Trails
Loss
‘Loss’ is sited on a trail that takes in the more hidden heritage of Kirkintilloch including the site of the world famous Lion Foundry and the Luggie Water. Waterside is characterised by what were once Weavers’ cottages, and the Luggie Water had two mills located along its length, a corn mill and a lint mill, whose mill dam has collapsed into a scattering of stones in the river bed. An Iron Foundry (later renamed as The Lion Foundry), was established on the north bank of the Forth and Clyde Canal at Kirkintilloch in 1880. It produced ornamental cast iron work as as well as constructional ironwork, and its ironwork can be seen across the UK as well as having been shipped internationally. Made of white marble aggregate concrete, the main form of Loss is taken from some of the ornamental iron works produced by the Lion Foundry, while the cloth drapery alludes to Weavers and the Weaving industry, once prevalent in the area. As in graveyard statuary, the draping of cloth represents loss and symbolises in some way the loss of the many industries that were once so prevalent in the area. Loss is positioned to look like it has toppled off a Vanessa into the Luggie Water and ended up washed up on the river bank in a cluster of river boulders.