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Memorial Study Room
We Belong To You

In March of this year Scott Myles started his 4 month long residency at Royston Library. His process has led him to propose a major piece for the library building. The proposal falls in to two associated elements, firstly the installation of a large sign upon the roof of the library, the text for which - "we belong to you" - is a piece of writing that Myles found written above a newsagent near The Molendinar Park. His intention is to give greater visibility and sense of ownership to the library building, as well as to create the connection between the two ends of the area in which we are working.

The second component has arisen from a great deal of research undertaken during the course of the residency. Myles has unearthed evidence of Scotland's first mass political demonstration, known as the Thrushgrove Meeting of 1816 which attracted over 40,000 people to the area, and took place on the current site of Royston Library. He has designed and proposes to install a utilitarian memorial in the form of a Memorial study room, within a room of the library perfect for the purpose. This room will be a private space with a collection of material relating to radicalism and other relevant local history. The room will be available to any one person at a time, wishing to read, study, write or think in a peaceful environment, and will be an asset along with the other resources currently on offer at the library.

The door to the room will be etched with the following reminder of what once took place on the site.

Thrushgrove Memorial Study Room - This public study room is a memorial to the memory of James Turner and the Thrushgrove meeting of 1816. James Turner allowed his land to be used for Scotland's first mass political rally, which took place on these grounds formally known as the Thrushgrove Estate, on the 29th of October 1816. The peaceful meeting attracted over 40,000 people, and began a wave of important radical activity throughout Scotland.

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