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Coordinates: 55°56'08?N 4°09'17?W? / ?55.93568, -4.15469
Kirkintilloch is a burgh in Scotland, approximately eight miles north-east of central Glasgow. The town is the administrative centre of East Dunbartonshire council, and in the census of 2001, had a population of 20,281.
[edit] History
The first known settlement on the site of what is now Kirkintilloch was of Roman origin, a fort established in what is now the Peel Park area of the town in the mid-second century, one of the northernmost posts in Roman Britannia. Through it the Antonine Wall was routed; its course continues to straddle the town to this day, although the Romans withdrew from the area just twenty years after the construction of the wall. There is scant evidence of habitation on the site for the following thousand years until Clan Cumming established a castle and church there in the twelfth 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. The castle was of some importance during the wars of independence when an English garrison was stationed there. Soldiers from this castle (Motte & Bailey) were dispatched to arrest William Wallace at Robroyston and escorted him to Dumbarton Castle. The castle may have been attacked by Scottish forces under the bishop of Glasgow - certainly the castle was levelled in this period. The mot surrounded by a ditch can still be seen at the Peel Park.
Kirkintilloch was originally in the parish of Lenzie which stretched from Cumbernauld in the East to Kirkintilloch in the West. The original parish church, St.Ninian's, was at Oxgang (where a watchtower and belfry known as the 'Auld Aisle' still stands). The move of the church to 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.
Modern prosperity came with the construction of the Forth and Clyde Canal through the town in 1773, bringing the town to prominence as an inland port. The establishment of a railway link to Glasgow (the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway) in the 1820s allowed Kirkintilloch to further develop as an industrial centre for weaving and a major shipbuilding centre for both canal and ocean sailing. Today, Kirkintilloch is promoted as the "Canal Capital of Scotland", in which added pride has been taken since the completion of the Canal's recent regeneration project.
Another industry of note was iron founding, with the Lion Foundry and Star foundry achieving some repute. The most important products of the Lion Foundry were the famous red postboxes and phoneboxes K2 to K6, produced in the town until 1984 and still to be found as far afield as Taiwan and Mississippi USA.
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.[1]
Kirkintilloch was part of traditional Dunbartonshire until the 1975 reorganisation of the traditional counties when it became part of the Strathkelvin local government region of Strathclyde. A second reorganisation in 1996 established East Dunbartonshire council from Monklands the adjacent region 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.
[edit] Etymology
"Kirkintilloch" is 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". Current Gaelic uses the name Cathair Cheann Tulach, "ceann", (head), having replaced the earlier Old Welsh word equivalent "pen". The fort is the Roman settlement (which had been long-abandoned at the time the name was established) and the hillock is a 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.
[edit] Culture
Kirkintilloch's 1960s redevelopment had taken little account of culture and the area has been adversely affected by the demolition of its local swimming pool and the resultant lack of leisure facilities. In response, a new leisure centre is under construction following approval from East Dunbartonshire council, with tennis, badminton, swimming, football and gymnasium facilities. It was recently opened on Saturday 21st July 2007 in Woodhead Park. This construction comes in combination with a wider-ranging artistic, cultural and social regeneration project under way, called Kirkintilloch's Initiative.[2]
Locally, a G66+ Live! Cultural festival has been organised, with 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 area. G66+ Live! is annual festival that has been going for 3 years running, and has proved very popular.
Kirkintilloch's most successful musical ensemble is its brass band, the Kirkintilloch Band[3], who were crowned Scottish Brass Band Champions in 2007 and who have had much success in competitions both in Scotland and further afield.
The Kirkintilloch Herald is the local newspaper and recently an internet podcast has been setup called The Kirkintilloch Podcast Show. The Kirkintilloch Herald also prides itself on in-depth reporting of the issues that really matter, for example for two years running the traffic light crisis outside Tom Johnstone House made front page news. Crime corner always makes good reading on a Wednesday afternoon, something of a drunken hall of fame for those involved.
Recently Kirkintilloch has become the butt of many of comedian Frankie Boyle's jokes in his stand up tour. He cites Kirkintilloch the worst place he has ever been. This notoriety has though 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 dis-serivce 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.
The town has a small junior football club, Kirkintilloch Rob Roy F.C., who play at Adamslie Park in the west of the town. 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.
[edit] Churches
There are a number of churches in Kirkintilloch. The four Church of Scotland congregations are: St Mary's, St David's Memorial Park, St Columba's and Hillhead. The Baptist Union of Scotland has churches at Townhead (which is famous for being green [4] [5]) and Harestanes. There are two Roman Catholic Churches - St Flannan's in Hillhead, and St Ninian's and the Holy Family in the town centre.
[edit] Bibliography
[edit] Footnotes
- , From a copy of Old Glasgow published by Coghill in 1907 with no ISBN
[edit] Location Grid
[edit] Areas of Kirkintilloch
Cleddans; Harestanes; Hayston; Hillhead; Oxgang; Rosebank; Langmuir; Greens; Fauldhead; Waterside
[edit] External links
[edit] Photogallery
(Source: Wikipedia) |