authority Confirmation Act 1965
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act to confirm a Provisional Order under the Private Legislation Procedure (Scotland) Act 1936, relating to the Clyde Port Authority.
| year                  = 1965
| citation              = [[List of acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1965|1965]] c. xlv
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 22 December 1965
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = 
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/1965/45/pdfs/ukla_19650045_en.pdf
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
The {{visible anchor|Clyde Navigation Trust}} was initially formed in 1840 by the '''{{visible anchor|Clyde Navigation Act 1840}}''' ([[3 & 4 Vict.]] c. cxviii), and then reconstituted under the '''{{visible anchor|Clyde Navigation Consolidation Act 1858}}''' ([[21 & 22 Vict.]] c. cxlix). The '''{{visible anchor|Clyde Port Authority Confirmation Act 1965}}''' (c. xlv) replaced the Clyde Navigation Trust with the [[Clyde Port Authority]] from 1 January 1966, which has since been renamed to 'Clydeport', and was privatisated in 1992. In 2003 it was acquired by [[Peel Holdings]].