Showing 30 results

Names
Cromlix House
C0477 · Corporate body · 1874 -

Cromlix House is a Victorian mansion near Kinbuck, a hamlet in Stirling. A house was built on the site in 1874 as a family residence in the time of Captain Arthur Drummond Hay, but was destroyed by fire in 1878. It was replaced in 1880 by the house which forms the nucleus of the present building, and was subsequently operated as a hotel. The hotel closed in 2011 and in early 2013 it was bought by Dunblane-born tennis player Andy Murray (b. 1987). The hotel re-opened in April 2014 under the name Cromlix, managed by Inverlochy Castle Management International (ICMI).

There is little known about the Lords of Cromlix before the 15th century. Evidence of an earlier population has been found, including some stone coffins near the 'Big House'. The name Cromlix possibly derives from the 'cram lech' standing stone or 'Crom Leac', meaning the curve of sloping slab of a hillside. In 1593, the family name Cromlixes is recorded and in 1750, Cromlec is recoded. In 1723 the castle of Cromlix was recorded as Cromligs. Unfortunately the castle no longer remains, but the site is still slightly visible outside of the estate now at Cambushinnie.

However, there are records of Cromlix from the 1500s when the Bishop of Dunblane sold the lands of Cromlix to his brother, Robert Chisholm. The current house was built for Arthur Hay-Drummond, son of the Earl of Kinnoul. The house remained a family home for the Hay-Drummonds until the death of Evelyn Hay-Drummond in 1971, who had married Terence Eden, the 8th Lord Auckland. The Drummond name arose by marriage in the late 16th century and became Hay-Drummond in 1739.

Cromlix House was converted in May 1981 from what was the Eden family home, and retained much of the original furniture designed for the house as well as the original family portraits. It also contains Cromlix Chapel, a consecrated Episcopalian Church in the diocese of Dunblane dating from 1874, which was opened by Charles Wordsworth, Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane (1806 - 1892). The house sits in part of a 2,000 acres estate and occupies approximately 34 acres of parkland, forestry and four fishing lochs, as well as two mineral springs.

The house was converted from a private residence to a luxury country house hotel in 1981 and between the 1980s and its closure on 16 Feb 2012 due to financial difficulties, it was run as a four-star country house hotel, with 14 bedrooms including eight suites. In 2006, Cromlix House, including the game larder, ancillary building, gatepiers and garden boundary walls, was designated as a Category C listed building, while an obelisk sundial in the garden was designated as a Category A listed.

In Oct 2010, the hotel served as the wedding venue for Scottish tennis player Jamie Murray (b. 1986) and Colombian MBA student Alejandra Murray (née Gutierrez); his brother and fellow tennis player Andy was the best man, who purchased the hotel in Feb 2013 for £1.8 million. It opened as a 15-room five-star hotel in Apr 2014 and served as the venue for the wedding reception of Andy Murray and his wife Kim (née Sears).

Diocesan Synod of Dunblane
C0272 · Corporate body · 1662 - 1688

By the Act of Rescissory in 1661 all acts passed after 1633 were annulled. One of the consequences of this was that the Presbyterian form of Church government was abolished and the Episcopalian system revived. This was confirmed by an Act for the Restitution and Re-establishment of the ancient Government of the Church by Archbishops and Bishops. Bishops were reinstated and in Dunblane Bishop Leighton invited the ministers of several parishes within his bounds to attend a Diocesan Synod. The Synod differed little from the Provincial Synods that had met under the Presbyterian system. The first Synod met in 1662 and the last meeting was in 1688 (?) before the abolition of the Episcopacy in 1689.

Doune Railway Station
C0485 · Corporate body · c. 1900 - c. 1968

Doune was a railway station located in Doune, Stirling, Scotland. The station was rebuilt in the typical Caledonian Railway style in the early 1900s after the completion of the Callander and Oban Railway in 1880.

Its development was a part of the Dunblane, Doune and Callander Railway operation. The Dunblane, Doune and Callander Railway was opened in 1858 in order to connect Callander and Doune with the Scottish railway network. When promoters wished to make a connection to Oban, Callander was an obvious place to start, and from 1880 Callander was on the main line to Oban. The railway network was reduced in the 1960s and the line closed permanently in 1965; Oban is now served by a different route.

The townspeople of these rural areas greatly benefited from a railway connection as it greatly reduced the cost of commodities such as coal and lime as well as for the delivery of manufactured products. The Dunblane, Doune and Callander Railway station lines were worked by the Scottish Central Railway and then the Caledonian Railway and also became a goods depot. The Caledonian Railway became a constituent of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in 1923, and became part of British Railways in 1948.

Lack of profits and eventual cuts led to Doune Station being closed permanently on 01 Nov 1965, it was later demolished in c. 1968. The site was used by a timber merchant for many years before, in the late 1990s, a private housing estate was built on the site. Although little or no trace of the station remains, the station house still stands at the entrance to the housing development. Part of the trackbed south of Doune and another south of Callander have been converted into a footpath and cyclepath for the local people.

C0570 · Corporate body · 1898 - 1919

The Education (Scotland) Act 1872 (35 & 36 Vict., c.62) created school boards in Scotland with a statutory duty to provide education for all children between the ages of 5 and 13. The boards had an elected membership made up of owners and occupiers of property of the value of £4 or over. They were responsible for the building and maintenance of schools, staffing and attendance of pupils. They were overseen by the Scotch Board of Education. The Education (Scotland) Act 1901 (64 Vict. and 1 Edw. VII, c.9) raised the school leaving age to 14. School boards were abolished by the Education (Scotland) Act 1918 (8 & 9 Geo. V, c.48) and replaced by education authorities and school management committees.

C0141 · Corporate body · 1804 - 1945

The Strathallan Farmer Society, Dunblane, was formed in 1804 so that farmers could meet and discuss topics with a view to improving agriculture in the area. As well as meetings and dinners, the society organised agricultural shows and competitions. By the 1820's, it was known as the Dunblane Farmers' Society and later the Dunblane Agricultural Society. In 1945, the society merged with the Doune Agricultural Society to form the Doune and Dunblane Agricultural Society. The society has held the Doune and Dunblane show since 1947 at Keir Mains

C0290 · Corporate body · 1765 – 1820

In the 18th century, Reverend Ebenezer Erskine, the ‘famous champion of dissent’ was said to have frequently visited Dunblane and addressed members of the community on the slopes of Holmehill. In 1740, the first official meeting was held in a house on Millrow and Dunblane Leighton began as a Secession Church of the Associate Synod (Burgher). In 1758, the first Burgher church was built for the congregation of Seceders However, in the same year the congregation decided to join with Bridge of Teith in Doune, Perth and did not disjoin and regain their own session until 1765, at which point the congregation had grown significantly. The first minister of the church, Reverend Michael Gilfillan was ordained in 1768 and received a stipend of £55. Under Reverend Gilfillan, meetings took place at what is now the Haining. Remarkably, the congregation only had three ministers over the span of 132 years, Reverend Michael Gilfillan from 1768-1816; Reverend James Anderson from 1818-1854; and Reverend William Blair took up the post in 1856 after the church lacked a settled minister for two years (at which point the church was then United Presbyterian). Reverend William Blair received his degree of D.D from St Andrews University in 1879 and by 1858 was Moderator of the Church. After he retired from active ministerial work in 1900, he was succeeded by his nephew, Reverend George Blair

Dunblane Burgh
C0006 · Corporate body · 1870 - 1975

Dunblane is an ancient town 6 miles from Stirling, its cathedral is said to have been founded in the early 7th century. It was possibly a burgh for a period before the 15th century, with the Earl of Kinnoull for superior, and in 1500 was given the status of a city by James IV (1473-1513). After the Reformation the town went into decline but revived during the 19th century, becoming a noted tourist resort and its cathedral was renovated. Dunblane was created a police burgh in 1870 under the General Police and Improvement (Scotland) Act 1862 (25 & 26 Vict., c. 101), but, due to irregularities with elections held in 1875, went into abeyance in 1876 and was reconstituted in 1878.

Under the Act the administration of the burgh was to be carried out by police commissioners who were responsible for the cleansing, lighting, policing and public health of the burgh. Under the Town Councils (Scotland) Act 1900 (63 & 64 Vict., c. 49) the police commissioners were replaced by Dunblane Town Council in January 1901. Dunblane Town Council was abolished in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c. 65). Its powers were assumed by Central Regional Council and Stirling District Council. These in turn were replaced by Stirling Council in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 (c. 39).

C0115 · Corporate body · 1652 - 1957

There has been worship at Dunblane since roughly 602 when followers of Saint Blane introduced Christianity to the area, bringing with them the relics of Saint Blane. Some of the existing cathedral building dates from the 12th century, but most of what currently stands was constructed during the bishopric of Clement in the 13th century.

The Roman Catholic Bishopric was founded by the Earl of Strathearn, in c.1150 (although there were Celtic or Culdee Bishops before this date), but the first Roman Bishops found very little in the way of buildings in the area and therefore, were not able to accomplish much. When Clement (c.1200-1258), a Friar of the Dominican order in Paris who is said to have been born in Scotland, was appointed Bishop in 1233. It is possible that he found standing only the tower and an incomplete church attached to it. This Church he removed in order to build a larger. Clement complained to Pope Gregor IX (c.1170-1241) that the Cathedral was largely unbuilt and did not even adequate sleeping arrangements. There was also not enough money in the area to support a Bishopric and services were only conducted by a rural chaplain. It was then decided that a new church would be built and in 1237, the Pope authorised the Bishops of Glasgow and Dunkeld to visit Dunblane, and, if they saw fit, to give to the Bishop of Dunblane a fourth of the tithes of the churches of the diocese, so that he may build his Cathedral and organise his diocese. With all that was granted to him, Clement was able to build the Lady Chapel and most of the Cathedral as it stands today before his death in 1258 (possibly on 19th March). The new Cathedral consisted of the original six-storey high tower; a six-bay, aisle-less chancel, with a sacristy and chapter house along its north side; and an eight-bay aisled nave. From this point until the Reformation that took place 300 years later, the Cathedral was gradually filled with more extravagant and elaborate furnishings.

In 1560, the church became reformed, or Protestant, which altered its use dramatically. During this period only the choir was used for worship and the roof of the nave fell in towards the end of the 16th century; it remained roofless for 300 years during which time the congregation worshipped in the Choir.

Architect James Gillespie Graham (1776-1885) of Dunblane restored the chancel in 1816 and in 1889, further restoration of the Cathedral began under the guidance of Scottish Victorian Architect, Sir Robert Rowand Anderson (1834-1921) when the nave was re-roofed, allowing public worship to resume in 1893. Further restoration was again carried out in 1914 under the supervision of architect Sir Robert Lorimer of Edinburgh (1864-1929).

Dunblane Cathedral is located on the Cross overlooking the Allan Water and surrounded by a churchyard that includes the grave of William Stirling, a gunner in the Royal Marine Artillery during World War I. There are also remains of the vaults of the episcopal palace to the south of the Cathedral.

As of today, Dunblane Cathedral is one of seven churches in Dunblane and is now cared for by Historic Environment Scotland (HES), it is technically no longer a cathedral as there are no bishops in the Church of Scotland. One notable congregant was the artist, Helen A Lamb (1956-2017), who was well known nationally for her artwork that included baptismal rolls, scrolls and memorials, and many fine examples of her work appear within the Cathedral itself. The Cathedral also contains memorials to the victims of the 1996 Dunblane Massacre in the south aisle and churchyard including a standing stone by the monumental sculptor Richard Kindersley (b.1939). Dunblane was part of historic Perthshire, but is now part of the Stirling Council area. The Cathedral was part of the historic Presbytery of Dunblane and now lies within Stirling Presbytery.

The Leighton Library, also on the Cross in Dunblane, was built to house the books of Bishop Robert Leighton (1611-1674), who was the Bishop of Dunblane from 1662-1671 and is the oldest purpose-built library in Scotland, dating back to 1687 having been restored in the 1980s. It contains a collection of around 4000 volumes and 78 manuscripts from the 16th to the 19th century. A lending list for the Leighton Library is included within the Dunblane Cathedral Kirk Session minutes.

Dunblane East Kirk Session
C0288 · Corporate body · 1929 - 1954

Dunblane East Kirk Session was established in 1929 after the union of the Church of Scotland and the United Free Church. Following on from this union, there were three congregations of the same denomination in Dunblane; the Cathedral, the Leighton, and the East. Dunblane East was in the Presbytery of Stirling and Dunblane and worshipped in the church located on the High Street of Dunblane that was built in 1854; the replacement to the previous church built in 1843. the congregation remained here unchanged until its union with Dunblane Leighton to form Dunblane St Blane's in 1954.

C0287 · Corporate body · 1900 – 1929

Dunblane East United was originally known as Dunblane Free Church. It was after the union of the Free Church with the United Presbyterians in 1900, that it became known as Dunblane East United Free Church in the Presbytery of Stirling and Dunblane.