Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for Stirling

Stirling, a small parish, containing the royal burgh of the same name, in the NE of Stirlingshire, and extending also on the NE into a detached section of the county of Clackmannan. It is bounded N by the parish of Logie and a detached portion of St Ninians, and elsewhere by the parish of St Ninians. The shape is highly irregular, and the boundary, except where it lies along the Forth, almost entirely artificial. Beginning at the NW corner, opposite the old Toll House beyond Raploch, the line passes down the centre of the river to the Old Bridge of Stirling, zig-zags thence eastward to the river a little below Queenshaugh, and then passes up the river, till, about half way round the bend below the Old Bridge, it strikes due S to the Forth near the quay. From this it follows the river up to Ladyneuk, then winds eastward and along the course of a small rivulet back to the Forth once more near West Grange, and follows up the river to the bend E of the railway station. From this it twists very irregularly first SE and then back SW to the S side of the burgh of Stirling, and after skirting the S side of the King's Park, passes down the Mill Burn to the road at Raploch, and back along the road to the point on the river opposite the old Toll House. The portion in the loop of the Forth between Ladyneuk and the station is in Clackmannanshire and the rest in Stirlingshire. The former is the barony of Cambuskenneth, and was formerly a separate parish, but is now ecclesiastically in Stirling, though for poor law purposes it is included in Logie. Its area is 241 acres, of which 8¼ are foreshore and 32½ water; while the area of the Stirlingshire portion of the parish is 1271¾ acres, of which 12½ are foreshore and 46¾ water. The castle and park were, till the first half of the present century, excluded from the parish. The ground outside the town is mostly low and level, the highest point being in the King's Park, where a height of over 200 feet is reached. The castle ridge in the town is 420 feet. The soil on the low flats is a rich carse clay, and elsewhere it is a sharp friable earth. The underlying rocks are carboniferous, with masses of intrusive basalt. The parish is traversed by different sections of the Caledonian and North British railway systems, as well as by the main roads that radiate from the town.

Stirling was anciently in the diocese of St Andrews, but being comprehended within the archdeaconry of Lothian, it followed the fortunes of that district when it was in 1633 erected by Charles I. into the diocese of Edinburgh, the minister becoming one of the prebendaries of the cathedral church of St Giles. It is the seat of a presbytery in the synod of Perth and Stirling, and has three charges, with livings worth respectively £490, £250, and £200 a year. The churches are noticed in the following article. Under the landward school board, Abbey School, at Cambuskenneth, with accommodation for 48 scholars, had in 1884 an attendance of 42, and a grant of £35, 9s. The parishes of Stirling, St Ninians, and Kilsyth form a poor-law combination with a poorhouse at the N end of Stirling. There is accommodation for 200 inmates, and the average number in it is about 120. The village of Raploch is separately noticed. Seven proprietors hold each an annual value of £500 and upwards, 107 hold each between £500 and £100, 113 hold each between £100 and £50, and there are a large number of smaller amount. Valuation, exclusive of the burgh (1884-85), £2435, 12s. 2d., of which £1629, 12s. 2d. was for the Stirlingshire portion. Pop. (1801) 5271, (1831) 8556, (1861) 11,714, (1871) 12,014, (1881) 13,480, of whom 7069 were females, and 217 were in Clackmannanshire. Houses (1881) 2823 inhabited, 191 uninhabited, and 90 being built.

The Presbytery of Stirling comprehends the quoad civilia parishes of Airth, Alloa, Alva, Bothkennar, Clackmannan, Denny, Dollar, Gargunnock, Larbert, St Ninians, and Stirling; the quoad sacra parishes of Bannockburn, Bonnybridge, Haggs, Marykirk, Plean, and Sauchie, and mission stations at Alloa and Carronshore; the total number of charges being 21. The Free Church has a presbytery of Stirling, with charges at Alloa (2), Alva, Bannockburn, Cambusbarron, Clackmannan, Denny, Dollar, Dunipace, Larbert, St Ninians, Stirling (4), and Tullibody-in all 16. The United Presbyterian Church has also a presbytery of Stirling, with charges at Alloa, Alva, Brannockburn, Blairlogie, Bridge of Allan, Bridge of Teith, Bucklyvie, Clackmannan, Dollar, Dunblane, Greenloaning, St Ninians, Stirling (3), and Tillicoultry-in all, 16.


(F.H. Groome, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4); © 2004 Gazetteer for Scotland)

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a small parish, containing the royal burgh"   (ADL Feature Type: "countries, 4th order divisions")
Administrative units: Stirling ScoP       Stirling Burgh       Clackmannanshire ScoCnty       Stirlingshire ScoCnty
Place: Stirling

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