Bannockburn (

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 ...

''Allt a' Bhonnaich'') is an area immediately south of the centre 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 ...

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 part of the City of Stirling. It is named after the

Bannock Burn The Bannock Burn ( gd, Allt a' Bhonnaich) is a stream (''burn'' is Scots for stream) which rises at about 1,300 feet on Touchadam Moor, NS715891, just to the north of Earl's Hill in the Touch Hills to the south-west of Stirling in central Sc ...

, a stream running through the town before flowing 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 t ...

History

Land in the vicinity of Bannockburn town, probably between the Pelstream and Bannock burns (hence Bannockburn), was the site of the Battle of Bannockburn fought in 1314—one of the pivotal battles of the 13th/14th century

Wars of Independence This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars Wars of national liberation or national liberation revolutions are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against for ...

between the kingdoms of

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. A large monument and visitor centre is located near the site of the battle. In previous generations tourists came to visit the site and look at the Borestone. The dignity of the barony of Bannockburn is currently held by Hope Vere Anderson, a descendant of the Sandilands and Vere families of Sandilands and Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire who were the original Barons of Bannockburn in the 14th century. In the year of 1746, after the Battle of Culloden,

Bonnie Prince Charlie Bonnie, is a Scottish given name and is sometimes used as a descriptive reference, as in the Scottish folk song, My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean. It comes from the Scots language word "bonnie" (pretty, attractive), or the French bonne (good). That ...

stayed in

Bannockburn House Bannockburn House is a property of historical significance in the town of Bannockburn. It is a Category A listed building. History Bannockburn House was built in the late 17th Century, with slight alterations added in the 19th Century. The house ...

where he met the future mother of his child. Bannockburn village used to be famous for its carpet and tweed factories and woollen mills. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries the Wilson family of Bannockburn designed and wove

tartan Tartan ( gd, breacan ) is a patterned cloth consisting of criss-crossed, horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours. Tartans originated in woven wool, but now they are made in other materials. Tartan is particularly associated with Sc ...

s for the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. Many of the so-called Clan tartans were created by the Wilsons in response to the needs of the Clan chiefs who, without their own authentic tartans, approached the Wilsons for suitable patterns. The visit of King

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

in 1822, and his insistence that the Clan chiefs attend his banquets and levees in their Clan tartans, prompted this reaction. The woollen mills employed 7-800 people around 1880. The last mill closed in 1924. The

turnpike Turnpike often refers to: * A type of gate, another word for a turnstile * In the United States, a toll road Turnpike may also refer to: Roads United Kingdom * A turnpike road, a principal road maintained by a turnpike trust, a body with powers ...

road between Edinburgh and Stirling was constructed in the 1750s and passed through Bannockburn. The route originally passed over the Old Bridge, until the construction in 1819 of a circular-arch stone

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

, built by engineer

Thomas Telford Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE, (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scot ...

, spanning the burn downstream of the battle site. Growth of both Stirling and Bannockburn during the 19th and 20th centuries means that the two now form a contiguous conurbation, and Bannockburn was latterly incorporated into the city (then

royal burgh A royal burgh () was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished by law in 1975, the term is still used by many former royal burghs. Most royal burghs were either created by ...

) of Stirling. Bannockburn had a population of 7,352 at the time of the 2001 census. The area contains most necessary amenities, including a library, and local shops. It is served by Bannockburn Primary School, in the centre of the community, and

Bannockburn High School Bannockburn (Scottish Gaelic ''Allt a' Bhonnaich'') is an area immediately south of the centre of Stirling in Scotland. It is part of the City of Stirling. It is named after the Bannock Burn, a stream running through the town before flowing int ...

in nearby Broomridge. Several new private housing schemes have been built in and around Bannockburn since the 1990s, increasing pressure on the already overcrowded high school. As a result of this, in 2007 and 2008 Bannockburn High School was extended to provide additional capacity. Between 1852 and 1949 Bannockburn had a railway station on the

Scottish Central Railway The Scottish Central Railway was formed in 1845 to link Perth and Stirling to Central Scotland, by building a railway line to join the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway near Castlecary. The line opened in 1848 including a branch to South Alloa. T ...

, located next to the site of the bus depot. Nowadays, however, residents wishing to use the train must travel into the centre of Stirling. Introduction of a new station with a park-and-ride facility was proposed in the Strategic Transport Projects Review in 2009. Bannockburn is served by the 38, 51 and C30 bus services.

Sports

Bannockburn and Hillpark have two amateur football teams, Bannockburn Amateurs (Est. 1968) and Milton FC (Est. 1972). Bannockburn Amateurs won the West of Scotland Amateur Cup for the fifth time in 2019. Bannockburn also hosts its own Rugby Club. Formerly known as St Modans HSFP RFC (Est. 1978), it changed its name to

Bannockburn RFC Bannockburn RFC is a rugby union club in the Scottish Rugby Union, playing in the . The team is based in Bannockburn, near Stirling in central Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United ...

in 1996. Bannockburn currently plays in the Scottish Hydro Electric Regional League: Caledonia Division 2 Midlands. Bannockburn also plays host to St Modans HSFP Cricket Club, who play in the Strathmore and Perthshire Cricket Union Division 1. In July 2013, playing against Perth Doo'cot CC, St Modans scored 329 runs in response to Perth's 326, making it what is believed to be the highest scoring game ever recorded in the SPCU. Image:MiltonFC.gif, 2009 Milton FC Team Image:WestCup.jpg, Bannockburn Amateurs West of Scotland Cup Winners 2009 Image:Bannockburnrfc.jpeg, Bannockburn RFC

Places of worship

* Murrayfield United Free Church Of Scotland * Our Lady and St Ninian's R.C. Church The town also has a Gospel Hall and two Church of Scotland churches.

Christadelphians The Christadelphians () or Christadelphianism are a restorationist and millenarian Christian group who hold a view of biblical unitarianism. There are approximately 50,000 Christadelphians in around 120 countries. The movement developed in the ...

meet in a hall on Main Street. The hall used to be a carpet factory.J. Smith,
Bannockburn: The Capital of Tartan Weaving
' (2008) on Bannockburn Community Website

Notes and references

Historic Environment Scotland

External links

* *
Bannockburn Community Website
{{authority control Towns in Stirling (council area)