Menstrie (

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well ...

: ) is a village in the county of

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 ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. It is about east-northeast 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 is one of a string of towns that, because of their location at the foothill base 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/ Gl ...

, are collectively referred to as the

Hillfoots Villages The Hillfoots Villages are the villages and small towns which lie at the base of the southern scarp face of the Ochil Hills, formed by the Ochil Fault, in Stirlingshire and Clackmannanshire in central Scotland. From west to east the communities are ...

or simply ''The Hillfoots''.

Etymology

The name ''Menstrie'', recorded as ''Mestreth'' and ''Mestryn'' in the 1260s, is of

Pictish Pictish is the extinct Brittonic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited number of geographica ...

origin. The name is composed of elements cognate to

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

, meaning 'field, plain', and , 'town, village, farm'.

Physical geography

Menstrie stands on the

carse In Scottish geography, a Carse (the modern form of older Scots ; Scottish Gaelic or ) is an area of fertile, low-lying (typically alluvial) land occupying certain Scottish river valleys, such as that of the River Forth. Carse of Forth The C ...

or flood plain of the River Devon, between 10 and 20 metres altitude above sea level. It is roughly astride the

Ochil Fault The Ochil Fault is the geological feature which defines the southern edge of the Ochil Hills escarpment in Scotland. North of the fault, Devonian lava flows and pyroclastic deposits slope gently down, thinning towards the north. These are in pa ...

whose movement gave rise to the dramatic southern scarp of the Ochils but which is now almost quiescent. Two of the most westerly summits of the Ochil Hills,

Dumyat Dumyat or Dunmyat (Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Mhèad) is a hill at the western extremity of the Ochil Hills in central Scotland. The name is thought to originate from ''Dun'' (hill fort) ''of the Maeatae''. Although relatively small (its height ...

and Myreton Hill, rise steeply to the north of the village to reach about 400m altitude. These two hills are divided by Menstrie Glen, from which the small watercourse of Menstrie Burn emerges and runs through the village. About a kilometre to the south of Menstrie, the burn joins the River Devon which in turn meets 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 t ...

at Cambus. The Menstrie Burn, though generally tranquil, drains a catchment area ( Menstrie Glen) of about 14 km² in the Ochil Hills and occasionally experiences flash floods. On 29 August 2012, the burn overflowed its banks and 38 elderly residents of Menstrie House had to be evacuated to other care homes within the region. No-one was hurt. The Community Centre and some nearby roads and houses were also flooded though no residents needed evacuation. The A91 road was closed for some hours while structural engineers checked the integrity of the bridges over the burn. Clackmannanshire Council commissioned a consultants' report on the flood event and has made the summary available to the public in PDF format. Menstrie Glen had been used for sheep farming. However, a large part of it is now given over to commercial forestry, with a strip of new mixed woodland planted closest to Menstrie Burn.

Facilities

The village has two general stores (one containing the

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

), a pharmacy, a pub (The Holly Tree), café (the Forge), beauty clinic (the Doll House), two take aways (Flames and Sammy's Indian Grill) and a petrol station. A large community centre, the Dumyat Centre is located at the centre of the village opposite the pub and includes a library, sports hall, sports changing rooms, meeting rooms, kitchen and public toilets. The Dumyat Centre services a public park with sports fields, children's play area and off street parking. The village has an active Bowling club, and Scout, Cub, Beavers and Guide, Brownies and Rainbows groups with the Scouts based at the Menstrie Scout Hall next to Menstrie Burn. It also has a primary school, a community garden on Castle Terrace, a residential establishment for older people, Menstrie House and two churches; one being Menstrie Parish Church (

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 Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...

) and the other being of 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 ...

. In 2018 Clackmannanshire Council, as part of council wide cuts, announced plans to close the Dumyat Centre. A local residents group, Menstrie Community Action Group, is now (Nov 2019) running Menstrie's Dumyat Centre on behalf of the local community.

Transport links

Menstrie is on the

A91 road The A91 is a major road in Scotland, United Kingdom. It runs from St Andrews to Bannockburn, via Cupar Cupar ( ; gd, Cùbar) is a town, former royal burgh and parish in Fife, Scotland. It lies between Dundee and Glenrothes. According to a ...

from

to St Andrews. It used to be served by Menstrie & Glenochil Railway Station on the Alva Line until that closed. Bus services run to Stirling via Stirling University, to

Alloa Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; educated Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; gd, Alamhagh, possibly meaning "rock plain") is a town in Clackmannanshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is on the north bank of the Forth at the spot wher ...

via Alva and

Tillicoultry Tillicoultry ( ; Scottish Gaelic: Tulach Cultraidh, perhaps from older Gaelic ''Tullich-cul-tir'', or "the mount/hill at the back of the country") is a town in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. Tillicoultry is usually referred to as Tilly by the loc ...

or via

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-n ...

, and less frequently to St Andrews. Beginning in late 2010, bus services also run to

Clackmannan Clackmannan ( ; gd, Clach Mhanainn, perhaps meaning "Stone of Manau"), is a small town and civil parish set in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Situated within the Forth Valley, Clackmannan is south-east of Alloa and south of Tillicoultry. ...

and to

Forth Valley Royal Hospital Forth Valley Royal Hospital is a hospital located in Larbert, Scotland. With 860 inpatient beds, 25 wards, and 16 operating theatres, it was Scotland's largest ever NHS construction project at the time but has been surpassed by th ...

near Falkirk via Alloa.

Industry and population

A conspicuous zig-zag roadway up the scarp face of Myreton Hill, nowadays used by the local sheep farmer for access to his livestock, was originally built during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

for access to some mine workings, which produced calcite. However, the volume of material mined was rather small in proportion to the effort needed to build the road, so the venture is unlikely to have been economic. There seems to be no record of why calcite was considered to be sufficiently valuable to have justified the considerable effort. Menstrie 1895

The occupants of Menstrie once processed

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. ...

from sheep farmed on the Ochils. In 1800, businessmen from

set up a carding and spinning mill on the east side of the Menstrie Burn to exploit its soft water and power, absent from their own village. In the early 19th century a straight road was built on the flat ground of the

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

to by-pass the old Hillfoots Road and improve the transport of goods to and from the Hillfoots villages. Menstrie's Long Row and Ochil Road lie on the old route along the foot of the hills. The new road, now the A91, became a focus for construction of churches, houses, mills and shops. By the mid-19th century, the Elmbank and Forthvale mills were in business on either side of the Menstrie Burn. In 1841, Menstrie's population was about 500 but had increased to more than 900 by 1881. In the 1860s a company, which included the owners of local mills and a distillery, financed a branch railway line through Menstrie to a terminus in Alva. This joined the old North British Railway (N.B.R.) line between

and

at Cambus.A goods train delivered Molasses to docks at Greenock. Menstrie had its own passenger station at the North end of Tullibody Road. Practically nothing of the station remains and the railway branch line, which continued to carry freight after the Beeching Axe, fell into disuse during the mid-1980s in favour of road transport. The Glenochil Distillery had opened in the middle 18th century on the site of the Doll Farm to the east of the village, beside the Dams Burn. At its peak, around one million bottles of grain whisky were made. Manufacturing has continued on this site for more than 250 years though production of

whisky Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden ca ...

stopped around 1930.

Yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constit ...

, initially a by-product of whisky fermentation, had gradually become the main product and went for manufacture of whisky and bread. Soft water, locally available, is still useful. An extensive

bonded warehouse A bonded warehouse, or bond, is a building or other secured area in which dutiable goods may be stored, manipulated, or undergo manufacturing operations without payment of duty. It may be managed by the state or by private enterprise. In the ...

area remains for storage of whisky as it matures in barrels before bottling, while bakers' yeast has given way to fermentation products derived from yeast. The whisky and yeast businesses are now operated by separate companies, namely Diageo, (successors to

Distillers Company 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 ...

) and

Kerry Group Kerry Group plc is a public food company headquartered in Ireland. It is quoted on the Dublin ISEQ and London stock exchanges. Given the company's origins in the co-operative movement, farmer-suppliers of the company retain a significant in ...

. The latter conducts product development as well as manufacturing at the Menstrie site. Elmbank Mill, Menstrie

The Forthvale Mill no longer stands but the Elmbank Mill, having been used for some years as offices by the

Water Board A water board is a regional or national organisation that has very different functions from one country to another. The functions range from flood control and water resources management at the regional or local level (the Netherlands, Germany), w ...

, now houses small businesses. A furniture factory, The Charrier, stood near the Menstrie Burn but was destroyed by fire in about 1968. A street nearby now bears its name. In the mid-20th Century, Menstrie (pop. 1200 - 1300) was home to families whose menfolk worked the Clackmannanshire Coalfield and other mines in Central Scotland. As the mining and textile industries have declined, Menstrie has become a commuter village, spreading over the adjacent farmland. At the Censuses in 1991, 2001 and 2011, Menstrie's population was 2274, 2083 and 2804 respectively. For 2016, the population was estimated as 2872. ('Data' tab) In 2014, Menstrie was rated the fourth most attractive postcode area to live in Scotland.

Commercial forestry

A forestry company, UPM Tilhill, has published plans to plant commercial woodland in the

above Menstrie on the eastern and northern flanks of Menstrie Glen. This would affect recreational use and customary access routes, though UPM have made alterations to accommodate some concerns. Forestry operations, including movement of heavy machinery and extraction of harvested timber would take place via widened roads and strengthened bridges on

Sheriffmuir Sheriffmuir (or Sheriff Muir; Scottish Gaelic: Sliabh an t-Siorraim), the site of the inconclusive 1715 Battle of Sheriffmuir (part of the Jacobite rising of 1715), lies on the slopes of the Ochil Hills in Scotland, just inside the Perthshire ...

rather than through Menstrie, according to the plan. The plan includes an area, on Myreton Hill, of broadleaf woodland. This would be the main effect seen from Menstrie and nearby Hillfoots villages. The conifer planting would, however, be visible from further afield; for instance Stirling Castle,

National Wallace Monument The National Wallace Monument (generally known as the Wallace Monument) is a 67 metre tower on the shoulder of the Abbey Craig, a hilltop overlooking Stirling in Scotland. It commemorates Sir William Wallace, a 13th- and 14th-century Scottish hero ...

and

. More information about the plans is available on Menstrie Community Council's web site. Planting had begun by early 2015.

Recreation

Menstrie stands on The Hillfoots Way, a walking route that follows much of the old King's Highway. The Hillfoots Way goes from Logie Old Kirk in the west to

Muckhart Muckhart ( gd, Muc-Àird) commonly refers to two small villages in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, Pool of Muckhart ( gd, Poll Mhuc-Àird) and Yetts o' Muckhart. Muckhart is one of the Hillfoots Villages, situated on the A91 around northeast of ...

in the east, along the foot of the Ochils. The King's Highway (''via regia'' in Latin) is mentioned in charters for

Cambuskenneth Abbey Cambuskenneth Abbey is an Augustinian monastery located on an area of land enclosed by a meander of the River Forth near Stirling in Scotland. The abbey today is largely reduced to its foundations, however its bell tower remains. The neighbouring ...

that date to the 1300s and may have been used for royal progresses between Stirling Castle and

Falkland Palace Falkland Palace, in Falkland, Fife, Scotland, is a royal palace of the Scottish Kings. It was one of the favourite places of Mary, Queen of Scots, providing an escape from political and religious turmoil. Today it is under the stewardship of ...

in the 16th century. The back road between the entrance to Broomhall Castle and Alva is a quiet cycle and pedestrian friendly road whilst a pedestrian and cycle path runs from east of the Old Menstrie Burn bridge to Blairlogie House through the Menstrie Community woodland on the North side of the A91 road. The disused railway line served as an unofficial walking route to

over the bridge across the River Devon. In October 2007 Clackmannanshire Council published a map which designated part of the railway line, by then heavily overgrown, as an Aspirational Core Path linking Menstrie and Cambus. By February 2010 the branch line had been sold by BRB (Residuary) Limited and by March 2011 the rails and sleepers had all been removed. Work on the path was completed by April 2012, as scheduled. The path now forms part of

National Cycle Network The National Cycle Network (NCN) is the national cycling route network of the United Kingdom, which was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout Britain, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the cha ...

Route 768. Menstrie has a Scout Group, established in 1908, and a

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), thou ...

club established in 1925. Menstrie and the nearby Blairlogie are popular access points for hillwalkers to

, a peak in the Ochil Hills and from Menstrie to Myreton Hill, the zig zag hillside path from Ochil Road is used by mountain bikers and hillwalkers. "Fox Boy", a work by the sculpto
Andy Scott
stands in the centre of Menstrie in Midtown Gardens (now named the "Nova Scotia Gardens" to commemorate the village's historical connection). The sculpture combines references to the

water wheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with a number of blades or bucket ...

s that once powered industry in Menstrie, a pet fox kept by a Menstrie child years ago, and the

buzzards Buzzard is the common name of several species of birds of prey. ''Buteo'' species * Archer's buzzard (''Buteo archeri'') * Augur buzzard (''Buteo augur'') * Broad-winged hawk (''Buteo platypterus'') * Common buzzard (''Buteo buteo'') * Eastern ...

that frequent the skies over the village. Midtown Gardens flies the flag of Nova Scotia highlighting its role with the settlement and development of Nova Scotia. A popular and well attended village gala week is held in early June with a gala itself held on the main park next to the Dumyat Centre on the Saturday. There is an active Community Council and a village newsletter, "Menstrie Matters", is published quarterly and distributed to every household.

Architecture and housing

Menstrie Castle, at the Foot of the Ochil Hills

Menstrie Castle Menstrie Castle is a three-storey manor house in the town of Menstrie, Clackmannanshire, near Stirling, central Scotland. From the early 17th century, it was home to Sir William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling, who was instrumental in founding th ...

was the birthplace of

Sir William Alexander William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling (c. 1567 in Menstrie, Clackmannanshire12 February 1640) was a Scottish courtier and poet who was involved in the Scottish colonisation of Charles Fort, later Port-Royal, Nova Scotia in 1629 and Long Is ...

, James VI's Chartered Lieutenant for the Plantation of

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

2021 sees the 400th anniversary of this event. Despite its name, it is described as a "three-storey castellated house",History of Menstrie Castle
''MenstrieCastle.co.uk'' website. Retrieved on 13 January 2008 and lacks many fortified features, standing as it does on low ground and constructed at a time of relative national calm. The building is now residential and has won a Civic Trust award. The

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 organi ...

operate a small museum exhibition commemorating the link between Menstrie, William Alexander, and Nova Scotia and is open to the public (on a restricted basis, two days per week) The pre 19th century bridge known as Auld Brig adjacent to the Scout Hall over the Menstrie Burn is listed by The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland under number 219364. A bridge has been recorded here since 1665. Menstrie Old Bridge June 2011

In 1874, James Johnstone, one of the partners in the Elmbank Mill, had built for himself the

Scottish baronial Scottish baronial or Scots baronial is an architectural style of 19th century Gothic Revival which revived the forms and ornaments of historical architecture of Scotland in the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. Reminiscent of Scot ...

-style

Broom Hall Broom Hall is a historic house in the City of Sheffield, England that gives its name to the surrounding Broomhall district of the city. The earliest part of the house is timber-framed; it has been tree-ring dated to c1498, and was built by th ...

on the lower slope of Myreton Hill. It operated for a time as a private Boys School called Clifford Park. It was burned out in the 1940s and stood as an abandoned shell until 1985 when it was converted into a nursing home. It has since been refurbished and operates a restaurant and bar and is a popular wedding and event location

The war memorial was erected in 1922 and lists those killed in the World Wars. The bulk of those killed in the First World War were in the 7th Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. In June 2016 a plaque was unveiled at the war memorial remembering the Polish soldiers who were stationed in the village. As a

commuter village A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

Menstrie has undergone a period of expansion since 2000, with new housing built to the west and south of the village. The firm responsible for maintenance of common areas around the new housing is currently (spring 2012) in dispute with an association of residents. The residents complain that: the maintenance work fails to meet standards stated in the deeds; that the charges are excessive; and that the company has resorted to excessively heavy-handed methods to extract payment, accusations the company rejects. There are eight roads/ streets in Menstrie named after hills on the Ochils, Dumyat Road, Craighorn, Craigomus, Colsnaur, Lipney, Losshill, Myreton and Castle Road.There are six roads / streets in Menstrie named after families. Abercombie, Cairns, Windsor, Johnstone, Holbourne, and Victoria In December 2009, Clackmannanshire Council announced an alteration to the local development plan for housing land. This allowed for construction of 175 new housing units, including 36 termed 'affordable', to the south-east of the village. The Council subsequently modified the plan as recommended by a Reporter appointed by Scottish Ministers. In the absence of further directions from the ministers, the council formally adopted the modified plan in the autumn of 2011. Among other stipulations and guidelines the modified plan as adopted allowed for 175 housing units, 43 affordable; and required a detailed Flood Risk Assessment to determine ground conditions and water management needs on and for the site. An application for construction of 84 houses on the site was made on 8 April 2013. Among the documents relating to the application, one from SEPA on 30 Oct 2013 stated "... we would not support the proposal to include additional properties behind the embankment as we would not consider this area to be outwith the 1:200 year flood extent." The application was subsequently removed from the planning register.https://eplanning.clacks.gov.uk/eplanning/files/4D3EB0729B28ED2A22B8D79B377DF8A0/pdf/document-5334527.pdf Clacks Council's letter to Bett Homes Ltd., 09 January 2014, confirming removal of the application from the planning register.

References

External links

Menstrie Community Website

Menstrie Library

Look Aboot Ye - Clackmannanshire Community News, Information and Forums

Ochils Paragliding Club

ClacksNet - Clackmannanshire's Community Network

Menstrie Parish Church

Andy Scott's work in Clackmannanshire described by the BBC
{{authority control Hillfoots Villages Villages in Clackmannanshire