Tullibody

There are remains of human activity in the Tullibody area from Mesolithic times. On Braehead Golf Course, the green-keepers found a midden containing shell remains of mussels, scallops and cockles dating back to 4000 BC. Known as The Braehead Shell Midden it is one of the few found on the north side of the Forth.^[6] The Haer Stane, now part of Tullibody War Memorial, is said to have formed part of a circle of standing stones.^[7][8]

It is thought that the church in Tullibody dates from the end of the fourth century^[9] and St. Serf ministered to the church^[10] in the 5th century on his journeys to Alva.^[11][12] Folklore states that Kenneth MacAlpin, King of Scots, amassed his army on Baingle Brae before he fought and subdued the Picts. He is reported to have given Tullibody its name,^[13] calling it "Tirly-bothy" meaning oath of the croft.^[14] Certainly there was a standing stone on the main road to Stirling (near the Catholic Church) until the early 1900s when it is then reported to have been demolished to make ready for the road upgrading.^[15] An alternative toponymy has been suggested.^[16]

David I of Scotland was responsible for Tullibody's claim to fame when in 1149 he granted the lands and fishing rights to Cambuskenneth Abbey and it was then that the Auld Kirk was erected, where it still stands today.^[17] Hugh de Roxburgh was the rector of Tullibody, Chancellor of Scotland and bishop of Glasgow in the late 12th century.^[18] A 19th century map shows the church with the Priest's Well^[19] and the Maiden Stone at the graveyard.^[20]

Edward I of England, in his attempt to subdue the Scots in 1306 reportedly tried to build a castle in Tullibody, on the hill behind the Delph Pond.^[21] As it would have been of wooden construction, no one has ever found any proof.

In January 1560, William Kirkcaldy of Grange demolished part of Tullibody bridge to delay French troops returning to Stirling Castle. The French commander Henri Cleutin, known as General D'Oysel, took down the roof of the Auld Kirk to repair the bridge.^[22] Tullibody, unlike Alloa, had its own Parish Church until the start of the 17th century when it lost its superior status and Alloa became a parish in its own right. Bishop Keith said of Alloa Parish that it "swallowed up the mother church" at Tullibody. The Abercrombys made The Auld Kirk their family cemetery.^[23] In 1600 there were between four and five hundred communicant members, above the age of 16, at the church in Tullibody.^[24]

In 1645, the Earl of Montrose, on the night before the Battle of Kilsyth, encamped his forces in the woods of Tullibody.^[25] A daggered footnote in the Old Statistical Accounts suggests that Montrose was pursued by the Marquis of Lorn who probably camped at the spot^[26] now known as Lorn's Hill.^[27]

One of the earliest maps of the area was made by surveyor and cartographer John Adair in 1681.^[28]

In 1745 Stirling's Secession preacher Ebenezer Erskine left Stirling which was under the control of the Jacobite army and preached to his people in the wood at Tullibody.^[29]

The church was rebuilt in 1760 at the cost of George Abercromby, first laird of Tullibody. A fine memorial to his father and grandfather dating from 1700 (and similar to the huge graves in Greyfriars Kirkyard lies against the wall of the church.^[30]

An earlier house on the site was built around 1680 by a Robert Meldrum. It was purchased by the Abercrombie/Abercromby family around 1705. The fine replacement mansion house was built around 1710 by the Abercrombie family. Its second laird, George Abercrombie (1705-1800) was a major agricultural improver who co-founded the Highland Society in 1784 and applied many of his principles to his own estate. His main position was as Professor of Law at Edinburgh University. In the 19th century the ground was turned to industry. The house was demolished around 1960.^[31]

George's sons were raised in the house and each rose to fame: Sir Ralph Abercromby, Robert Abercromby of Airthrey and Alexander Abercromby, Lord Abercromby.

Tullibody is a former mining town, although neither that industry nor any other major employers have a presence in the town, with many of the residents now commuting to Stirling and Alloa to work. Historically, there was work with wool employing 30–40 people^[32] and a tannery^[33] on Alloa Road, which employed 30 to 40 men processing leather and making glue.^[34] The site near the Delph Pond,^[35] a former curling pond,^[36] was demolished, being replaced with new housing in 2017.^[37] Since the late 1990s and early 2000s, there has been a rapid expansion in housebuilding in the town, with 400 new houses built on the north side of the village in the last 5 years.^[38]

The town has four primary schools – St. Bernadette's, Abercromby, Banchory and St. Serf's – with young people also attending the local high schools including Lornshill Academy, St Modan's High School, Alloa Academy and Alva Academy. Tullibody has seen a massive leap in education when Clackmannanshire Council in 2017-2019 spent £15 million making the new Tullibody South Campus building featuring the Tullibody library, Abercromby Primary and St. Bernadette's RC School.

• Servicemen from Tullibody and Cambus include 27 men from WW1 and 16 from WW2 whose names are recorded on the Tullibody War Memorial.^[39][40]
• Alexander Abercromby, Lord Abercromby and his brother, Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, KCB (sometimes spelled Abercrombie) (7 October 1734 – 28 March 1801) was a British lieutenant-general noted for his services during the Napoleonic Wars.
• Robert Dick (January 1811 – 24 December 1866), geologist and botanist was born in Tullibody.
• William Burns Paterson (9 February 1850 – 16 March 1915) founder of Tullibody Academy^[41] and Alabama State University.
• Civil engineer Ralph Walker (1749–1824) was born in Tullibody.