Redding is a village within the

Falkirk council area Falkirk (; sco, Fawkirk; gd, An Eaglais Bhreac) is one of 32 unitary authority council areas of Scotland. It was formed on 1 April 1996 by way of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 from the exact boundaries of Falkirk District, one ...

in Central Scotland. The village is southeast 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 ...

, south-southwest of

Grangemouth Grangemouth ( sco, Grangemooth; gd, Inbhir Ghrainnse, ) is a town in the Falkirk council area, Scotland. Historically part of the county of Stirlingshire, the town lies in the Forth Valley, on the banks of the Firth of Forth, east of Falkirk ...

and west of

Polmont Polmont ( gd, Poll-Mhonadh) is a village in the Falkirk council area of Central Scotland. It lies towards the east of the town of Falkirk, north of the Union Canal, which runs adjacent to the village. Due to its situation in Central Scotland, ...

. At the time of the 2001 census, Redding had a population of 1,954 residents.No 3 - 2001 Census Population of settlements and wards
www.falkirk.gov.uk. Retrieved 2011-05-11

History

On a hill beyond Redding is a stone that is called Wallace's stone, marking out the spot from which

Sir William Wallace Sir William Wallace ( gd, Uilleam Uallas, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence. Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army a ...

, after his quarrel with Sir John Stuart, one of the

Scottish chief The Scottish Gaelic word means children. In early times, and possibly even today, Scottish clan members believed themselves to descend from a common ancestor, the founder of the clan, after whom the clan is named. The clan chief (''ceannard c ...

s, is said to have viewed the

Battle of Falkirk The Battle of Falkirk (''Blàr na h-Eaglaise Brice'' in Gaelic), on 22 July 1298, was one of the major battles in the First War of Scottish Independence. Led by King Edward I of England, the English army defeated the Scots, led by William Wal ...

, from which he had been compelled to retire, and to have witnessed the defeat of the Scottish army. The village is one of the older settlements in the area and is shown on Timothy Pont's map of Stirlingshire from around 1590. In 1923, the small

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

community of Redding was the scene of one of the worst

disasters A disaster is a serious problem occurring over a short or long period of time that causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental loss which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources ...

in the history of the Scottish

coalfield A coalfield is an area of certain uniform characteristics where coal is mined. The criteria for determining the approximate boundary of a coalfield are geographical and cultural, in addition to geological. A coalfield often groups the seams of ...

, which claimed the lives of 40 men. At 5.00am on Tuesday 25 September 1923 an inrush of water flooded the pit. The Sir William Wallace Lodge of the Grand Lodge of Scotland Free Colliers still march every year on the first Saturday in August in memory of the men who lost their lives in the disaster.

References

External links

Redding Pit DisasterFree Colliers
Villages in Falkirk (council area) Mining communities in Scotland 1923 disasters in the United Kingdom {{Falkirk-geo-stub

History

See also

References

External links