Kirkintilloch

Kirkintilloch Scottish Gaelic: Cair Ceann Tulach *
St Mary's Church in Kirkintilloch's Cowgate
Population	20,281
OS grid reference	NS655735
Council area	East Dunbartonshire
Lieutenancy area	Dunbartonshire
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	GLASGOW
Postcode district	G66
Dialling code	0141
Police	Scotland
Fire	Scottish
Ambulance	Scottish
UK Parliament	East Dunbartonshire Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East
Scottish Parliament	Strathkelvin and Bearsden West of Scotland

Kirkintilloch is a town and former burgh in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the Forth and Clyde Canal, approximately eight miles northeast of central Glasgow. The town is the administrative centre of the East Dunbartonshire council area, and in the census of 2001, had a population of 20,281.

History

"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 "Càthair Cinn Tulaich" being less unusual as it is purely Gaelic.. The current Gaelic version of the name Cair Ceann Tulach, could derive from an abbreviating of the Gaelic "cathair as it contains the same vowel, or from the less straightforward theory. The fort referred to is the former Roman settlement 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 or Kirky, as reflected in a number of business names in the town.

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-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 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. Soldiers from this castle (Motte and 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.

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.

Governance

Kirkintilloch and Lenzie had their own burgh council until the 1975 abolition of the counties of Scotland 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.

Geography

Areas of Kirkintilloch include: Cleddans; Harestanes; Hayston; Hillhead; Oxgang; Rosebank; Langmuir; Greens; Fauldhead; Waterside;Westermains

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.

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. It is the main library for East Dumbartonshire Council.

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.

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.

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. Earlier this year the players youth team (a cast of four) became Scottish champions, winning the Scottish Drama Association One Act Festival.

The town has a variety of eateries, bars and nightspots. Many of these bars have come under fire for their lack of security in and around the establishment. 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.

In 2009 the site of the old Caprice cafe was turned into a rustic Italian bistro called Fortino. It is the only Italian restaurant in the area; it has received plaudits from local paper Kirkintilloch Herald and in the weekend edition of the national paper The Daily Record in March 2010 when Tam Cowan awarded it a score of 21/25. It is sited at the entrance to the Peel Park on West High Street.

Media

The Kirkintilloch Herald 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.

Sport

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. Kirkintilloch is also the home of Rangers star Greg Wylde.

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 and Harestanes. There are two Roman Catholic Churches - St Flannan's in Hillhead, and Holy Family and St Ninian's in the town centre.

Photogallery

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See also

• Thomas Muir (political reformer)

References

Bibliography

• Old Glasgow and It's Suburbs in their Celtic Gard: Also Parish of Baldernock - Kirkintilloch to Stirling - Robroyston by Neil Thomson with 80 pages. From a copy of Old Glasgow published by Coghill in 1907 with no ISBN

External links

• East Dunbartonshire Council
• Kirkintilloch Today, the local newspaper
• G66 Festival
• Photographs of Kirkintilloch, Photographs of Kirkintilloch
• National Library of Scotland: SCOTTISH SCREEN ARCHIVE (selection of archive films about Kirkintilloch)