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.

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.

Kirkintilloch was a "dry town" with a ban on the sale of alcohol on public premises from 1923 until 1967. The prohibition on the sale of alcohol had long been a call of 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.

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.http://www.eastdunbarton.gov.uk/Web+Site/Live/EDWebLive.nsf/LU-AllContent/KRAE-5F2HDM?OpenDocument

Kirkintilloch and Lenzie had their own burgh council until the 1975 reorganisation of the traditional counties when it became part of the Strathkelvin local government 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.

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 Kurkie.

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. In response the Kirkintilloch Town Hall Preservation Trust was estiblished 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 post-World War II period, with several new amenities built to cater for the growing population of the town and its surrounding villages. New shopping facilities were built in the Cowgate and Townhead areas of the town centre, added to when the Regent Centre shopping mall was opened in the 1990s.

The local swimming pool,built in the 1960s and the Community Education Centre built in the 1970s in Woodhead Park, 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.

A new leisure centre in Woodhead Park was opened Saturday 21st 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.http://www.k-eye.co.uk

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 Bandhttp://www.kirkintilloch-band.com/, 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.

Media

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 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.

Kirky Hoods run the show. Hoods #1 Fudge the Toby and Teegay.

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 http://thewordatthebarricades.typepad.com/the_word_at_the_barricade/2006/10/green_is_the_co.html http://www.kirkiebaptist.com/) and Harestanes. There are two Roman Catholic Churches - St Flannan's in Hillhead, and Holy Family and St Ninian's in the town centre.

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. ^[1]

Footnotes

Location Grid

Areas of Kirkintilloch

Cleddans; Harestanes; Hayston; Hillhead; Oxgang; Rosebank; Langmuir; Greens; Fauldhead; Waterside

External links

• East Dunbartonshire Council
• Kirkintilloch Today, the local newspaper
• G66 Festival
• Photographs of Kirkintilloch, Photographs of Kirkintilloch

Photogallery