Showing 34 results

Names
Cromlix House
C0477 · Instelling · 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).

Lecropt School Board
C0569 · Instelling · 1873 - 1898

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.

C0570 · Instelling · 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.

Dunblane High School
C0636 · Instelling · 1974 -

Opened in 1974, Dunblane High School is a non-denominational six-year comprehensive school providing courses for pupils of all abilities at all stages. Work on the new building finished in November 2007.

C0054 · Instelling · c.1872 - c.1980

Prior to the 1930s, this school was Dunblane Public School. By the 1930s, the main structure of Scottish secondary schooling had settled into a pattern of three-year ‘junior secondary’ and five-year ‘senior secondary’ courses and the Dunblane School became a Junior Secondary. Junior Secondary schools were intended to prepare people for training and work. Senior Secondary schools were intended to lead to the professions either directly or through university. Allocation of pupils between these courses was mainly on the basis of tests of intelligence and of attainment in English, arithmetic and mathematics, taken in the final year of primary school.

C0280 · Instelling · 1918 - 1939

A football club was formed in Dunblane in around 1877 but was disbanded in 1914. After the First World War Dunblane Rovers was formed and became a successful junior club in the local league, playing at Duckburn Park. The club closed with the outbreak of the Second World War. A new juvenile club was formed after the war but this was called Dunblane Victoria. A second club was opened in the 1950s which took the name Dunblane Rovers. This second Dunblane Rovers played at Laighills but only survived until 1960.

C0291 · Instelling · 1820 – 1847

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.

The Associate Synods united in 1820 to become the United Secession Church and in 1847, the church then joined with the Relief Church and the Dunblane congregation to become United Presbyterian. In c.1836, the original meeting house of the congregation was rebuilt on the same site, which is now a private residence that incorporates the old porch and hall, for roughly £1500. The building was empty for several years before being converted into a dwelling house as part of the Scottish Churches House complex.

Meanwhile, after the Disruption of 1843, the minister of Dunblane Parish Church, Reverend William MacKenzie, and eight of the nine elders on the Kirk Session came out to set up a new congregation. By October 1843, a new church that could seat 521 people. However, it was soon found to be unsatisfactory to the congregation, although there is no surviving reason as to why this was. Due to this, a second church was built across the street in 1854 that eventually became St Blane's Church. When the United Presbyterian and Free Churches joined to become the United Free Church of Scotland in 1900, this congregation became known as Dunblane East United Free Church and later united with Dunblane Leighton United Free Church in 1952 and became known as Dunblane St Blane's, worshipping in the church located on High Street.

Lecropt Kirk Session
C0368 · Instelling · 1560 -

There has been a church at Lecropt since before 1260. The church belonged to the Abbey of Cambuskenneth and was in the Presbytery of Dunblane before moving to the Presbytery of Stirling; it was also linked with Bridge of Allan Chalmers Church between 1979 and 1983.

The old Lecropt Kirk was built in c.1400 in what is now the Keir estate, but nothing remains of the building except the old graveyard which is now overgrown and difficult to access.

The present-day church building was built in 1825-7 and was designed by William Stirling (1772-1838), a local architect, and David Hamilton (1768-1843) in a fine Gothic revival style featuring a tall square tower with pinnacles. The church is an early example of its style in Scotland much like the other carse Kirks of Kippen and Kincardine in Menteith. The original Laird’s loft, complete with marble plaques and fine plaster ceiling, now forms an integral part of the church. The overall interior of the church contains the influence of the Stirlings of Keir family. There are several notable stained glass windows by Alfred Webster (d.1915), Stephen Adam (1848-1910), A. Carrick Whalen, and Roland Mitton. The pipe organ, made by Blackett & Howden in 1885, moved to the church from Keir House in 1905.

The church is still in full ecclesiastical use.

C0567 · Instelling · 1919 - 1947

School management committees were set up by the Education (Scotland) Act 1918 (8 & 9 Geo. V, c.48). They represented individual burghs, parishes or groups of parishes and were composed of representatives of teachers, parents, and the education authority. They were replaced by sub-committees or local education sub-committees by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. VI, c.43). The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c.65) abolished local education sub-committees.

Dunblane Primary School
C0603 · Instelling · 1963 -

Built in 1963, the school was completely refurbished in 1998.