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Sunday, 1st August 2010

 
Kirkintilloch


Kirkintilloch was a place of importance in Roman times, when a fort was established there on the east-west barrier across Scotland nowadays known as "the Antonine Wall'. This was built about 142AD as a boundary line between Roman civilization and wilder territory not under permanent Roman control. Eor a short period it replaced the more southerly Hadrian's Wall. The departure of the Romans was followed by a Dark Age when little is known of Kirkintilloch's history, although the name Kirkintilloch', in its original form of Caerpentaloch eyhe Sort at the Head of the Ridge', dates from this period. Light began to dawn again during the twelfth century, when the prominent Comyn family established a castle in central Kirkintilloch, with a parish church to the south (at the locality now occupied by the Old Aisle Cemetery). The Burgh of Kirkintilloch was created in the year 1211, and a local market was held weekly from then on.

In mediaeval times Kirkintilloch was situated on an important highway between Glasgow and the east, and indeed the town's axis was on a clear west-east alignment at that time - West High Street, High Street and Eastside. A bridge over the Luggie was established at an early date, and was of vital importance in keeping the highway open in bad weather. The parish church was moved from the Old Aisle to central Kirkintilloch in 1644. Improved transport links in the form of the Forth and Clyde Canal (1773) and the pioneer Monkland 8s Kirkintilloch Railway (1826) led to the establishment of important new industries, notably cotton waving, iron founding and boatbuilding. During the twentieth century these all faded away, but there was an attempt to replace them with new ones during the period of Glasgow Oyerspi11, around 1960. This met with very limited success, but the Overspi11 project resulted in the construction of many homes, both in the rented and private sectors, with a consequent increase in the population of the old burgh.

The reopening of the Forth and Clyde Canal in 2001 has served as a reminder of the longstanding importance of this waterway to Kirkintilloch. few canal buildings bf historic interest remain, but the former Post Office building on the north side of the canal at Townhead Bridge was at one time a canal-side ir~l. A canal milestone is built into one corner. The Elide part' of the canal at Hillhead is a legacy of the canal's first western terminal, established in 1773. The aqueduct carrying the canal over the River Luggie (and for a time the Campsie Branch Railway as well) is an A-listed building and an important local landmark.

Other important landmarks at Kirkintilloch include St Mary's Parish Church on the canalside at Townhead Bridge, which replaced the Auld Kirk (at Kirkintilloch Cross) as the parish church in 1914; the Auld Kirk itself, now the local museum; and the adjacent Barony Chambers, which was built to replace an ancient Tolbooth in 1815. Kirkintilloch's market cross stood nearby until the same year, when it was damaged beyond repair by vandalism.
 
 

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