County in Scotland
Clackmannanshire
Scotland's Wee County is so small you could cross it in half an hour, yet it has a king's nursery, a brewing empire and a sword that knighted Robert Burns.
Key information
- County
- Clackmannanshire
- Nation
- Scotland
- Population
- about 51,000 (2022 Census)
- Area
- about 160 square km, the smallest of Scotland's mainland counties
- Known for
- The Wee County, Ochil Hills, Alloa Tower, Dollar Academy, Alloa brewing
- Famous people
- James VI, John Erskine, 6th Earl of Mar, John McNabb, Robert Burns
- Football clubs
- Alloa Athletic (the Wasps)
About Clackmannanshire
Why Scotland calls it the Wee County
Clackmannanshire is the smallest of Scotland's mainland counties, and it wears the fact like a badge. Its nickname, the Wee County, turns up on road signs, in local newspapers and at football matches. Small does not mean dull. In a few miles you get a hill range, a tidal river, a medieval castle, a coal-and-brewing heritage and a famous school. The name itself comes from Clach na Mannan, the Stone of Manau. This boulder stands beside the old Tolbooth in the town of Clackmannan, and local tradition links it to a pre-Christian sea god. Manau is also the name of an ancient Pictish-era territory around the Forth.
The tower where a king was raised
Alloa Tower, a hefty medieval keep beside the Forth, was the seat of the Erskine family, Earls of Mar. The infant James VI was entrusted to the Earl of Mar's care before his mother, Mary, Queen of Scots, abdicated in July 1567. His upbringing centred on Stirling Castle, though he spent time at Alloa too. Centuries later, John Erskine, 6th Earl of Mar, nicknamed Bobbing John for changing sides so often, raised the Jacobite standard in 1715. He lost, and the family estates went with him. Before that, he had put Alloa on the industrial map. He built a grand garden, dug coal and created Gartmorn Dam in 1713, a reservoir that fed water power to his mining operations. Today it is a nature reserve where people walk dogs and watch ducks.
Alloa: the town that brewed and blew glass
With a deep-water port on the Forth and coal on its doorstep, Alloa became one of Scotland's great brewing towns. At its peak, its beers were shipped around the world, and the smell of malt was part of the air. The town was also known for glassmaking and for wool. Maclay's Thistle Brewery closed in 1999, but brewing carries on in Alloa, notably at Williams Bros Brewing Co. Alloa's football club, Alloa Athletic, are the Wasps, playing in black and gold stripes at the Recreation Park. The nickname gives the club one of the best-looking kits in Scottish football.
Woollen glens and a fisherman's gift
At the foot of the Ochil Hills lie the Hillfoots towns of Menstrie, Alva, Tillicoultry and Dollar. Fast burns running off the hills powered woollen mills, and Tillicoultry and Alva became famous for tweed and shawls. Dollar has a grander story. Dollar Academy, founded in 1818, was paid for by a bequest from John McNabb, a local man who left Dollar as a poor boy, went to sea and made his money. He left his fortune to build a school for the children of his home parish. The school now ranks among Scotland's best-known independent schools, and its columned main building is a landmark. Above the town, Castle Campbell sits on a rocky spur between two glens. It was once called Castle Gloom, and the name still sounds fittingly dramatic.
Burns, a sword and a very old lady
In 1787 Robert Burns visited Clackmannan and met Mrs Bruce of Clackmannan, an elderly woman proud of her descent from the family of Robert the Bruce. She is said to have used the king's own sword to dub the poet, and she supposedly knighted him with it, a bit of ceremony that Burns clearly enjoyed. The sword and helmet are part of local lore, and the story is still told around the Wee County. The Tolbooth in Clackmannan and the stone beside it are where that history gathers today. Nearby, Clackmannan Tower stands on King's Seat Hill, a landmark you can see from far across the Forth valley.
Hills, bridges and the view from Ben Cleuch
The Ochil Hills are the county's backbone. Their steep green slopes rise abruptly from the flat carse, and Ben Cleuch, at 721 metres, is the highest point. From its summit, on a clear day, you can see much of central Scotland, from the Forth to the Highlands. Walkers climb up from Tillicoultry through Mill Glen, and the glens around Dollar offer shorter routes with waterfalls and woodland. The Clackmannanshire Bridge, opened in 2008, is a multi-span concrete box-girder bridge carrying the A876 across the Forth between Falkirk and Fife. It gives Clackmannanshire access towards the M876 and the central Scotland motorway network, a handy reminder that the Wee County sits at a crossroads of Scotland.