A vision of Britain through time
A vision of Britain from 1801 to now.
Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions.
A vision of Britain through time
A vision of Britain from 1801 to now.
Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions.
Fintry, a hamlet and a parish of central Stirlingshire. The hamlet stands, 400 feet above sea-level, on the left bank of Endrick Water, 5 miles ESE of Balfron, 16 WSW 0f Stirling, and 17 N by E of Glasgow, under which it has a post office. Gonachan hamlet lies 5 furlongs E by S of it, and Newtown hamlet ¾ mile WNW. The parish is bounded NW by Balfron, NE by Gargunnock, E by St Ninians, SE by Kilsyth, S by Campsie, SW by Strathblane, and W by Killearn. Its utmost length, from E to W, is 6¾ miles; its breadth, from N to S, varies between 27/8 and 5 miles; and its area is 13, 881 acres, of which 109 are water. From its source (1600 feet) upon Campsie Muir, in the S of the parish, the river Carron flows 6 miles east-north-eastward, at first along the boundary with Campsie, but chiefly through the south-eastern interior, till it passes off eastward into Kilsyth. Endrick Water, gathering its head-streams from the N of Fintry and the SW of Gargunnock, winds 3¼ miles south-eastward and southward along the Gargunnock and St Ninians border, then, bending sharply, continues 5¾ miles west-by-northward, and passes off into Balfron. About a mile below its westerly bend, it hurls itself over a precipice 94 feet high, and makes a superb cascade-the ' Loup of Fintry. ' Dungoil (1396 feet) and Gartcarron Hill (1006) form the ' divide ' between these streams, which at one point approach within 7 furlongs of each other-the Carron running eastward to the Firth of Forth, and the Endrick westward to Loch Lomond, and so to the Firth of Clyde. The surface mainly consists of soft green hills, part of the range that stretches from Stirling to Dumbarton-the Fintry Hills in the N, in the S the Campsie Fells. It declines along the Carron to 750 feet above sea-level, along the Endrick to 270; and the highest points in the parish are Stronend (1676 feet) near the north-western, Meikle Bin (1870) near the south-eastern, and Holehead (1801) exactly on the southern, border. The only inhabited parts are the two intersecting valleys, watered by respectively the Carron and the Endrick. The Carron's valley, so far as within the parish, is mostly meadow, and has few inhabitants. The Endrick's valley, narrow at its eastern extremity, opens gradually to a width of about a mile, and partly exhibits, partly commands, a series of richly picturesque scenes. Cultivated fields, interrupted by fine groves, along the river's banks, hedgerows and plantations around Culcreuch on the N side, and some well-arranged clumps of trees on the skirts and shoulders of the hills to the S, combine to form an exquisite picture. The flanking hill-ranges, occasionally broken and precipitous, wreathed sometimes in clouds, and always wearing an aspect of loveliness and dignity, produce an imposing effect along the entire reach of the valley; and the summits of Ben Lomond and other mountains of the frontier Grampians, seen in vista away to the W, present a noble perspective. In a hill called the Dun, near the hamlet, is a range of basaltic pillars. Seventy pillars are in front, some of them separable into loose blocks, others apparently unjointed from top to bottom. Some are square, others pentagonal or hexagonal; and they rise perpendicularly to a height of 50 feet. At the E end of the range they are divided by interstices of 3 or 4 inches; but as the range advances they stand closer and closer, till at last they are blended in one solid mass of honeycombed rock. Trap also constitutes most of the other hills, which often have such forms or projections as add no little to the beauty of the scenery. Granite occurs in detached fragments, and coal in several small seams; in Dun Hill are extensive beds of red ochre; and fire stone, jasper, and fine specimens of zeolite are found among the rocks. The soil, in most parts of the valleys, is light and fertile; but of the entire area only 1020 acres are in tillage and 100 under wood, the rest of the land being either pastoral or waste. Fintry or Graham's Castle, the ancient stronghold of the Grahams of Fintry, stood near the left bank of Endrick Water, on the St Ninians side, 3½ miles E of Fintry hamlet, and now is represented by more vestiges. Sir Daniel Macnee (1806-82), portrait painter, and president of the Royal Scottish Academy, was a native. Culcreuch, which has been noticed separately, is the only mansion; and its owner and the Duke of Montrose divide nearly all the property. Fintry is in the presbytery of Dumbarton, and synod of Glasgow and Ayr; the living is worth £228. The church, at the hamlet, was built in 1823, and is aneat edifice, with a W tower and 500 sittings. A public school, and a free school endowed with £3000 by the late John Stewart, Esq., with respective accommodation for 90 and 82 children, had (1881) an average attendance of 33 and 57, and grants of £32, 1s. 6d. and £60, 3s. 6d. Valuation (1860) £4532, (1882) £5329, 14s. 6d. Pop. (1801) 958, (1831) 1051, (1851) 823, (1861) 685, (1871) 499, (1881) 414-a decrease due to the stoppage of a cotton mill.—Ord. Sur., shs. 31, 30, 39, 38, 1866-71.
(F.H. Groome, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4); © 2004 Gazetteer for Scotland)
| Linked entities: | |
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| Feature Description: | "a hamlet and a parish" (ADL Feature Type: "populated places") |
| Administrative units: | Fintry ScoP Stirlingshire ScoCnty |
| Place: | Fintry |
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