A village focal point

 DURING the Covid-19 lockdowns I have walked, on most days, round streets close to my home in Glasgow, and have much enjoyed watching the procession of the seasons. Having osteoarthritis I walk very slowly and with a stick, sitting on walls of a convenient height round one of a series of routes. During these walks I have encountered many neighbours whom I had never met before, and have had some wonderful conversations, and exchanged smiles, greatly enriching my life. One recent encounter led a neighbour whom I have known for many years to say that she enjoyed my articles in Life and Work. She went on to tell me of one of her grandmothers, who lived in Cambusbarron, and who took a leading role in achieving the building of what became the Bruce Memorial Church. Apparently she reared pigs and hens, and sold eggs and pigs, to raise money for the project.

The name ‘Bruce Memorial’ was given to the church on the basis of a tradition that on the site of the present church there was a chapel in which Robert the Bruce worshipped on his way to the Battle of Bannockburn (fought on low ground to the east of what is now the village of Cambusbarron). The village is in the parish of St Ninian’s, the largest parish in Stirlingshire, whose name recalls the mission from Whithorn that brought the ‘Church of the [Roman] Empire’ to central Scotland in the late 4th century. The village is on an old-established route from the Forth Valley along the northern slopes of the ranges of hills which extend westward towards Loch Lomond and the valley of the River Leven. At the point where the Bruce Memorial is situated the west-east route divides, with a route leading to Stirling forking off to the north. So until the drainage in the 18th century of the low-lying ’carse’ lands bordering the Forth (and the road construction which followed) Cambusbarron must have been an important site.

In the vicinity of the village were outcrops of limestone, and not far to the east deposits of coal, leading to the building of kilns for burning lime for the land improvement which followed the drainage of the carse. In the later 18th century Cambusbarron became a centre of the handloom weaving of woollen cloths, including tartans. In 1833 a woollen mill was built on the carse below the village, and in about 1860 construction of a large complex of mills was begun by Robert Smith and Son, known as the Hayford and Parkvale mills, which eventually employed over 1200 people. These mills appear to have specialised in producing mixed wool and cotton fabrics, known as winceya. These mills closed in 1895-96. They were reopened in 1909, but during the First World War were used as an army barracks. After that they became a carpet factory, and were latterly Government warehouses, used for storing supplies and equipment for Civil Defence. After that function ended in the late 20th century some of the buildings were converted into flats (in 2000), and the building of low-rise housing round it began.

The delightful little Bruce Memorial Church was built for the United Free Church and opened in 1910. It was described by Robin Smith in The Making of Scotland as ‘long-desired. Designed by McLuckie and Walker in Art Nouveau style, it was constructed of locally-quarried Polmaise stone. As my drawing shows it is a very pleasing structure, very properly the focal point of the village. it is a fitting reminder of the scrimping and saving by people like Mary’s granny which made it possible to build and staff so many of the church buildings which still serve Scottish towns and villages. Long may they do so. ¤