Attracting invaders and settlers through the ages

Dunblane is an ancient settlement lying astride the “Stirling Gap”, on the main route from south to north of Scotland, and at the junction from the western highlands and islands. It is also at the frontier of the old Kingdom of Scotland to the east, and above the marshy Forth valley and Stirling, the seat of the Stuart kings. Before bridges were built Dunblane provided a key crossing point and the early road went along the east side of the Allanwater – the Darn Road – to Bridge of Allan. Early hunter gatherers found good salmon fishing, game, and foraged for wild fruit and vegetables. They sheltered in their sandstone cave houses with a ready supply of wood fuel – not that different from aspirational lifestyles today! Early farmers developed crops, domesticated animals and left monuments of: standing stones – Sheriffmuir gathering stone, Wallace Stone; forts on Dumyat and Gallowhill; axe heads and a fine bronze age necklace now kept in Dunblane museum.

From AD80 the first wave of 18,000 Roman soldiers marched north through the “Stirling Gap” from Camelon, and built their marching camps in Dunblane, Doune, the extensive Ardoch fort at Braco and the line of watchtowers along the Gask ridge route towards Perth.

Ecclesiastical City close to Scottish power battles

In the 7th century Celtic missionaries came from the west coast to create an extensive Culdee church centred in Dunblane at Holmehill; St Blane came from Kingarth monastery in Bute. This early church developed from the 11th century into an important medieval bishopric and centre of pilgrimage. The bishops took over local land and mills, and built the cathedral, town houses, the bridge in 1409 and roads including the new High Street. Key Scottish gentry had town houses in or close to Dunblane and paid their indulgences to the cathedral. Doune Castle was built by the Regent Duke of Albany c 1390 but when James I came to power he captured Murdoch Stewart the 2nd Duke, at “Murdoch’s Ford” just north of the High School, imprisoned him in Stirling castle and beheaded him in 1425. The forfeited castle became a popular hunting residence for the king who hired beds and horses from Dunblane for his guests. Doune castle is now famous for the annual gathering of fans of “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”!

The Dunblane bishops applied for weekly markets from 1442. The town was also granted four fairs a year, so was able to exploit the passing droving trade. Dunblane became prized for oxen (243 sold at one fair), hunting horses for the Stuart Kings, saddlery and artisan leather goods such as gloves.

Dunblane remained close to the action in the Wars of Independence; William Wallace is commemorated by a stone on Sheriffmuir and the dramatic Wallace monument for the battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297; Robert the Bruce battled at nearby Bannockburn in 1314; Mary Queen of Scots held a parliament in Dunblane in 1558 trying to get consent for the Dauphin to be crowned King of Scotland; the Jacobite rebels and government forces clashed at the Battle of Sheriffmuir in 1715, and Bonnie Prince Charlie stayed a night in Dunblane in 1745 on his way to defeat at Culloden.

Decline of Cathedral City into poor weaving town

The Dunblane bishops were still in control of the town at its peak of importance by 1500 when James VI granted city status. However, following the reformation in 1560 when land was redistributed to local gentry, and the union with England when James VI moved south to rule as James I, Dunblane faded into a poor weaving community, with a roofless cathedral for 300 years. Out of a population of 1900 there were 700 cotton and wool handlooms in 1818, and Dunblane became noted for making silk shawls. There were still 274 handlooms by 1834 before water powered mills eventually took over. The model industrial mill village of Ashfield was built upstream from 1865 by Pullars of Perth, and still produces some electric power today. Milsey Bank House near to Bridge of Allan acted as the bank for all the local mills. Once the ban on tartan was lifted in 1782, Dunblane provided the tartan cloth for the Highland regiments and slaves in the West Indies, where local landowners had business that funded their expanding estates.

In the 17th and 18th century “dirty Dunblain” was also notorious for its large number of hostelries; 29 in town and 12 rural in 1793, including some on Sheriffmuir where soldiers liked to ride out from Stirling castle. Robert Burns was appointed to the job of excise man in 1796 but died before taking up his post.

Area for soldiers

The area continued to garrison many soldiers into the 20th century, including allied forces at Kippenross. The Scots fighting and field skills became especially valued in the British special forces, with the SAS set up from here. Sheriffmuir was regularly used for army manouvres including practice for the D-day landings.

Queen Victoria visited Dunblane in 1842 on her first trip to Scotland to stay at nearby Drummond Castle, where the fine renaissance gardens were modernised for her visit. The Queen Victoria school opened in 1908 for 275 sons of Scottish soldiers and sailors, as a memorial for those fallen in the Boer war.

Spa Tourists and Railway

Although mineral waters were discovered in 1813 by the Laighills, Dunblane was slow to promote them and accommodate tourists – unlike Bridge of Allan which developed rapidly from a hamlet into the “Queen of the Spas” in Scotland, after Lord Abercrombie exploited the mineral waters flooding his copper mines. The Dunblane Hydro was only completed in 1878. Tourism in Scotland, especially The Trossachs, became fashionable after Walter Scott published Lady of the Lake in 1810 when wars in Europe prevented the “Grand Tour”. Travel by steam ship and stagecoach was overtaken by popular railway holidays from 1848. Bridge of Allan and Dunblane were on the direct railway line from England, Glasgow and Edinburgh, and the junction at Dunblane to the Trossachs and Western Highlands opened in 1858. The growing industrial towns of the central belt encouraged early Victorian commuters to build their mansions in Bridge of Allan and Dunblane.

As the turnpike road became improved into the A9, and the M9 provided easy access to airports, Dunblane and Bridge of Allan continue to attract commuters wanting to settle in this lovely heritage area.

Main reference books for further reading:
A B Barty History of Dunblane 1944
Archie McKerrarcher The Street and Place Names of Dunblane and District 1992
Bill Inglis Dunblane from the Stone Age to Mary Queen of Scots 2011
Bill Inglis The Battle of Sherrifmuir based on Eye Witness Accounts 2005
A R B Haldane The Drove Roads of Scotland 2008 edition
J Malcolm Allan Bridge of Allan In Old Photographs 1989
Forth Naturalist Historian back journals and special leaflets; on mines, Queen of Spas, Robert Louis Stevenson