Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; educated Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; gd, Alamhagh, possibly meaning "rock plain") is a town in

Clackmannanshire Clackmannanshire (; sco, Clackmannanshire; gd, Siorrachd Chlach Mhannainn) is a historic county, council area, registration county and Lieutenancy area in Scotland, bordering the council areas of Stirling, Fife, and Perth & Kinross and the hi ...

in the

Central Lowlands The Central Lowlands, sometimes called the Midland Valley or Central Valley, is a geologically defined area of relatively low-lying land in southern Scotland. It consists of a rift valley between the Highland Boundary Fault to the north and t ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It is on the north bank of the Forth at the spot where some say it ceases to be the

River Forth The River Forth is a major river in central Scotland, long, which drains into the North Sea on the east coast of the country. Its drainage basin covers much of Stirlingshire in Scotland's Central Belt. The Gaelic name for the upper reach of th ...

and becomes the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate of ''fjord'', a Norse word meani ...

. Alloa is south of the

Ochil Hills The Ochil Hills (; gd, Monadh Ochail is a range of hills in Scotland north of the Forth valley bordered by the towns of Stirling, Alloa, Kinross, Auchterarder and Perth. The only major roads crossing the hills pass through Glen Devon/ Glen ...

, east of

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

and north of

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

; by water Alloa is from Granton. The town, formerly a

burgh of barony A burgh of barony was a type of Scottish town (burgh). Burghs of barony were distinct from royal burghs, as the title was granted to a landowner who, as a tenant-in-chief, held his estates directly from the crown. (In some cases, they might also ...

, is the administrative centre of Clackmannanshire Council. Historically, the economy relied heavily on trade between

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and mainland Europe through its port. This became increasingly uncompetitive and the port stopped operating in 1970. The local economy is now centred on retail and leisure since the closure of major industries; only one brewer and one glassmaker survive today. Parochially, Alloa was linked with

Tullibody Tullibody ( gd, Tulach Bòide), is a town set in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies north of the River Forth near to the foot of the Ochil Hills within the Forth Valley. The town is south-west of Alva, north-west of Alloa and east-nor ...

. The towns are now distinct, albeit with Lornshill in the middle, and Alloa is about twice the size of its north-western neighbour. The population of Alloa was estimated to be approximately 20,730 residents in 2016.Population of settlements
ClacksWeb Retrieved 16 December 2018. The Forth Valley near Alloa - geograph

History

Alloa grew up under the protection of

Alloa Tower Alloa Tower in Alloa, Clackmannanshire in central Scotland is an early 14th century tower house that served as the medieval residence of the Erskine family, later Earls of Mar. Retaining its original timber roof and battlements, the tower is o ...

which may have been built before 1300 AD. The name of the town has had different spelling at different periods. In the charter granted by

King Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventuall ...

in the year 1315, to Thomas de Erskyne, it is called Alway; in some subsequent ones, Aulway, Auleway; and more recently Alloway. Dr Jamieson stated that the most probable etymology of the name was from Aull Waeg – the way to the sea.

14th century

Sir Robert

Erskine Erskine (, sco, Erskin, gd, Arasgain) is a town in the council area of Renfrewshire, and historic county of the same name, situated in the West Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on the southern bank of the River Clyde, providing the lo ...

was granted the lands of Alloa and its environs in 1368 for services to

King David II David II (5 March 1324 – 22 February 1371) was King of Scots from 1329 until his death in 1371. Upon the death of his father, Robert the Bruce, David succeeded to the throne at the age of five, and was crowned at Scone in November 1331, becom ...

and he and his descendants were good stewards, developing the estates and innovating.

17th century

One of the earliest maps of the area was made by surveyor and

cartographer Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...

John Adair John Adair (January 9, 1757 – May 19, 1840) was an American pioneer, slave trader, soldier, and politician. He was the eighth Governor of Kentucky and represented the state in both the U.S. House and Senate. A native of South Carolina, Ada ...

in 1681.

18th century

John Erskine, the 6th

Earl of Mar There are currently two earldoms of Mar in the Peerage of Scotland, and the title has been created seven times. The first creation of the earldom is currently held by Margaret of Mar, 31st Countess of Mar, who is also clan chief of Clan Mar. The ...

oversaw many far-reaching developments including substantial harbour improvements, a customs house, a "New Town" area of housing, and commissioning the building of the

Gartmorn Dam Gartmorn Dam is an artificial freshwater lake north-east of Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland, UK, built in 1711-12 as a reservoir to supply water to hydraulic machines used in Alloa's mining industry. It was commissioned by John Erskine, 23rd an ...

, which was designed by

George Sorocold George Sorocold (c. 1668 – c. 1738) was an English civil engineer of the eighteenth century notable for pioneering work on water supplies and hydraulic power systems around Great Britain. Biography Sorocold was born in Lancashire in 1666, t ...

. Erskine owned many of the coal mines, and

Robert Bald Robert Bald FRSE FSA MWS (1776–1861) was a Scottish surveyor, civil and mining engineer, and antiquarian. Robert Bald was one of the earliest and most eminent mining engineers and land surveyors in Scotland, and by the late nineteenth century ...

, a local mining engineer, was contracted to provide water power from the Gartmorn Dam to operate the mines and other industries. Good water supplies and the availability of barley from the carselands encouraged George Younger to set up a brewery in the 1760s and he was soon followed by others. Alloa became one of Scotland's premier brewing centres. The 6th Earl of Mar was forced to flee the country and forfeit his lands after disastrously backing the Jacobite cause in 1715. However, his brother was allowed to purchase the forfeited lands and future generations continued the tradition of creative industry by launching a glass-works in 1750 and laying one of Scotland's earliest railways (a waggonway) from the

Sauchie Sauchie is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies north of the River Forth and south of the Ochil Hills, within the council area of Clackmannanshire. Sauchie has a population of around 6000 and is located northeast of Alloa and e ...

mines to down to the harbour in around 1766. Before 1775, the colliers were attached to the properties in which they were born and were virtual serfs or slaves, supported by the master. After the

Colliers and Salters (Scotland) Act 1775 The Colliers and Salters (Scotland) Act 1775 is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in May 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and the Parl ...

abolished the system, the colliers could move between collieries at will, and they were supported in their needs by the Alloa Colliers' Fund or Friendly Society which was founded in 1775. Traces of the waggonway and the Gartmorn Dam can still be seen today, and although the dam is no longer used for energy production or water supply, it is well used for fishing and leisure purposes. The Clackmannashire Library was founded at Alloa in 1797 and it contained upwards of 1500 volumes. As the 18th century closed a whisky distillery was established at Carsebridge by John Bald. In the 18th century the staple business of the port was coal with about 50,000 tons a year exported.

19th century

In 1813 the first steamboat started to operate out of Alloa harbour. Rival companies later united into the "Stirling, Alloa and Kincardine Steamboat Company". In 1822 water was brought into the town and in 1828 a gas works was built. While building a road to Alloa Academy in 1828, an ancient burial site was found at Mars Hill, with several finds including two gold armlets. Alloa Academy was built in 1824, being paid for by subscription. The

Alloa Swing Bridge The Alloa Swing Bridge was a railway swing bridge across the River Forth that connected Throsk and Alloa as part of the Alloa Railway. The structure was in use from 1885 until 1968. History The Alloa Railway obtained authority through an Act ...

was opened to the public on 1 October 1885. The population was 5,434 in the 1841 census.

20th century

After the improvements were made to the harbour during the 18th century, Alloa thrived as a

river port An inland port is a port on an inland waterway, such as a river, lake, or canal, which may or may not be connected to the sea. The term "inland port" is also used to refer to a dry port. Examples The United States Army Corps of Engineers publ ...

through which the products of

manufacture were exported to continental Europe. At that time, and until the 1950s, the main industry to the north and east of the town was coal mining.

Industries

Wool

Wool was also locally plentiful and in the early part of the 19th century, John Paton set up a small yarn-spinning business in the town, later establishing Kilncraigs Mill. Much of the Kilncraigs complex has been demolished but a four-storey Edwardian Baroque block of 1903–4 survives, with an extension of 1936. The buildings were converted to Council offices by LDN architects in 2003/4. Patons merged with J. & J. Baldwin of Halifax in 1924 to become Paton & Baldwins Ltd. Alloa Glass works

Weaving and glass making

The town itself continued to be known for its

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal th ...

and

glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of ...

making industries well into the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Brewing

Alloa was long associated with the

brewing Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and #Fermenting, fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with Yeast#Beer, yeast. It may be done in a brewery ...

industry, with at least nine major breweries producing

ale Ale is a Type of beer, type of beer brewed using a Warm fermentation, warm fermentation method, resulting in a sweet, full-bodied and fruity taste. Historically, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typicall ...

s at its height. However

industrial decline Deindustrialization is a process of social and economic change caused by the removal or reduction of industrial capacity or activity in a country or region, especially of heavy industry or manufacturing industry. There are different interpre ...

during the late 20th century has led to the economy relying more on retail and leisure. The first brewing firms in the town were Younger in 1762 and Meiklejohn in 1784. Alloa ale was sent to London and George Younger had an extensive export trade to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

and the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

. Alloa was also home to Alloa Brewery Co, developing Graham's Golden Lager in 1927 which was renamed

Skol Skol Lager was developed originally by Ind Coope breweries in Alloa, Central Scotland. In 1958, Graham's Continental was launched (based upon a local brew called Graham's Golden) and quickly changed to Graham's Skol to give a Scandinavian impre ...

in the 1950s. Closures and mergers during the mid-20th century reduced the number of breweries to two and by 1999 after the closure of MacLay's Thistle Brewery, only one remained, the Forth Brewery which became Williams Bros. in 2003.

Malt distilling

In addition to the brewing of beer, Alloa is the site of the former Carsebridge Distillery. According to

Alfred Barnard Alfred Barnard (1837–1918) was a British brewing and distilling historian. Life and work According to the limited family records available, Barnard was born in 1837 into a Baptist family in Thaxted, a rural village in Essex. He was one of eight ...

, the Victorian historian of British distilling and brewing, the distillery was founded as a

malt Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in a process known as " malting". The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. Malted grain is used to make beer, wh ...

distillery by John Bald in 1799. In the 1840s it was converted into a grain distillery and by the time of Barnard's visit in the mid 1880s the distillery covered 10 acres, employed 150 people, and had an annual output of 1.4 to 1.7 million gallons of pure grain whisky. The distillery's owner John Bald and Co was one of five companies that combined to form the

Distillers Company Limited The Distillers Company Limited was a leading Scottish drinks and pharmaceutical company and, at one time, a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It was taken over by Guinness & Co. (now part of Diageo) in 1986 in a transaction which was later ...

in 1877. In 1902, a fire devastated the distillery, after World War I it was refitted and started producing yeast. This yeast production lasted until 1938. In 1956 the distillery was modernised, it expanded in 1966 and in the 1970s a new still house, cooperage and animal feedstuffs plant added. By 1980 the Carsebridge Distillery was the largest grain distillery in Scotland, however it closed in 1983 and was demolished in 1992. One of the distillery's Coffey stills is now in use at the

Cameronbridge Cameron Bridge is a village in the conurbation of Levenmouth in Fife, Scotland. It is near to the village of Windygates and west of the town of Leven, Fife, Leven. A distillery was established in the 19th century by the Haig (whisky), Haig family ...

distillery.

Barrel cooperage

After whisky ceased to be produced at Carsebridge, the cooperage remained as one of two owned by

Diageo Diageo plc () is a Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic beverage company, with its headquarters in London, England. It operates from 132 sites around the world. It was the world's largest distiller before being overtaken by Kweich ...

in Scotland. In 2008, 30 people worked there assembling or repairing up to 400 bourbon casks, imported from the US, each day. However, in 2009 the company announced that it intended to close the Carsebridge Cooperage and move the work to nearby Cambus. The new Cambus cooperage was opened in December 2011 by the

Earl of Wessex Earl of Wessex is a title that has been created twice in British history – once in the pre-Conquest Anglo-Saxon nobility of England, and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. In the 6th century AD the region of Wessex (the lands of the We ...

Military history

Alloa is linked to the historic Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders housed at

Stirling Castle Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles in Scotland, both historically and architecturally. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological ...

. Many of the soldiers in WW2 fought under Montgomery at the

Battle of El Alamein There were two battles of El Alamein in World War II, both fought in 1942. The Battles occurred in North Africa, in Egypt, in and around an area named after a railway stop called El Alamein. * First Battle of El Alamein: 1–27 July 1942 * Secon ...

and Wadi Akrit where their commanding officer Lorne Campbell won a V.C. They were part of the 7th Argylls under the 51st Highland Division.

Police

As of 2014, the temporary national headquarters of

Police Scotland Police Scotland ( gd, Poileas Alba), officially the Police Service of Scotland (), is the national police force of Scotland. It was formed in 2013, through the merging of eight regional police forces in Scotland, as well as the specialist service ...

is located in Alloa.

Landmarks

Alloa's most famous landmark is the 15th century

(

National Trust for Scotland The National Trust for Scotland for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, commonly known as the National Trust for Scotland ( gd, Urras Nàiseanta na h-Alba), is a Scottish conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organ ...

), the surviving part of the ancestral medieval residence of the Erskine family, the Earls of Mar. Despite extensive internal and external alterations, the Tower retains its original medieval wooden roof and battlements, as well as some internal features. It is one of the largest and earliest of Scottish

tower houses A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...

. The town formerly contained a large number of 17th and 18th century buildings, but many were cleared with the expansion of milling operations and later with

slum clearance Slum clearance, slum eviction or slum removal is an urban renewal strategy used to transform low income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. This has long been a strategy for redeveloping urban communities; ...

in the 20th century. However, Alloa does retain some historic architecture in the form of Alloa Tower, Tobias Bauchop's House (1695), Inglewood House,

Gean House Gean House, or The Gean, is an early 20th-century Arts and Crafts style mansion, located on Tullibody Road, Alloa, Scotland. It was owned and used as a venue for events but has now been restored to a private residence since October 2018. Backgr ...

and Greenfield House.

Alloa Town Hall Alloa Town Hall is a municipal building in Marshill, Alloa, Scotland. The structure, which was the meeting place of Alloa Burgh Council, is a Category C listed building. History Until the late 19th century Alloa lacked a public hall capable of ...

and Library was designed by the architect

Alfred Waterhouse Alfred Waterhouse (19 July 1830 – 22 August 1905) was an English architect, particularly associated with the Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, although he designed using other architectural styles as well. He is perhaps best known f ...

and built in 1886-9 at a cost of £18,008. The Speirs Centre was built as Alloa's swimming pool in 1895 and was designed by Sir John Burnet of Glasgow. The Sheriff Court is by Brown and Wardrop of 1862–5. Alloa War Memorial (designed 1920 erected 1925) is by

Sir Robert Lorimer Sir Robert Stodart Lorimer, KBE (4 November 1864 – 13 September 1929) was a prolific Scottish architect and furniture designer noted for his sensitive restorations of historic houses and castles, for new work in Scots Baronial and Gothi ...

with sculpture by

Pilkington Jackson Charles d’Orville Pilkington Jackson RSA, FRBS, FRSA (11 October 1887 – 20 September 1973) was a British sculptor prominent in Scotland in the 20th Century. Throughout his career he worked closely with the architect Sir Robert Lorimer. He ...

. The monument to the South African War is also by Lorimer (1904).

Shopping

Alloa is served by many food retailers including Iceland Frozen Foods,

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

Aldi Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when t ...

Lidl Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG (; ) is a German international discount retailer chain that operates over 11,000 stores across Europe and the United States. Headquartered in Neckarsulm, Baden-Württemberg, the company belongs to the Schwarz Group, whi ...

Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as one in Gibraltar. The company is headqua ...

Asda Asda Stores Ltd. () (often styled as ASDA) is a British supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Leeds, England. The company was founded in 1949 when the Asquith family merged their retail business with the Associated Dairies company of York ...

Co-op Food Co-op Food is a brand used for the food retail business of The Co-operative Group in the United Kingdom. Prior to reintroducing the brand in 2016, the group used " The Co-operative" branding, which is still used by a number of consumers' co- ...

and

Farmfoods Farmfoods is a British frozen food and grocery supermarket chain based in Cumbernauld, Scotland. It is owned by Eric Herd, and has over three hundred shops in the United Kingdom, of which more than a hundred are in Scotland. History The compa ...

. The Asda supermarket, opened in 2007, is adjacent to the site of the new railway station and was built on the land where the Alloa brewery once stood.

Transport

After the closure of the Stirling-Alloa-

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...

line in 1968 and the

Devon Valley Railway The Devon Valley Railway linked Alloa and Kinross in central Scotland, along a route following the valley of the River Devon. Its construction took 20 years from the first section opening in 1851, to the final section in 1871. Three railway ...

in 1973, the town had no passenger railway services for 40 years until 2008. The Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine rail link project was completed in May 2008. The laying of new track had commenced in September 2006 after much preparatory work, including new drainage works and the grouting of a large number of shallow

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

workings. The project also involved the construction of a new bypass road, and a bridge which replaced a level crossing in the town.

Alloa railway station Alloa railway station is a railway station in the town of Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland, which was re-opened on Monday, 19 May 2008. History The original Alloa station was opened by the Stirling and Dunfermline Railway (S&DR) on 28 August ...

reopened in May 2008, a short distance east of its former site, just beyond the location of the former junction to the Devon Valley line that served Tillicoultry and Dollar, and also carried through trains to Kinross and Perth. Alloa station and train

ScotRail ScotRail Trains Limited, trading as ScotRail ( gd, Rèile na h-Alba), is a Scottish train operating company that is publicly owned by Scottish Rail Holdings on behalf of the Scottish Government. It has been operating the ScotRail franchise a ...

now operates an hourly service from

Glasgow Queen Street , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Queen Street railway station (geograph 6687389).jpg , caption = Main entrance in 2020 , borough = Glasgow , country = Scotland , coordinates = , grid_name = Grid reference , grid_positi ...

via

Larbert Larbert ( gd, Lèirbert/Leth-pheairt, sco, Lairbert) is a small town in the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The town lies in the Forth Valley above the River Carron which flows from the west. Larbert is from the shoreline of the Firth of ...

and

Lenzie Lenzie () is an affluent town by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway in the East Dunbartonshire council area of Scotland. It is about north-east of Glasgow city centre and south of Kirkintilloch. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 8,873. ...

between 0641 and 2241 Monday to Saturday and between 1041 and 2141 on Sundays. Passengers can travel to

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

Edinburgh Waverley Edinburgh Waverley railway station (also known simply as Waverley; gd, Waverley Dhùn Èideann) is the principal railway station serving Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the second busiest station in Scotland, after Glasgow Central. It is the north ...

and

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

with a change at Stirling, however for journeys to or from Edinburgh passengers with heavy luggage may find it more convenient to change at Larbert, where Edinburgh and Glasgow services use the same platform. The new railway opened for traincrew route learning in early April 2008, followed by the opening to the public on Monday 19 May 2008. This had been preceded by an official opening on 15 May 2008, where ''

LNER Gresley K4 61994 The Great Marquess LNER 3442 ''The Great Marquess'' is a member of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Class K4 designed by Nigel Gresley for the steep grades of the West Highland Line. It was renumbered 1994 in the LNER's 1946 renumbering scheme, and t ...

'' hauled four specials to Stirling. The return workings were hauled by Deltic 55022 ''

Royal Scots Grey The British Rail Class 55, also known as a Deltic, or English Electric type 5, is a class of diesel locomotive built in 1961 and 1962 by English Electric for British Railways. They were designed for the high-speed express passenger services o ...

''. Transport Minister

Stewart Stevenson James Alexander Stewart Stevenson (''Gaelic: Seamus Alasdair Stiùbhart MacSteafain''; born 15 October 1946) is a Scottish politician who served as Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change from 2007 to 2010 and Minister for En ...

officially reopened the line.

Education

The town has two

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

Lornshill Academy Lornshill Academy is a six-year comprehensive school situated in Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland. Approximately 1030 pupils are enrolled with the school. Lornshill currently employs approximately 80 teachers and around 30 support staff. L ...

and Alloa Academy. Also four Primary schools: Sunnyside; Redwell; Park and St Mungos. There is also a

OneSchool Global UK Focus Learning Trust is a registered charity which operates a network of independent schools (known as OneSchool Global UK schools) in the United Kingdom that are affiliated to the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church. The schools have a non-select ...

that is affiliated to the

Plymouth Brethren Christian Church The Plymouth Brethren Christian Church (PBCC) also known as Raven Brethren or Taylorites is a Christian denomination currently led by Australian businessman Bruce Hales. The group is a subset of the Exclusive Brethren, a Plymouth Brethren group. ...

Religious sites

Alloa is currently served by two churches in the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

, namely Alloa Ludgate Church (formed by the union of Alloa North Parish Church and Alloa West Parish Church in 2009 in the building of the former West Church) and St. Mungo's Parish Church. In 1978 the Very Rev Dr Peter Brodie (then minister at St Mungo's) was elected

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the ministers and elders of the Church of Scotland, minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week i ...

. Four other former St. Mungo's ministers have held this position. Its current minister, the Rev. Sang Y Cha, is the first Korean to be ordained to

The Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

. Alloa is part of the Church of Scotland's Presbytery of Stirling. The

United Free Church of Scotland The United Free Church of Scotland (UF Church; gd, An Eaglais Shaor Aonaichte, sco, The Unitit Free Kirk o Scotland) is a Scottish Presbyterian denomination formed in 1900 by the union of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland (or UP) and ...

has a presence in Alloa through the congregation at Moncrieff United Free Church in Drysdale Street. The congregation is served by the Rev. Jason Lingiah and is part of the Presbytery of East. On Greenside Street, in the old Greenside mission hall (a mission of Moncrieff United Free Church), i
Alloa Elim Pentecostal Church
There are churches of other denominations in the town, including a Baptist church, and St John's Episcopal Church. There are also congregations of

Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

and

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...

in Alloa. The Catholic church, also named St Mungo's, is located in Mar Street. The church is part of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Dunkeld The Roman Catholic Diocese of Dunkeld ( la, Dioecesis Dunkeldensis) is one of eight dioceses of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in Scotland. On 28 December 2022, the Diocese became sede vacante following the resignation of Bishop Step ...

. There is a

Musalla A musalla ( ar-at, مصلى, muṣallá) is a space apart from a mosque, mainly used for prayer in Islam.''The Encyclopaedia of Islam''. New Edition. Brill, Leiden. Vol. 7, pg. 658; ''al-mausūʿa al-fiqhiyya.'' Kuwait 1998. Vol. 38, pg 29 Th ...

on Whins Road in Alloa. Muslims who are unable to attend a mosque can use this space as a place of prayer, worship and education. In 2003 it became open to the public.

Sport

Alloa is home to one professional football club: Alloa Athletic Football Club. The club was formed in 1880 under the name of Alloa but changed to its present-day name of Alloa Athletic in 1881. The team currently play in the

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland Scotland (, ...

, formerly the

Scottish Football League First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as t ...

, after being promoted as winners of a play-off with

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...

, the season after being crowned champions of the

Scottish Football League Third Division The Scottish Football League Third Division was the fourth tier of the Scottish football league system between 1994 and 2013. History The Scottish football league system had operated with three divisions in the Scottish Football League (SFL) fro ...

at the end of the 2011–12 season. Their home games are played at Recreation Park in Alloa.

Media

Alloa's oldest newspaper, the ''Alloa Advertiser'', was founded in 1841 as a monthly but in 1855 it became a weekly. Similarly, in 1845, the monthly Clackmannanshire Advertiser became the Alloa Journal. More recently the Wee County News was launched in 1995 but went into liquidation in 2011. Some footage of a woollen mill and glassworks exists on film. River Forth (1956) B&W silent 15 mins.

Notable people from Alloa

* David Allan, 18th century painter and illustrator *

FRS, mining engineer * Thomas Bowie, cricketer *

George Brown George Brown may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George Loring Brown (1814–1889), American landscape painter * George Douglas Brown (1869–1902), Scottish novelist * George Williams Brown (1894–1963), Canadian historian and editor * G ...

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and founder of ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' newspaper *

John Crawford Buchan John Crawford Buchan (10 October 1892 – 22 March 1918) was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Born o ...

, recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

John Ferguson (chemist) John Ferguson FRSE LLD (23 January 1837 – 2 November 1916) was a Scottish chemist and bibliographer. He is noted for the early alchemy and chemistry bibliography ''Bibliotheca chemica''. He was generally nicknamed Soda Ferguson. The Ferguson C ...

Robert Fyfe Robert Douglas Fyfe (25 September 1930 – 15 September 2021) was a Scottish actor, best known for his role as List of Last of the Summer Wine characters#Other regular characters, Howard in the long-running British sitcom ''Last of the Summer ...

, actor * James Sligo Jameson, explorer *

Archibald MacLaren Archibald MacLaren (29 January 1820 – 19 February 1884) or Maclaren was a Scottish fencing master, gymnast, educator and author who in 1858 opened a well-equipped gymnasium at the University of Oxford where from 1860 to 1861 he trained 12 ...

, gymnast and educator * Andrew Norman Meldrum, scientist * John Melvin (Scottish architect) *Lord

Charles Forte Charles Carmine Forte, Baron Forte (26 November 1908 – 28 February 2007) was an Italian-born Scottish hotelier who founded the leisure and hotels conglomerate that ultimately became the Forte Group. Early life Charles Forte was born as Car ...

, hotelier and caterer *

Duncan Scott (swimmer) Duncan William MacNaughton Scott (born 6 May 1997) is a Scottish swimmer representing Great Britain at the FINA World Aquatics Championships and the Olympic Games, and Scotland at the Commonwealth Games. Scott made history after winning four m ...

, grew up in Alloa * Douglas Robert Brown cricketer, schooled and spent his youth in Alloa * John Jameson, distiller, founder of Jameson Irish Whiskey and great grandfather of

Guglielmo Marconi Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi, 1st Marquis of Marconi (; 25 April 187420 July 1937) was an Italians, Italian inventor and electrical engineering, electrical engineer, known for his creation of a practical radio wave-based Wireless telegrap ...

* James Smith architect in west Scotland * David Wilson, British Colonial administrator, 26th Governor of Hong Kong and retired politician

References and sources

;References ;Sources * "Alloa and its Environs: A descriptive and Historical Sketch", Alloa Advertiser, 1861 Plean, Cowie and the River Forth from the air (geograph 5222073)

Plean, Cowie and the River Forth from the air (geograph 5222073)

External links

Alloa Community Web Site

Alloa Library

Alloa Tower

Lys Hansen's ''Daily Bread'' exhibition

Alloa Ludgate Church
* A collection o

from the 1580s onward at

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS) ( gd, Leabharlann Nàiseanta na h-Alba, sco, Naitional Leebrar o Scotland) is the legal deposit library of Scotland and is one of the country's National Collections. As one of the largest libraries in the ...

Engraving of Alloa in 1693
by

John Slezer John Abraham Slezer (before 1650 – 1717) was a Dutch-born military engineer and artist. Life He was born in Holland and began a military career in service to the House of Orange. He arrived in the Kingdom of Scotland in 1669, and was app ...

at National Library of Scotland
ClacksNet – Clackmannanshire's Community Network

{{Authority control County towns in Scotland Towns in Clackmannanshire Burghs Parishes in Clackmannanshire