Banknock ( gd, Baile nan Cnoc) 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 west-southwest 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 ...

, east-northeast of

Kilsyth Kilsyth (; Scottish Gaelic ''Cill Saidhe'') is a town and civil parish in North Lanarkshire, roughly halfway between Glasgow and Stirling in Scotland. The estimated population is 9,860. The town is famous for the Battle of Kilsyth and the reli ...

and north-northeast of

Cumbernauld Cumbernauld (; gd, Comar nan Allt, meeting of the streams) is a large town in the historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth most-populous locality in Scotland and the most populated t ...

. Banknock is located on the Bonny Water, north of the

Forth and Clyde canal The Forth and Clyde Canal is a canal opened in 1790, crossing central Scotland; it provided a route for the seagoing vessels of the day between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde at the narrowest part of the Scottish Lowlands. This allowe ...

and west of the A80 road near to the boundary of

and

North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire ( sco, North Lanrikshire; gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Tuath) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It als ...

councils. At the time of the 2001 census, Banknock had a population of 2,529 residents.No 3 - 2001 Census Population of settlements and wards
www.falkirk.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2011

History

There were coal mines along the north side of the valley. Cannerton Pit was one of these mines and its spoil heap, locally called 'the Bing', was a local landmark Before the railway was built, the Banknock mines were linked to the Forth & Clyde Canal by a wagonway which is still traceable today. Banknock once had a railway station on the

Kilsyth and Bonnybridge Railway The Kilsyth and Bonnybridge Railway was a railway line in central Scotland, built to exploit the mineral extractive industries in the area; it opened in 1888. A passenger service was run, but bus competition overwhelmed it after 1920 and the pa ...

, a line which was built to serve these mines. When these mines closed, brickworks was set up on the Cannerton site. This busy industrial site was once an important feature but is now disused. Another employer in the village was the

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

at the Coneypark end of the village and owned by the Dobson family who lived in the Glenskirlie House Hotel. The Glenskirlie House Hotel has recently added a fake castle turret, and it has become a popular venue for weddings. Bankier Whisky Distillery closed in 1928, and was finally demolished in 1981. The part of the village where the

Road crosses the Bush Burn was named Hollandbush, and it was the centre of the village with a post office, Co-operative shops and a licensed grocers shop registered as Andrew Brown & Son. Banknock was particularly busy on Sundays due to the strict post-war licensing laws, which dictated that only bona fide travellers may imbibe liquor on Sundays, and Kilsyth people would travel outwith their own environs in order to qualify.

Local schools

The only school in Banknock is Bankier Primary School - which has been awarded three Green Flags for its efforts to recycle and reuse waste. Secondary school pupils attend Denny High School, the nearest secondary school. Catholic pupils attend St. Patrick's Primary School and

St Modan's High School St Modan's Roman Catholic High School is an S1-S6 Catholic high school in Stirling, Scotland. History In September 1933, St Modan's High School was officially opened by Archbishop McDonald of St Andrew's and Edinburgh. It was located in Barnsda ...

for primary and secondary education respectively.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Falkirk (council area)

History

Local schools

See also

References

External links