Polmaise Past and Present 

Fallin has a long history which precedes the coming (and going) of coal mining in the area. There is believed to be a crossing point used by the Romans near a bend in the River Forth (known by them as Bodotria)[i] near Bandeath.

Fallin first started life as a small harbour in the Parish of St Ninians, on the south side of the river; a map dated 1855 shows a wharf or pier, a school and a few houses, together with a limekiln. A harbour makes sense here; although apparently remote from Stirling. The Forth, upstream from this point winds in a series of ox-bows, and the tide is uneven, rising in five steps so that it is difficult to navigate.

[i]

Goods off-loaded at Fallin were hauled to Stirling. Haulage to Stirling was straightforward as Fallin lay near the great turnpike road from Edinburgh, which was kept in “excellent repair by the attention of the country gentlemen”.[ii] Lime and coal were shipped at Fallin, and at Throsk, brick and tiles. Coal was already being mined on a small scale at Greenyards, Bannockburn, Plean and Auchenbowie.[iii]

The lime was used as a building agent and as fertiliser. Burning limestone in the limekiln, which is calcium carbonate, gives quick lime, calcium oxide. Mixed with water this produces slaked lime, calcium hydroxide. When slaked lime (known as quick lime) was added to the land it raised its pH and so improved its fertility. Slaked lime was also used as lime putty for building. [iv]

Aside from working on the river, the chief industry of the area was farming, with some involved in tanning leather, forestry, nail making, carpet and tartan making; 26 men were employed at the tile making works at Bandeath[v].

The people of Fallin and St Ninians were in general very healthy; in 1855 there were people regularly living to over the age of 80, although there were many deaths of young people through measles and scarlet fever. In the parish of St Ninians, in 1790, the poor were well supported, and most lived in their own houses - there were 101 ‘pensioners’, and by the same date almost all of the farmers could do arithmetic, read and write the English language, some had the rudiments of Latin.[vi]

Today, the old harbour of Fallin is a tranquil backwater. The pier and limekiln still stand and can be seen, although both are on private property. The old school has long since gone, and been replaced by two private houses; ironically the present Fallin Primary School is only a few metres from the original site.

If coal had not been discovered in great quantities at the start of the 20th Century, Fallin might still be a small community on the banks for the River. In 1901, Archibald Russell Ltd surveyed the Fallin area for coal and struck a rich seam. After negotiations regarding the mineral rights between Archibald Russell and Colonel James Murray of Touchadam and Polmaise, the landowner, the first sod was cut on 11th August 1904, Fallin was about to move to new ground.[vii]

[i] National Library of Scotland, Stirling Sheet XVIII.5 (St. Ninians) - Ordnance Survey 25 inch 1st edition, Scotland, 1855-1882

http://maps.nls.uk/view/74984244

[ii] First Statistical Account of Scotland 1799, Page 301: http://stat-acc-scot.edina.ac.uk/link/1791-99/Stirling/St%20Ninians/18/391/

[iii] New Statistical Account

[iv] Industrial History of Cumbria, Graham Brooks: http://www.cumbria-industries.org.uk/a-z-of-industries/lime-burning/

[v] http://stat-acc-scot.edina.ac.uk/link/1834-45/Stirling/St%20Ninians/

[vi] http://stat-acc-scot.edina.ac.uk/link/1791-99/Stirling/St%20Ninians/18/401/

[vii] David Keith: https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/4391421

Fallin Harbour Modern Times photograph by Stirling Council