Dunblane
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2008) |
Dunblane
| |
|---|---|
| Population | 7,911 (2001) |
| OS grid reference | NN779007 |
| Civil parish |
|
| Council area | |
| Lieutenancy area | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | DUNBLANE |
| Postcode district | FK15 |
| Dialling code | 01786 |
| Police | Scotland |
| Fire | Scottish |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| UK Parliament | |
| Scottish Parliament | |
Dunblane (Template:Lang-gd) is a small cathedral town and former burgh north of Stirling in the Stirling council area of Scotland. The town is situated off the A9 road, on the way north to Perth. Its main landmark is Dunblane Cathedral and the Allan Water runs through the town centre, with the Cathedral and the High Street on the east side. Dunblane had a population of 7,911 at the 2001 census,[1] although this was estimated to have grown to 8,840 by 2006.[2] The civil parish of Dunblane and Lecropt had a population of 8,863 in 2001.[3]
The town is served by Dunblane railway station.
History
The name Dunblane is traditionally believed to mean "fort of Blane". This early saint (Old Irish Bláán) flourished probably in the late 6th century. His main seat was Kingarth on the Isle of Bute. He or his followers may have founded a church at Dunblane, or the cult of Bláán may have come there with settlers from what is now Argyll in later centuries. However, documentary information from this period is difficult to verify. The spelling of Dunblane varies wildly between these documents, casting some doubt as to the actual derivation from the Gaelic.
The earliest evidence for Christianity on the site are two cross-slabs of the 10th to 11th centuries which are preserved in the cathedral. Incorporated into the later medieval building, but originally free-standing, is an 11th-century bell-tower, whose height was increased in the 15th century. The nave and aisleless choir are 13th century. Dunblane did not have a rich or extensive medieval diocese (37 parishes), and the cathedral is relatively modest in scale, but its refined architecture is much admired, as is its setting overlooking the valley of the Allan Water. After the Reformation, the nave of the cathedral was abandoned and soon became roofless and used for burials. The choir was retained as the parish church. The nave was re-roofed and the Cathedral provided with new furnishings by Robert Rowand Anderson between 1889 and 1893. During the boom years of the Hydropathy movement in the 19th century, Dunblane was the location of a successful hydropathic establishment (see photo below).[4][5]
Dunblane is split into two Church of Scotland parishes: the Cathedral and St Blane's Church. Dunblane Cathedral is remarkable in having retained more of its late-medieval choir stalls than any other Scottish church building (except King's College Chapel, Aberdeen), and also is noted for its organ. Further fragments of medieval woodwork from the Cathedral are displayed in the town's museum, formerly the Cathedral Museum, situated nearby. Though still used as a parish church, the building is in the care of Historic Scotland. To the south of the cathedral are some stone vaults of medieval origin, which are the only remaining fragment of the bishop's palace. Adjacent to the Cathedral, Scottish Churches House was (from the 1960s until its closure in 2011) a centre for ecumenical study and the former headquarters for Action of Churches Together in Scotland.
The town was a royal burgh and part of Perthshire until the 1975 abolition of Scottish counties. Dunblane refers to itself as a city, due to the presence of Dunblane Cathedral. However this status was never officially recognised.[6][7]
Dunblane Centre
In September 2004 the Dunblane Centre[8] opened.[8] This purpose-built youth, family, arts, sports and meeting facility was built using money from a consolidation of several funds which were created in the aftermath of the 1996 tragedy.
It is now entirely self funding and is run by charity the Dunblane Youth and Sports Centre Trust (Charity No. SC027397),[9] with a board of trustees from the community (Steve Birnie, Chris Finnerty, Anne Marie Campbell, Gerard Gourley, Claire Moore, Stewart Prodger and David Spooner.
Schools
Dunblane has three primary schools, one 5 - 18 school and one secondary school. Four of these are public. The remaining, Queen Victoria School, is a military boarding school. There are currently around two thousand pupils in schools in Dunblane.
Dunblane Primary School
Located on Doune Road, this two-storey building is situated in the heart of the residential area. The school has a public playing field (which is regularly used for extracurricular activities and local clubs) and a public nursery attached. In 1996, the school was the scene of the Dunblane massacre, in which 17 people were killed. It remains the deadliest massacre of children ever in the United Kingdom. The school was completely refurbished in 1998, and an assault course and basketball court have since been added. All forensic evidence of the crime was destroyed.
St. Mary's Episcopal Primary School
On its current site, in Smithy Loan, since 1850, St Mary's was established as a church school for poor children under the incumbency of the first rector of Saint Mary's Episcopal Church, Canon Henry Malcolm. Saint Mary's was a two teacher school until the 1970s. It was renovated and extended in 1997. [10]
Newton Primary School
Built in 1996, the name of the school comes from Newton Farm, which goes back as far as the Charter of 1655 when Oliver Cromwell confirmed James Pearson of Kippenross as the owner. The streets that encircle the school, Newton Crescent and Ochiltree, named after the Bishop of Dunblane between 1429 and 1447, reflect the rich history in which the school is embedded.
Queen Victoria School
Queen Victoria School is a co-educational boarding school for children of those in the British Armed Forces. It is situated roughly one mile north of the town centre, in a secluded area overlooking the A9.
Queen Victoria School can trace its history back to the turn of the century when the idea was first mooted of a school to commemorate those Scottish soldiers and sailors who fell in South Africa during the Boer Wars. The proposal was warmly received by Queen Victoria herself, and upon her death the following year, it was resolved that the School should serve the dual purpose of commemorating the dead servicemen as well as being a living memorial to the late Empress. To this end money was raised in a national effort which captivated the imagination of the Scottish public. For example, every Serviceman donated a day's pay, and an appeal for contributions from the Scottish workforce received a generous response. Work began in earnest, and Queen Victoria School was officially opened on 28 September 1908 by His Majesty King Edward VII.
The school's chapel is a notable example of Scottish medieval revival architecture, based on the 14th century Dominican (later parish) church of St Monans in Fife.
Dunblane High School
Fed by pupils from the three public primary schools in Dunblane, as well as some of those from Bridge of Allan, Doune, Stirling, and the surrounding areas, this school has a roster of roughly 750 pupils and sixty teachers. The present building is located at the top of Old Doune Road and was completed in November 2007. It spans three storeys and includes some features such as an art rooftop, theatre, fitness suite, dance studio and student lounges. The school also has an all-weather pitch and large playing field. However, the school is notable for its lack of a centralised lending library, which was abolished after the retirement of the school librarian and the room converted as an S6 study area and computer room.
The 2007 building was built on the old school's playing fields, and the previous campus being sold for public development. The building was one of the first Public-Private Partnership projects in the Stirling Council area, and so effectively a prototype, meaning it was built with such drawbacks as inadequate catering facilities, and was the only Stirling school built without a swimming pool.
The school was shaken in July 2010 with the abdication of its head teacher, Dr Dorothy White (previously head of Currie High School in Edinburgh), and the retirement of several other management staff. This was resolved with the transfer of Francis Lennon, the then head teacher of St Modan's High School in Stirling, and several deputes from other schools in the district. Mr Lennon has proven popular with parents and staff and has been accepted by pupils.
The school was recently deemed top state school in Scotland both relating to academic achievement and learning environment[citation needed], with well over three quarters of its roll progressing to higher education. It has a large extra-curricular base, including the Make A Difference Group (MAD), a highly effective charity committee. The school has also hosted a number of international sports people, including ex-Scotland footballer Callum Davidson and, in tennis, the Murray brothers, Andy and Jamie. It was also the school of 2009's winner of the Miss Scotland crown, Katharine Brown.
Notable developments
The town has seen rapid growth in recent years. The old town centre retains a number of historic buildings in addition to the cathedral, including the 17th-century Leighton Library, the oldest private library in Scotland open to the public (on selected days in summer). A well-preserved late medieval town-house nearby (which was probably built as the manse of the Dean of the medieval cathedral) houses a local history museum (open in the summer; free entry). A modern extension has recently been completed within its interior courtyard to provide additional exhibition space and allow disabled access.
The north side of the town is dominated by the Dunblane Hydro Hotel, currently owned by the Hilton Hotel Group and operated under the Doubletree brand. The restaurant is run by the chef, Nick Nairn. The huge Victorian building sits in extensive wooded grounds on the top of a steep and wide grass slope, giving it a very imposing appearance on the crest of the slope. Dating from late Victorian times it has been redeveloped and extended several times but still retains its main building relatively intact. Whilst, like the other Scottish "Hydros" (Crieff and Peebles), it originally housed extensive spa and therapeutic bath facilities, these are all now housed in an independent modern building to its side.
Since the early 1970s the town has grown extensively and is now regarded as a highly-sought-after commuter town due to its excellent road and rail links to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Perth and nearby Stirling. This, coupled with the fact that the local high school consistently turns out some of the best results from a state school in Scotland, means that the town is not only sought-after by commuters but also by families of school-age children. How much of the school's performance is affected by the population bias, which is largely made up of middle class commuters, is subjective. Dunblane is close to the University of Stirling's campus at Bridge of Allan, and is a popular location for academics.
The rapid expansion of the town, expedited by the bypass completion of 1990, has led to a large increase in local car usage, resulting in considerable parking problems. For a town of its size, Dunblane has something of a shortage of local amenities, with, for instance, only two supermarkets. As a result, many people prefer to shop in nearby Stirling.
Over the course of 6 years, a small group of young local boys and their parents have been raising money to build a skatepark in the Laighills. The skatepark was completed on the 23 February 2007 and has already been visited by Death skateboard team and by the Vans UK Tour.
In October 2007 a new church building was completed for Dunblane Christian Fellowship, sited opposite the railway station. Equally important is that Dunblane is at the northern end of both the Network Rail Edinburgh-Glasgow rail electrification project.
The Dunblane Massacre
On 13 March 1996 Thomas Watt Hamilton, aged 43, a former Scout Leader,[11] ousted by The Scout Association over five years previously,[12] shot dead 16 children and their teacher, Gwen Mayor, in Dunblane Primary School's gymnasium before killing himself. He used his licensed weapons and ammunition.
There is a memorial to the 17 victims in the local cemetery and a cenotaph in the cathedral. The funds raised in the aftermath of the tragedy have been used to build a new community centre for the town. Following the incident, the government passed legislation banning ownership of all handguns (firearms under 60 centimetres in overall length) in Great Britain.
Notable former and current residents
Dunblane has produced a number of sporting stars, including brothers Andy and Jamie Murray, the UK's current number-one male tennis player and the former Wimbledon mixed doubles champion respectively, brothers Steven Caldwell and Gary Caldwell both professional footballers for Birmingham City F.C. and Wigan Athletic F.C. respectively, Lynn Kenny, a rising star of the female golf circuit and Hibs Ladies and Scotland Football star Frankie Brown. Former Celtic Footballer and Lisbon Lion Tommy Gemmell, the former Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini and former NATO Secretary General George Robertson also live in the town.
Miss Scotland 2009/Miss UK 2009 Katharine Brown, Great Britain's Federation Cup Team Captain Judy Murray and Scottish singer-songwriter Dougie MacLean are also all natives of the Cathedral City.
1947 Wimbledon Girls Singles and Junior Doubles winner Norma Seacy moved to Dunblane from Edinburgh as a child in 1942.[13]
The hotel magnate Sir Reo Stakis is buried in Dunblane Cemetery.
References
- ^ "Comparative Population Profile: Dunblane Locality". Scotland's Census Results Online. 2001-04-29. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ General Register Office for Scotland: Census 2001: Civil Parish: Dunblane and Lecropt Retrieved 29 November 2010
- ^ Bradley, James; Dupree, Mageurite; Durie, Alastair (1997). "Taking the Water Cure: The Hydropathic Movement in Scotland, 1840-1940" (PDF). Business and Economic History. 26 (2): 429. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
- ^ Shifrin, Malcolm (Last updated 3 October 2008). "Victorian Turkish Baths Directory". Victorian Turkish Baths: Their origin, development, and gradual decline. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Beckett, J V, City status in the British Isles, 1830–2002, Historical urban studies. Aldershot 2005
- ^ "UK Cities". Department for Constitutional Affairs. 2002. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b "Dunblane Centre". Dunblane Centre. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
- ^ [2][dead link]
- ^ http://stmarysepsdunblane.org.uk/
- ^ Jordan, Mary (2007-04-24). "Britain's Gun Laws Seen As Curbing Attacks". washington Post. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
- ^ unknown. "UK Gun politics". Martinfrost.ws. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
- ^ Published on Saturday 2 July 2005 00:49 (2005-07-02). "Dunblane produces its second Wimbledon sensation - Tennis". Scotsman.com. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
External links
Definitions from Wiktionary
Media from Commons
News from Wikinews
Quotations from Wikiquote
Texts from Wikisource
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Resources from Wikiversity
