Kirkintilloch
Encyclopedia
Kirkintilloch is a town and former burgh in East Dunbartonshire
, Scotland
. It lies on the Forth and Clyde Canal
, about eight miles northeast of central Glasgow
. The town is the administrative centre of the East Dunbartonshire council area, and its population in 2008 was estimated at 19,900.
is said to terminate at 'Caerpentaloch'. The fort referred to is the former Roman settlement on the wall and the hillock is the volcanic drumlin which would have offered a strategic viewpoint for miles to the West, North and East. The etymology is sometimes taken literally as "Kirk in tilloch" ("church in the field"). Its long name is often shortened by locals to the colloquial Kirkie or Kirky, as reflected in a number of business names in the town.
origin, a fort established in what is now the Peel Park area of the town in the mid-2nd century, one of the northernmost posts in Roman Britannia
. Through it the Antonine Wall
was routed; its course continues through the centre of the town to this day, although little trace can now be seen above ground. There is no strong evidence of habitation on the site for the following thousand years until Clan Cumming
established a castle (Motte and Bailey) and church there in the 12th century. A small settlement grew and was granted burgh
status in 1211, becoming an important staging post for west-east journeys from Glasgow to eastern and north-eastern Scotland. From this time, a weekly market was held in the town, probably at the foot of Peel Brae (along with High Street and Cowgate, one of the three medieval thoroughfares in the town). The castle was of some importance during the wars of independence
when an English garrison was stationed there, commanded by Sir Philip de Moubray
, who was later to command Stirling Castle
at the time of the Battle of Bannockburn
. Soldiers from the castle were dispatched to arrest William Wallace
at Robroyston
in 1305 and escorted him to Dumbarton Castle
. Later the same year, the garrison is recorded as having sent a petition to King Edward complaining of non-payment of wages. The castle was attacked by Scottish forces in 1306 under Bishop Wishart of Glasgow
(using timber given to Glasgow diocese by the English for cathedral repairs
), but the siege was unsuccessful. The castle is thought to have been destroyed on the orders of Robert Bruce
later in the conflict, although the traces of a mot surrounded by a ditch can still be seen in the Peel Park.
The original Cumming parish church, St Ninian's, was constructed around 1140 some distance to the east of the town (where some of the stones remain in the form of an 18th century watchtower at the entrance to the Auld Aisle Cemetery) as Kirkintilloch was originally in the parish of Lenzie
which stretched from Cumbernauld in the East to Kirkintilloch in the West. The establishment was part of the endowment of Cambuskenneth Abbey
, and was accompanied by a grant of one oxgang
of land (approximately 15 acre
s), the measurement that lent its name to the area near the church. A chapel to the Virgin Mary was established in the town itself, sometime before 1379, and was endowed with land at Duntiblae
by Sir David Fleming. The move of the parish church to the site of the chapel at Kirkintilloch Cross (now the Auld Kirk Museum) in 1644 resulted in a split of the Parish into Easter and Wester Lenzie (later Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch Parishes) The name Lenzie was later reused for Kirkintilloch's railway station on the main Glasgow to Edinburgh
line, around which the later village of that name developed.
Following the Scottish victory in the wars of independence and the subsequent decline of Clan Cumming, the baronies of Kirkintilloch, Lenzie, and Cumbernauld were granted by Robert Bruce to Sir Malcolm Fleming
, Sheriff of Dumbarton and a supporter of the Bruce faction in the war. Hitherto part of Stirlingshire
, the area subsequently became a detached part of the county of Dumbarton
, in which it remains today.
On 3 January 1746, the retreating Jacobite
army of Charles Stuart
made its way through Kirkintilloch, on its way back from Derby, and on the march to Falkirk and ultimately Culloden
. One of the Highland army's stragglers was shot dead at the town cross by a man hidden in a barn at the Kiln Close (where the library now stands). On hearing of the murder, Charles halted his army on the Kilsyth road and threatened to turn back and burn the town. The town magistrates persuaded him to continue marching, in return for an unspecified payment, and the town was spared.
The town was one of the hotbeds of the industrial revolution in Scotland, beginning with the emergence of a booming textile
industry in the area. There were 185 weavers in Kirkintilloch by 1790, and in 1867 James Slimon's cotton mill at Kelvinside employed 200 women. With the construction of the Forth and Clyde Canal
through the town in 1773, and the establishment of the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway
in 1826, Kirkintilloch developed further as an important transportation hub, inland port, and production centre for iron, coal, nickel, and even small ships
. This industrial heritage lives on in the town's designation as the "Canal Capital of Scotland", and in the redevelopment of the canal and surrounding former industrial sites in the early 21st century.
By the twentieth century, the principal employers in the town were the shipbuilders J & J Hay and Peter McGregor, and the Lion (1880-1884) and Star foundries, all of which produced goods for the domestic market and for export around the world. Kirkintilloch's most famous exports were the distinctive red British postboxes and phoneboxes
K2 to K6, produced in the town until 1984 and still to be found as far afield as Taiwan and Mississippi. Listed versions of these boxes still stand at the foot of Alexandra Street in the centre of Kirkintilloch.
Kirkintilloch was a "dry town" for much of its recent history, with the sale of alcohol on public premises banned from 1923 until 1967. The prohibition on the sale of alcohol had long been demanded by the Liberal Party and the temperance movement, both of which had a strong influence in the town in the early part of the 20th century, largely due to the perceived negative effects of alcohol on the town's inhabitants.
The 1960s development plan to redevelop inner city areas of Glasgow saw Kirkintilloch used as an overspill settlement for relocated Glaswegians in combination with the new towns of Livingston
and Cumbernauld
, offering employment in housebuilding and an increase to the local population to its current levels. Large numbers of new houses for owner occupation have been built since that time.
when it became part of the Strathkelvin
local government district within the region of Strathclyde
. A second reorganisation in 1996 established East Dunbartonshire council from Strathkelvin and the adjacent district of Bearsden and Milngavie
; Kirkintilloch is its administrative centre and the council's headquarters are at Tom Johnston House in the town, named after prominent early 20th century politician and Kirkintilloch native, Thomas Johnston
.
Communities in and around Kirkintilloch include:
Cleddans; Harestanes; Hayston; Hillhead; Oxgang; Rosebank; Langmuir; Greens; Fauldhead; Waterside
; Westermains; Lenzie
: Gallowhill: Whitegates; Back O' Loch
; Woodilee
; Broomhill etc
The town is served by the William Patrick Library, which relocated from a converted private villa near Peel Park to a new building on West High Street in the 1990s. The old library has reverted to private ownership. William Patricklibrary
is the main library for East Dunbartonshire Council and also houses the reference department and other council offices..
Kirkintilloch underwent significant population growth in the post-World War II
period, with several new amenities erected to cater for the growing population of the town and its surrounding villages. New shopping facilities were built in the Cowgate and Townhead areas, culminating in the opening, by the Princess of Wales, of the Regent Centre shopping mall in the 1990s.
The local swimming pool and Community Education Centre, built in the 1960s and 70s in Woodhead Park to the south of the town, were demolished in 1999 and 2005 respectively. Woodhead Park was once home to a petting zoo, bandstand, greenhouses, putting green and public toilets. All are now closed, although a new leisure centre was opened on the same spot in July 2007, providing facilities for tennis, badminton, swimming, football and a gymnasium. A large new children's play area has been created near the site of the former putting green in the park.
The construction of the new leisure centre comes in combination with a wider-ranging artistic, cultural and social regeneration project under way, called Kirkintilloch's Initiative. This includes the new link road largely funded by housebuilders developing on the site of the former Woodilee Hospital.
Kirkintilloch Learning Centre is located on Southbank Road, overlooking the Forth and Clyde Canal
, an offshoot of Cumbernauld College.
Locally, a G66+ Live! Cultural festival offers a wide range of events from talks on history in local churches to musical events in the town's local bars, such as Bar Bliss, dramas, and also entries from the schools in the G66 postcode area. G66+ Live! is annual festival taking place in June. Kirkintilloch's most successful musical ensemble is its brass band, the Kirkintilloch Band, who were crowned Scottish Brass Band Champions in 2007 and who have had much success in competitions both in Scotland and further afield. Extremely popular is the annual (August) Canal Festival.
An amateur theatre group, the Kirkintilloch Players, is based at the Turret Theatre in the Eastside area of Kirkintilloch, the former home of the town's Liberal Club.
The town has a variety of eateries, bars and nightspots. The Kirkie Puffer beat local rival bar The Antonine to pub of the year in January 2006 and this is an accolade that The Puffer has been able to win year after year. Local nightclubs Tantra (formerly Babylon) and Smiths Hotel (formerly Broadcroft Hotel) have been threatened with closure and have been forced into investing heavily in security and local alcohol awareness initiatives to help to discourage Anti Social Behaviour.
Kirkintilloch is twinned with the Iraqi city of Tikrit, which caused much furore amongst the Westminster bureaucrats, however a poll in the Kirkintilloch Herald
revealed that many local residents backed the scheme, saying that it was good for international development and blossoming relations. No publicity is now given to the link and there is no reference on any road signs.
is the local newspaper of record, established by town businessman Donald MacLeod in premises on the Cowgate in 1883.
Recently Kirkintilloch has become the butt of many of comedian Frankie Boyle
's jokes in his stand up tour. He cites Kirkintilloch as the worst place he has ever been. This notoriety has been of benefit to Kirkintilloch as Frankie Boyle
himself recently held an impromptu stand up gig in local pub Bar Bliss. Further to this gig Frankie stated that "I think I would be doing Kirkie a disservice not to include them in my routine as the people here loved the gags". Boyle used his material on Kirkintilloch in the Glasgow Comedy Festival in March 2008.
, Kirkintilloch Rob Roy F.C.
, thrice winners of the Scottish Junior Cup
, who play at Adamslie Park in the west of the town, and is also home to the amateur Harestanes A.F.C., twice winners of the Scottish Amateur Cup
.
A replacement swimming pool and gym opened in July 2007 at Woodhead Park. The town is also home to "The Kirkintilloch Olympians", a local athletics club of some repute.
Kirkintilloch is also the home of Rangers star Gregg Wylde.
congregations are: St Mary's, St David's Memorial Park, St Columba's and Hillhead. The Baptist Union of Scotland has churches at Townhead and Harestanes. There are two Roman Catholic Church
es - St Flannan's in Hillhead, and Holy Family and St Ninian's in the town centre.
The Edinburgh Gazette of 17th November 1896 announces "INTIMATION is hereby given that the Reverend THOMAS ANGUS MORRISON, Minister of the Parish of Kirkintilloch, in the Presbytery of Glasgow and County of Dumbarton, has, under and by virtue of "The Glebe Lands (Scotland) Act, 1866," presented a ; Petition to the Lords of Council and Session, Commissioners for the Plantation of Kirks and Valuation of Teinds, for authority to Feu the GLEBE OF KIRKINTILLOCH ; and that an Interlocutor has been pronounced therein in the following terms...." After depositing £400 with the "Lord of the Manor" or "Patron" T Angus Morrison becomes Minister of St Mary's. The original church was old and damp, T Angus Morrison built up his congregation and it was soon to outgrow the old church or kirk. Travelling throughout the UK T Angus Morrison worked with the Architect, George Bell of Glasgow. Thomas Angus Morrison was born in Motherwell, but for much of his youth he lived in Glasgow and attended school in Dennistoun. Commencing his ministerail career as an Assistant at the Plantation Church in Govan he was soon to move to St Mary's Church as assistant to the Reverened Mr Craven in 1890. T Angus Morrison was to marry a local girl, Mary Stewart Galloway Smillie, sole surviving child of James Smillie of Fearndean, a local Kirkintilloch family, tracing their family back to the town of the 1790's. T Angus Morrison and Mary were to have seven children, one of the sons, William Angus Galloway Morrison dying on the Siam Burmese Railway in World War Two. The Reverened T Angus Morrison was born in Shotts, near Motherwell in 1862, died suddenly in 1941 at the age of 79 having served St Mary's for 51 years. In addition to a long career as Presbyterian Minister, the Reverened T Angus Morrison was a Freemason and had become Provincial Grand Master to the Province of Dunbartonshire from 1921 until his death.
East Dunbartonshire
This article is about the East Dunbartonshire council area of Scotland. See also East Dunbartonshire .East Dunbartonshire is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders onto the north-west of the City of Glasgow. It contains many of the suburbs of Glasgow as well as containing many of...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. It lies on the Forth and Clyde Canal
Forth and Clyde Canal
The Forth and Clyde Canal crosses Scotland, providing a route for sea-going vessels between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde at the narrowest part of the Scottish Lowlands. The canal is 35 miles long and its eastern end is connected to the River Forth by a short stretch of the River...
, about eight miles northeast of central Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
. The town is the administrative centre of the East Dunbartonshire council area, and its population in 2008 was estimated at 19,900.
Toponymy
"Kirkintilloch" could be derived from "Caer-pen-tulach", a Celtic name (unusual for being an Old Welsh and Old Gaelic compound) translating as "Fort at the end of the hillock", or from the pure Gaelic "Càthair Cinn Tulaich". A possible reference to the site is made in the 9th century Welsh text Historia Brittonum, in which the Antonine WallAntonine Wall
The Antonine Wall is a stone and turf fortification built by the Romans across what is now the Central Belt of Scotland, between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde. Representing the northernmost frontier barrier of the Roman Empire, it spanned approximately 39 miles and was about ten feet ...
is said to terminate at 'Caerpentaloch'. The fort referred to is the former Roman settlement on the wall and the hillock is the volcanic drumlin which would have offered a strategic viewpoint for miles to the West, North and East. The etymology is sometimes taken literally as "Kirk in tilloch" ("church in the field"). Its long name is often shortened by locals to the colloquial Kirkie or Kirky, as reflected in a number of business names in the town.
History
The first known settlement on the site of what is now Kirkintilloch was of RomanRoman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
origin, a fort established in what is now the Peel Park area of the town in the mid-2nd century, one of the northernmost posts in Roman Britannia
Britannia
Britannia is an ancient term for Great Britain, and also a female personification of the island. The name is Latin, and derives from the Greek form Prettanike or Brettaniai, which originally designated a collection of islands with individual names, including Albion or Great Britain. However, by the...
. Through it the Antonine Wall
Antonine Wall
The Antonine Wall is a stone and turf fortification built by the Romans across what is now the Central Belt of Scotland, between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde. Representing the northernmost frontier barrier of the Roman Empire, it spanned approximately 39 miles and was about ten feet ...
was routed; its course continues through the centre of the town to this day, although little trace can now be seen above ground. There is no strong evidence of habitation on the site for the following thousand years until Clan Cumming
Clan Cumming
Clan Cumming, also known as Clan Comyn, is a Scottish clan from the central Highlands that played a major role in the history of 13th century Scotland and in the Wars of Scottish Independence and were instrumental in defeating the English at the Battle of Roslin in 1303...
established a castle (Motte and Bailey) and church there in the 12th century. A small settlement grew and was granted burgh
Burgh
A burgh was an autonomous corporate entity in Scotland and Northern England, usually a town. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burgh status was broadly analogous to borough status, found in the rest of the United...
status in 1211, becoming an important staging post for west-east journeys from Glasgow to eastern and north-eastern Scotland. From this time, a weekly market was held in the town, probably at the foot of Peel Brae (along with High Street and Cowgate, one of the three medieval thoroughfares in the town). The castle was of some importance during the wars of independence
Wars of Scottish Independence
The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the independent Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries....
when an English garrison was stationed there, commanded by Sir Philip de Moubray
Philip Mowbray
Sir Philip Mowbray or Philip de Mowbray was a Scottish gentleman and Governor of Stirling Castle in the 14th century.He was the son of Sir Geoffrey Mowbray by a daughter of Red John Comyn, Justiciary of Scotland. Philip married Eve, Lady Redcastle...
, who was later to command Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles, both historically and architecturally, in Scotland. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological formation. It is surrounded on three sides by steep...
at the time of the Battle of Bannockburn
Battle of Bannockburn
The Battle of Bannockburn was a significant Scottish victory in the Wars of Scottish Independence...
. Soldiers from the castle were dispatched to arrest William Wallace
William Wallace
Sir William Wallace was a Scottish knight and landowner who became one of the main leaders during the Wars of Scottish Independence....
at Robroyston
Robroyston
Robroyston is a northeastern suburb of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It was where Scottish leader William Wallace was turned over to English soldiers in 1305. At the site of Wallace's capture there stands a monument — there have also been proposals put forward for a Visitors Centre in the area,...
in 1305 and escorted him to Dumbarton Castle
Dumbarton Castle
Dumbarton Castle has the longest recorded history of any stronghold in Great Britain. It overlooks the Scottish town of Dumbarton, and sits on a plug of volcanic basalt known as Dumbarton Rock which is high.-Iron Age:...
. Later the same year, the garrison is recorded as having sent a petition to King Edward complaining of non-payment of wages. The castle was attacked by Scottish forces in 1306 under Bishop Wishart of Glasgow
Robert Wishart
Robert Wishart was Bishop of Glasgow during the Wars of Scottish Independence and a leading supporter of Robert Bruce. For Wishart and many of his fellow churchmen the freedom of Scotland and the freedom of the Scottish church were one and the same thing...
(using timber given to Glasgow diocese by the English for cathedral repairs
Glasgow Cathedral
The church commonly known as Glasgow Cathedral is the Church of Scotland High Kirk of Glasgow otherwise known as St. Mungo's Cathedral.The other cathedrals in Glasgow are:* The Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew...
), but the siege was unsuccessful. The castle is thought to have been destroyed on the orders of Robert Bruce
Robert Bruce
Robert Bruce or Robert the Bruce may refer to:*Robert the Bruce, King of Scots , Earl of Carrick and Lord of Annandale; victor at the Battle of Bannockburn*Robert Bruce , his illegitimate son...
later in the conflict, although the traces of a mot surrounded by a ditch can still be seen in the Peel Park.
The original Cumming parish church, St Ninian's, was constructed around 1140 some distance to the east of the town (where some of the stones remain in the form of an 18th century watchtower at the entrance to the Auld Aisle Cemetery) as Kirkintilloch was originally in the parish of Lenzie
Lenzie
Lenzie is a small town by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway in the East Dunbartonshire council area of Scotland. It is about six miles north-east of Glasgow city centre and one mile south of Kirkintilloch. It has a population of about 10,000.-Name:...
which stretched from Cumbernauld in the East to Kirkintilloch in the West. The establishment was part of the endowment of Cambuskenneth Abbey
Cambuskenneth Abbey
Cambuskenneth Abbey is a ruined Augustinian monastery located on an area of land enclosed by a meander of the River Forth near Stirling in Scotland. The abbey is largely reduced to its foundations. The neighbouring modern village of Cambuskenneth is named after it.Cambuskenneth Abbey was founded...
, and was accompanied by a grant of one oxgang
Oxgang
An oxgang or bovate is an old land measurement formerly used in Scotland and England. It averaged around 20 English acres, but was based on land fertility and cultivation, and so could be as low as 15.Skene in Celtic Scotland says:...
of land (approximately 15 acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
s), the measurement that lent its name to the area near the church. A chapel to the Virgin Mary was established in the town itself, sometime before 1379, and was endowed with land at Duntiblae
Waterside, East Dunbartonshire
Waterside is a small village situated in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland roughly 10 miles north-east of Glasgow, on the eastern outskirts of Kirkintilloch.-History:...
by Sir David Fleming. The move of the parish church to the site of the chapel at Kirkintilloch Cross (now the Auld Kirk Museum) in 1644 resulted in a split of the Parish into Easter and Wester Lenzie (later Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch Parishes) The name Lenzie was later reused for Kirkintilloch's railway station on the main Glasgow to Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
line, around which the later village of that name developed.
Following the Scottish victory in the wars of independence and the subsequent decline of Clan Cumming, the baronies of Kirkintilloch, Lenzie, and Cumbernauld were granted by Robert Bruce to Sir Malcolm Fleming
Malcolm Fleming, Earl of Wigtown
Malcolm Fleming, Earl of Wigtown was the son of Robert Fleming, a Stewart vassal and holder of the lands of Fulwood and Cumbernauld, who died sometime before 1314...
, Sheriff of Dumbarton and a supporter of the Bruce faction in the war. Hitherto part of Stirlingshire
Stirlingshire
Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling is a registration county of Scotland, based around Stirling, the former county town. It borders Perthshire to the north, Clackmannanshire and West Lothian to the east, Lanarkshire to the south, and Dunbartonshire to the south-west.Until 1975 it was a county...
, the area subsequently became a detached part of the county of Dumbarton
Dunbartonshire
Dunbartonshire or the County of Dumbarton is a lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Until 1975 it was a county used as a primary unit of local government with its county town and administrative centre at the town...
, in which it remains today.
On 3 January 1746, the retreating Jacobite
Jacobite
Jacobite may refer to:* In ancient days, the term was used for the followers of faith propounded by a 6th century Bishop Jacob Baradaeus.* In Modern days, the following churches are called Jacobite Church:** Syriac Orthodox Church...
army of Charles Stuart
Charles Edward Stuart
Prince Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart commonly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or The Young Pretender was the second Jacobite pretender to the thrones of Great Britain , and Ireland...
made its way through Kirkintilloch, on its way back from Derby, and on the march to Falkirk and ultimately Culloden
Battle of Culloden
The Battle of Culloden was the final confrontation of the 1745 Jacobite Rising. Taking place on 16 April 1746, the battle pitted the Jacobite forces of Charles Edward Stuart against an army commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, loyal to the British government...
. One of the Highland army's stragglers was shot dead at the town cross by a man hidden in a barn at the Kiln Close (where the library now stands). On hearing of the murder, Charles halted his army on the Kilsyth road and threatened to turn back and burn the town. The town magistrates persuaded him to continue marching, in return for an unspecified payment, and the town was spared.
The town was one of the hotbeds of the industrial revolution in Scotland, beginning with the emergence of a booming textile
Weaving
Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
industry in the area. There were 185 weavers in Kirkintilloch by 1790, and in 1867 James Slimon's cotton mill at Kelvinside employed 200 women. With the construction of the Forth and Clyde Canal
Forth and Clyde Canal
The Forth and Clyde Canal crosses Scotland, providing a route for sea-going vessels between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde at the narrowest part of the Scottish Lowlands. The canal is 35 miles long and its eastern end is connected to the River Forth by a short stretch of the River...
through the town in 1773, and the establishment of the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway
Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway
The Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway was an early mineral railway running from a colliery at Monklands to the Forth and Clyde Canal at Kirkintilloch, Scotland....
in 1826, Kirkintilloch developed further as an important transportation hub, inland port, and production centre for iron, coal, nickel, and even small ships
Clyde puffer
The Clyde puffer is essentially a type of small steamboat which provided a vital supply link around the west coast and Hebrides islands of Scotland, stumpy little cargo ships that have achieved almost mythical status thanks largely to the short stories Neil Munro wrote about the Vital Spark and her...
. This industrial heritage lives on in the town's designation as the "Canal Capital of Scotland", and in the redevelopment of the canal and surrounding former industrial sites in the early 21st century.
By the twentieth century, the principal employers in the town were the shipbuilders J & J Hay and Peter McGregor, and the Lion (1880-1884) and Star foundries, all of which produced goods for the domestic market and for export around the world. Kirkintilloch's most famous exports were the distinctive red British postboxes and phoneboxes
Red telephone box
The red telephone box, a public telephone kiosk designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, is a familiar sight on the streets of the United Kingdom, Malta, Bermuda and Gibraltar, and despite a reduction in their numbers in recent years, red boxes can still be seen in many places and in current or former...
K2 to K6, produced in the town until 1984 and still to be found as far afield as Taiwan and Mississippi. Listed versions of these boxes still stand at the foot of Alexandra Street in the centre of Kirkintilloch.
Kirkintilloch was a "dry town" for much of its recent history, with the sale of alcohol on public premises banned from 1923 until 1967. The prohibition on the sale of alcohol had long been demanded by the Liberal Party and the temperance movement, both of which had a strong influence in the town in the early part of the 20th century, largely due to the perceived negative effects of alcohol on the town's inhabitants.
The 1960s development plan to redevelop inner city areas of Glasgow saw Kirkintilloch used as an overspill settlement for relocated Glaswegians in combination with the new towns of Livingston
Livingston, Scotland
Livingston is a town in West Lothian, Scotland. It is the fourth post-WWII new town to be built in Scotland, designated in 1962. It is about 15 miles west of Edinburgh and 30 miles east of Glasgow, and is bordered by the towns of Broxburn to the northeast and Bathgate to the northwest.Livingston...
and Cumbernauld
Cumbernauld
Cumbernauld is a Scottish new town in North Lanarkshire. It was created in 1956 as a population overspill for Glasgow City. It is the eighth most populous settlement in Scotland and the largest in North Lanarkshire...
, offering employment in housebuilding and an increase to the local population to its current levels. Large numbers of new houses for owner occupation have been built since that time.
Governance
Kirkintilloch and Lenzie had their own burgh council until the 1975 abolition of the counties of ScotlandCounties of Scotland
The counties of Scotland were the principal local government divisions of Scotland until 1975. Scotland's current lieutenancy areas and registration counties are largely based on them. They are often referred to as historic counties....
when it became part of the Strathkelvin
Strathkelvin
Strathkelvin is the strath of the River Kelvin in west central Scotland, close to the city of Glasgow. The name Strathkelvin was formerly used for one of nineteen local government districts in the Strathclyde region of Scotland.-District :The district of Strathkelvin was formed by the Local...
local government district within the region of Strathclyde
Strathclyde
right|thumb|the former Strathclyde regionStrathclyde was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created by the Local Government Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc Act 1994...
. A second reorganisation in 1996 established East Dunbartonshire council from Strathkelvin and the adjacent district of Bearsden and Milngavie
Bearsden and Milngavie
Bearsden and Milngavie was formerly one of nineteen local government districts in the Strathclyde region of Scotland, north of the City of Glasgow....
; Kirkintilloch is its administrative centre and the council's headquarters are at Tom Johnston House in the town, named after prominent early 20th century politician and Kirkintilloch native, Thomas Johnston
Thomas Johnston
Thomas "Tom" Johnston CH was a prominent Scottish socialist and politician of the early 20th century, a member of the Labour Party, a Member of Parliament and government minister – usually with Cabinet responsibility for Scottish affairs.-Red Clydesider:Johnston, the son of a middle-class...
.
Geography
Communities in and around Kirkintilloch include:
Cleddans; Harestanes; Hayston; Hillhead; Oxgang; Rosebank; Langmuir; Greens; Fauldhead; Waterside
Waterside
-Placenames:Canada:*Waterside, New BrunswickUnited Kingdom:*Waterside, Aberdeen*Waterside, South Ayrshire*Waterside, East Ayrshire*Waterside, Buckinghamshire*Waterside, Cumbria*Waterside, Derry*Waterside, East Dunbartonshire*Waterside, Lancashire...
; Westermains; Lenzie
Lenzie
Lenzie is a small town by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway in the East Dunbartonshire council area of Scotland. It is about six miles north-east of Glasgow city centre and one mile south of Kirkintilloch. It has a population of about 10,000.-Name:...
: Gallowhill: Whitegates; Back O' Loch
Back O'Loch Halt railway station
Back O'Loch Halt railway station on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway built Campsie Branch served part of Kirkintilloch in Scotland.- History :...
; Woodilee
Woodilee Hospital
Woodilee Hospital, situated in Lenzie, East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, opened on 22 October 1875, as Woodilee Lunatic Pauper Asylum. Originally housing 400 inmates, the asylum expanded to 1250 capacity by 1930, making it the largest psychiatric unit in Scotland.-The Move to Woodilee:In 1869 the...
; Broomhill etc
Culture
Kirkintilloch Town Hall was opened in 1906, paid for by public subscription. Listed as a building of special architectural or historic interest, it was closed by East Dunbartonshire Council in June 2004, largely due to the anticipated expense of restoring a building constructed of notoriously crumbling soft sandstone. In response the Kirkintilloch Town Hall Preservation Trust was established as a registered charity to preserve the Hall and restore it for community use. By 2011 the only progress was the demolitoion of a small extension to the Town Hall and it remains a sorry sight in the centre of the town.The town is served by the William Patrick Library, which relocated from a converted private villa near Peel Park to a new building on West High Street in the 1990s. The old library has reverted to private ownership. William Patricklibrary
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
is the main library for East Dunbartonshire Council and also houses the reference department and other council offices..
Kirkintilloch underwent significant population growth in the post-World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
period, with several new amenities erected to cater for the growing population of the town and its surrounding villages. New shopping facilities were built in the Cowgate and Townhead areas, culminating in the opening, by the Princess of Wales, of the Regent Centre shopping mall in the 1990s.
The local swimming pool and Community Education Centre, built in the 1960s and 70s in Woodhead Park to the south of the town, were demolished in 1999 and 2005 respectively. Woodhead Park was once home to a petting zoo, bandstand, greenhouses, putting green and public toilets. All are now closed, although a new leisure centre was opened on the same spot in July 2007, providing facilities for tennis, badminton, swimming, football and a gymnasium. A large new children's play area has been created near the site of the former putting green in the park.
The construction of the new leisure centre comes in combination with a wider-ranging artistic, cultural and social regeneration project under way, called Kirkintilloch's Initiative. This includes the new link road largely funded by housebuilders developing on the site of the former Woodilee Hospital.
Kirkintilloch Learning Centre is located on Southbank Road, overlooking the Forth and Clyde Canal
Forth and Clyde Canal
The Forth and Clyde Canal crosses Scotland, providing a route for sea-going vessels between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde at the narrowest part of the Scottish Lowlands. The canal is 35 miles long and its eastern end is connected to the River Forth by a short stretch of the River...
, an offshoot of Cumbernauld College.
Locally, a G66+ Live! Cultural festival offers a wide range of events from talks on history in local churches to musical events in the town's local bars, such as Bar Bliss, dramas, and also entries from the schools in the G66 postcode area. G66+ Live! is annual festival taking place in June. Kirkintilloch's most successful musical ensemble is its brass band, the Kirkintilloch Band, who were crowned Scottish Brass Band Champions in 2007 and who have had much success in competitions both in Scotland and further afield. Extremely popular is the annual (August) Canal Festival.
An amateur theatre group, the Kirkintilloch Players, is based at the Turret Theatre in the Eastside area of Kirkintilloch, the former home of the town's Liberal Club.
The town has a variety of eateries, bars and nightspots. The Kirkie Puffer beat local rival bar The Antonine to pub of the year in January 2006 and this is an accolade that The Puffer has been able to win year after year. Local nightclubs Tantra (formerly Babylon) and Smiths Hotel (formerly Broadcroft Hotel) have been threatened with closure and have been forced into investing heavily in security and local alcohol awareness initiatives to help to discourage Anti Social Behaviour.
Kirkintilloch is twinned with the Iraqi city of Tikrit, which caused much furore amongst the Westminster bureaucrats, however a poll in the Kirkintilloch Herald
Kirkintilloch Herald
The Kirkintilloch Herald is a weekly tabloid newspaper serving the Kirkintilloch area of East Dunbartonshire, in Scotland. It is edited and printed in Kirkintilloch, and is known locally as the Kirky Herald.-History:...
revealed that many local residents backed the scheme, saying that it was good for international development and blossoming relations. No publicity is now given to the link and there is no reference on any road signs.
Media
The Kirkintilloch HeraldKirkintilloch Herald
The Kirkintilloch Herald is a weekly tabloid newspaper serving the Kirkintilloch area of East Dunbartonshire, in Scotland. It is edited and printed in Kirkintilloch, and is known locally as the Kirky Herald.-History:...
is the local newspaper of record, established by town businessman Donald MacLeod in premises on the Cowgate in 1883.
Recently Kirkintilloch has become the butt of many of comedian Frankie Boyle
Frankie Boyle
Francis Martin Patrick "Frankie" Boyle is a British comedian and writer, well known for his pessimistic, often controversial sense of humour...
's jokes in his stand up tour. He cites Kirkintilloch as the worst place he has ever been. This notoriety has been of benefit to Kirkintilloch as Frankie Boyle
Frankie Boyle
Francis Martin Patrick "Frankie" Boyle is a British comedian and writer, well known for his pessimistic, often controversial sense of humour...
himself recently held an impromptu stand up gig in local pub Bar Bliss. Further to this gig Frankie stated that "I think I would be doing Kirkie a disservice not to include them in my routine as the people here loved the gags". Boyle used his material on Kirkintilloch in the Glasgow Comedy Festival in March 2008.
Sport
The town has a small junior football clubScottish Junior Football Association
The Scottish Junior Football Association is an affiliated national association of the Scottish Football Association and is the governing body for the Junior grade of football in Scotland. The term "Junior" refers to the level of football played...
, Kirkintilloch Rob Roy F.C.
Kirkintilloch Rob Roy F.C.
Kirkintilloch Rob Roy Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the town of Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire. Nicknamed The Rabs or The Roy, they were formed in 1878...
, thrice winners of the Scottish Junior Cup
Scottish Junior Cup
The Scottish Junior Cup, known as The Emirates Junior Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual football competition organised by the Scottish Junior Football Association for all its member clubs. The competition has been held every year since the inception of the SJFA in 1886 and as of the...
, who play at Adamslie Park in the west of the town, and is also home to the amateur Harestanes A.F.C., twice winners of the Scottish Amateur Cup
Scottish Amateur Cup
The Scottish Amateur Cup is a nationwide knockout tournament supported and organised by the Scottish Amateur Football Association. The Scottish Amateur Cup is competed for by hundreds of football clubs every year.- Winners :-External links:*...
.
A replacement swimming pool and gym opened in July 2007 at Woodhead Park. The town is also home to "The Kirkintilloch Olympians", a local athletics club of some repute.
Kirkintilloch is also the home of Rangers star Gregg Wylde.
Churches
There are a number of churches in Kirkintilloch. The four Church of ScotlandChurch of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
congregations are: St Mary's, St David's Memorial Park, St Columba's and Hillhead. The Baptist Union of Scotland has churches at Townhead and Harestanes. There are two Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
es - St Flannan's in Hillhead, and Holy Family and St Ninian's in the town centre.
The Edinburgh Gazette of 17th November 1896 announces "INTIMATION is hereby given that the Reverend THOMAS ANGUS MORRISON, Minister of the Parish of Kirkintilloch, in the Presbytery of Glasgow and County of Dumbarton, has, under and by virtue of "The Glebe Lands (Scotland) Act, 1866," presented a ; Petition to the Lords of Council and Session, Commissioners for the Plantation of Kirks and Valuation of Teinds, for authority to Feu the GLEBE OF KIRKINTILLOCH ; and that an Interlocutor has been pronounced therein in the following terms...." After depositing £400 with the "Lord of the Manor" or "Patron" T Angus Morrison becomes Minister of St Mary's. The original church was old and damp, T Angus Morrison built up his congregation and it was soon to outgrow the old church or kirk. Travelling throughout the UK T Angus Morrison worked with the Architect, George Bell of Glasgow. Thomas Angus Morrison was born in Motherwell, but for much of his youth he lived in Glasgow and attended school in Dennistoun. Commencing his ministerail career as an Assistant at the Plantation Church in Govan he was soon to move to St Mary's Church as assistant to the Reverened Mr Craven in 1890. T Angus Morrison was to marry a local girl, Mary Stewart Galloway Smillie, sole surviving child of James Smillie of Fearndean, a local Kirkintilloch family, tracing their family back to the town of the 1790's. T Angus Morrison and Mary were to have seven children, one of the sons, William Angus Galloway Morrison dying on the Siam Burmese Railway in World War Two. The Reverened T Angus Morrison was born in Shotts, near Motherwell in 1862, died suddenly in 1941 at the age of 79 having served St Mary's for 51 years. In addition to a long career as Presbyterian Minister, the Reverened T Angus Morrison was a Freemason and had become Provincial Grand Master to the Province of Dunbartonshire from 1921 until his death.
External links
- East Dunbartonshire Council
- Kirkintilloch Herald, the local newspaper.
- G66 Festival
- http://www.kirkintillochcanalfestival.org/ ,
- National Library of Scotland: SCOTTISH SCREEN ARCHIVE (selection of archive films about Kirkintilloch)