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Grangemouth ( sco, Grangemooth; gd, Inbhir Ghrainnse, ) is a town in the Falkirk council area, Scotland. Historically part of the
county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
of
Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling, gd, Siorrachd Sruighlea) is a historic county and registration countyRegisters of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling. It borders Perth ...
, the town lies in the
Forth Valley 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 ...
, on the banks of 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 meanin ...
, east 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 ...
, west of
Bo'ness Borrowstounness (commonly known as Bo'ness ( )) is a town and former burgh and seaport on the south bank of the Firth of Forth in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Historically part of the county of West Lothian, it is a place within the Fal ...
and south-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 ...
. Grangemouth had a resident population of 17,906 according to the 2001 Census. Preliminary figures from the 2011 census reported the number as 17,373. Grangemouth's original growth as a town relied mainly on its geographical location. Originally a bustling port, trade flowed through the town with the construction of the Forth and Clyde Canal in the 18th century. Nowadays, the economy of Grangemouth is focused primarily on the large
petrochemical industry The petrochemical industry is concerned with the production and trade of petrochemicals. A major part is constituted by the plastics (polymer) industry. It directly interfaces with the petroleum industry, especially the downstream sector. Comp ...
of the area which includes the
oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial processes, industrial process Factory, plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refining, refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt, asphalt ...
, owned by Ineos, one of the largest of its kind in Europe. The town is twinned with La Porte, Indiana. Residents of the town are known as Portonians.


History

Grangemouth was founded by Sir Lawrence Dundas in 1768 as a result of the construction of the Forth and Clyde Canal. Originally referred to as ''Sealock'' by workers brought in to labour on the canal digging and lock constructions,History of Grangemouth
, www.falkirkonline.net. Retrieved 13 May 2011
the name referred to the Forth and Clyde Canal connection to the sea and where it flowed into 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 ...
.Timeline History of Grangemouth
visitoruk.com. Retrieved 13 May 2011
After Dundas died in 1781 his son Thomas Dundas commissioned the architect Henry Holland to re-plan the town including the layout around the canal and its basin. The settlement was also named ''Grangeburnmouth'' for a period and then finally to ''Grangemouth''. A map held at the National Library of Scotland dated 1817 by John Grassom, records the town as Grangemouth. This more properly refers to its location at the mouth of the ''Grange Burn'' which flows into the River Forth at this time. As canal and general shipping traffic came to the town the area became more prosperous. This was aided by the high tariffs at the port of
Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by ''Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...
which caused more traffic to pass through Grangemouth instead. Additionally, the dredging and a major re-alignment of the River Carron for deeper draught vessels and the founding of collieries to the North of the town saw the increase in trade to and from the Baltic States. Being downstream from the world-famous Carron Company also increased the volume of shipping to the town as cast iron products and armaments were transported around the globe. Until 1810, duties had to paid on cargoes through the customs house at Bo'ness which benefited from the duties paid and involved a journey of some four or five miles each way. With poor roading between the towns, ships captains and agents had to undertake multiple journeys by foot or by horse and cart to register cargoes and pay their duties in weathers fair and foul. After years of appealing Grangemouth was granted its own Customhouse and a fine three storied stone building was erected on the Northern side of the harbour. The 1830s saw 750 ships in port and over 3,000 trade journeys using the canal. The local shipyard had a graving or drydock built by the Earl of Zetland in 1811 and commenced building larger and larger vessels. The harbour and the river were unable to handle the volume of shipping and larger vessels had to rely completely on the tide to reach wharves on the river bank. A new dock was commissioned to be built and dredging and further re-alignment of the River Carron were undertaken. 200 men dug out what is now called the Old Dock and lock gates were built, allowing vessels to enter the port at any time and tide. A canal link to the south west was named Junction lock and it was also connected to the canal. This allowed timber logs from Scandinavia to be floated in rafts right up to the sawmills almost a mile inland. Over the next 50 years the docks would be increased in size fourfold or more with a major land reclamation in the late 1890s pushing the entrance of the docks to the River Forth and avoiding the Carron with its limited depth and width. There was also Grangemouth Dockyard Company established in 1885. Grangemouth Town Hall was designed by William Black and was completed the same year. In November 1914 the Admiralty requisitioned Grangemouth Docks and they were banned to merchant shipping for the remaining duration of the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...
. During this period the dock was referred to as HMS ''Rameses'' in military circles. A 1936
LMS LMS may refer to: Science and technology * Labeled magnitude scale, a scaling technique * Learning management system, education software * Least mean squares filter, producing least mean square error * Leiomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer * Lenz ...
advert said that the docks had of water (excluding timber basins), direct access to the Forth and Clyde Canal ("giving through access to Glasgow and the Clyde") and handled 3,250,000 tons of goods a year. The now re-opened canal no longer passes through the old part of Grangemouth, but joins the tidal River Carron. The original two townships were almost totally demolished in the 1960s as a result of poor planning decisions. The last vestiges of the original old town were the Queens Hotel and the Institute Building (built 1876) which were demolished at that time.


Economy

Grangemouth Port is one of the main ports in the UK with the largest container terminal in Scotland, with 9 million tonnes of cargo handled through the dock facilities each year.Forth Ports
www.forthports.co.uk. Retrieved 13 May 2011
There are links to the inter-modal freight facilities elsewhere in the town which use the town's motorway connections. The main industry of Grangemouth and the wider Falkirk council area is focused on the Grangemouth Refinery which employs a significant workforce and is one of the largest of its kind in Europe. The Soap Works building which was used to manufacture soap and glycerine, and owned by the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society was established in 1897. This was the largest works of its kind in Scotland and employed a considerable number of local people. It was demolished in November 2005 to make way for a new Whyte and Mackay blending and bottling plant. Grangemouth has an
Air Training Corps The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British volunteer-military youth organisation. They are sponsored by the Ministry of Defence and the Royal Air Force. The majority of staff are volunteers, and some are paid for full-time work – including ...
Squadron, 1333 (Grangemouth) Squadron (located at the TA Centre in Central Avenue), an Army Cadet Detachment (also in Central Avenue) and a Sea and Marine cadet corps at Grangemouth Docks. There are two general health practices, and a dentist's surgery in the town. The area is covered by NHS Forth Valley and with the recent downgrading of the Falkirk and Stirling Hospitals, all major services have been transferred to the newly built Forth Valley Royal Hospital in nearby Larbert.


Education

Grangemouth has four primary schools: Bowhouse Primary School, Beancross Primary School, Moray Primary School and Sacred Heart R.C. Primary School. The former three are within the catchment area of Grangemouth High School and the latter is a catchment primary school for
St. Mungo's High School St Mungo's High School is a mixed, Roman Catholic, secondary school in Falkirk, Scotland. As the only Catholic secondary school in Falkirk, St Mungo's attracts students from the entire council area and its six Catholic primary schools. The new ...
. Grangemouth High School was recently rebuilt with new facilities such as an indoor swimming pool, dance studio, a gym, and an outdoor football pitch. For many years Grangemouth had a three-tier school system - the only area in Scotland to do so. This ended in 1988.


Transport

Grangemouth has access to three nearby railway stations:
Falkirk High , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = 2017 at Falkirk High - platform 1.JPG , borough = Falkirk, Falkirk , country = Scotland , coordinates = , grid_name = Grid reference , grid_position = , manager = ScotRail , platforms ...
,
Falkirk Grahamston , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Falkirk Grahamston railway station, Stirlingshire (geograph 5979986).jpg , caption = Falkirk Grahamston station in 2018, following electrification , ...
and Polmont.


Culture


Recreation

Grangemouth has an international-standard sports stadium and sports centre. Grangemouth Stadium was built in 1966 for the citizens of Grangemouth, partly funded by BP. The stadium has been extended to host a 150-metre running track, physio room, and weight-lifting. The stadium is used as the National Indoor Sports Stadium and for the Football Referees' Fitness Test for Stirlingshire. It was announced in August 2014 that the temporary running track used at
Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...
for the athletics programme at the 2014 Commonwealth Games would be installed at Grangemouth Stadium. The Games legacy programme also agreed to donate £30,000 worth of sports equipment to Falkirk Community Trust, which runs the stadium. A number of parks exist in the town which are used for sports and recreational activities. ''Inchyra Park'', which is situated close to the stadium, Rannoch Park in the Bowhouse area which is situated at the point where the Grange Burn flows into the town, and ''Zetland Park'' in the centre of the town. Grangemouth Golf Club is actually located in the neighbouring village of Polmont.


Football

The town has many amateur football teams, including Zetland AFC and Bowhouse F.C. Falkirk Juniors, who were established in 2011, played their home fixtures at the Grangemouth Stadium before folding in 2016. They competed in the Scottish Junior Football Association, East Region.


Religion

Many churches are located in Grangemouth: three Church of Scotland, two Catholic Churches, one Episcopal Church and several mission-type churches including a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. The nearest Mosque is Falkirk Islamic Centre.


Twin towns

Grangemouth is twinned with La Porte, Indiana, US.


Burials

Grangemouth Cemetery, officially called
Grandsable Cemetery Grandsable Cemetery (sometimes called Grangemouth Cemetery) lies east of Falkirk, between the A9 and A803 south of Grangemouth near Polmont. It lies on a small hill with views over the Firth of Forth. It is well-maintained with a mature and well ...
lies south of the town, closer to Polmont.


Provosts of Grangemouth

*Charles Manson from 1917 to 1926. *George Hearns from 1968 to 1971


Notable people

* Kaye Adams, TV presenter *
Alan Davie James Alan Davie (28 September 1920 – 5 April 2014) was a Scottish painter and musician. Biography Davie was born in Grangemouth, Scotland in 1920, the son of Elizabeth (née Turnbull) and James William Davie, an art teacher and painter who e ...
, artist and musician * Elizabeth Fraser, vocalist, formerly of Cocteau Twins *
Steve Frew Steve Frew (born 6 February 1973, in Falkirk) is a British artistic gymnast. He has represented Scotland and Great Britain over 100 times at various international gymnastics competitions. He took gold in the men's rings at the 2002 Commonweal ...
, Scottish gymnast * Robin Guthrie, guitarist and music producer, formerly of Cocteau Twins *Sir
John Ronald Peddie Sir John Ronald Peddie FRSE FEIS LLD DLitt (1887–1979) was a 20th-century Scottish educational administrator and author. He was both Secretary and Treasurer of the Carnegie Trust for Scotland. Life He was born on 5 January 1887 the son of R ...
, linked to the Carnegie Trust *
Isla St Clair Isla St Clair (born 2 May 1952 as Isabella Margaret Dyce) is a Scottish singer. Life Isla St Clair was born in Grangemouth, central Scotland, in 1952; her mother was Zetta Sinclair. Her family came from northeast Scotland and it was here that ...
, singer, actress


See also

* List of places in Falkirk council area


References


External links


''Parish of Grangemouth'' by Rev. Hugh R. Thom


* ttps://www.myvoyagescotland.com/things-to-do-in-grangemouth Grangrmouth Tourism Guide
National Library of Scotland: SCOTTISH SCREEN ARCHIVE
(archive films relating to Grangemouth) {{authority control Burghs Ports and harbours of Scotland Towns in Falkirk (council area) Populated places established in 1768