Dollar, Clackmannanshire

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Dollar
Dollar - geograph.org.uk - 294410.jpg
Clackmannanshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Dollar
Location within Clackmannanshire
Population2,840 (mid-2020 est.) [1]
OS grid reference NS964978
Council area
Lieutenancy area
  • Clackmannanshire
Country Scotland
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Dollar
Postcode district FK14
Dialling code 01259
Police Scotland
Fire Scottish
Ambulance Scottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament
List of places
UK
Scotland
56°09′43″N3°40′26″W / 56.162°N 3.674°W / 56.162; -3.674

Dollar (Scottish Gaelic : Dolair) is a small town with a population of 2,800 people in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. It is 12 miles (19 kilometres) east of Stirling.

Contents

Toponymy

The name is unrelated to the dollar currency name. Possible interpretations are that Dollar is derived from Doilleir, an Irish and Scots Gaelic word meaning dark and gloomy, or from various words in Pictish: 'Dol' (field) + 'Ar' (arable) or Dol (valley) + Ar (high). [2] Another derivation is from Dolar, 'haugh place' (cf Welsh dôl 'meadow'. This word was borrowed from British or Pictish into Scottish Gaelic as dail 'water-meadow, haugh'). [3] John Everett-Heath derives it as 'Place of the Water Meadow' from the Celtic dôl 'water meadow' and ar 'place'. [4]

History

A photochrom of Castle Campbell, Dollar, Scotland (Castle Campbell, Dollar, Scotland) (LOC) (3450349000).jpg
A photochrom of Castle Campbell, Dollar, Scotland
Old houses in Dollar Old houses in Dollar.jpg
Old houses in Dollar

The 500-year-old Castle Campbell stands overlooking the town, sitting on a forward projection of rock on the south side of the Ochil Hills. The castle was the lowland seat of the Duke of Argyll, where Mary, Queen of Scots once stayed in the 16th century.

The original town (of which parts still survive) stands on the sloping ground beneath the castle, in what is now the northeast section of the town. Buildings here are generally stone built and two stories high. The oldest buildings date from the mid-17th century and several 18th-century buildings exist. Development spread to the west and south through the 19th century.

Around 1840 the construction of a new road to Muckhart on the lower ground south of the original route, created the current main east–west street. This quickly became the new "town centre" and the focus of shops and public activity.

A map of Dollar from 1945 Dollarmap1945.png
A map of Dollar from 1945

The town has two war memorials, one for each world war. In the grounds of Dollar Academy, a bronze figure with outstretched hands by George Henry Paulin faces westwards and commemorates the fallen of the First World War. This also has names added for Northern Ireland. [5]

A small museum run by volunteers contains a collection of local items, and much information about the former Devon Valley Railway, which closed to passengers in 1964. The town is now largely a dormitory community for people who work in Stirling and further afield (e.g. Glasgow and Edinburgh).

Location and transport

It is one of the Hillfoots Villages, situated between the Ochil Hills range to the north and the River Devon to the south. Dollar is 12 miles (19 kilometres) east of Stirling on the A91 road to St Andrews. The Devon Valley Railway linking Alloa and Kinross closed to passengers in 1964 and to freight in 1973.

Economy

Attempts were made to mine lead and copper in Dollar Glen from the 18th century and possibly earlier, but these were of no economic significance. Coal mining in the area began around the same time and, until 1973, supplied the Kincardine Power Station, and later, the Longannet Power Station with coal from the Upper Hirst seam. A tiny private non-NCB coal mine operated from the Harviestoun estate from the mid-1970s, partly filling the gap that the closed NCB left, whilst there was still local demand for coal.

In common with the other Hillfoots Villages, the textiles industry played an important part in the town's development. The Harviestoun Brewery was established west of Dollar in 1985, before its move to Alva.

Governance

From 1891 to 1975 the town had its own council. [6] It is now within Clackmannanshire council area. It forms part of the Clackmannanshire East ward which includes Clackmannan, Comely Bank, Dollar & Muckhart. In the 2017 local elections, residents of the ward elected three councillors—one each from the Scottish National Party, the Labour Party and the Conservative Party. [7]

Provosts

Dollar had a provost from 1891 to 1975. The provosts were: [6]

Notable people

A sketch of the town in the 19th century by Wang Tao Dolllartown.jpg
A sketch of the town in the 19th century by Wang Tao
A sketch of the Mill Green in the 19th century by Wang Tao RumblingPark.jpg
A sketch of the Mill Green in the 19th century by Wang Tao

Sport

Dollar is home to the Dollar Glen Football Club, the Dollar Golf Club—an 18-hole golf course notable for its steep inclines and lack of bunkers (a decision made by Ben Sayers), [12] a tennis club, a squash club, a bowling club, and a cricket club. The Ochil Hills that overlook Dollar provide opportunities for mountain biking.

Religion

The ruins of Old Dollar Parish Church The ruins of Old Dollar Parish Church.jpg
The ruins of Old Dollar Parish Church

There are three churches, one Church of Scotland, one Scottish Episcopal Church and Ochil Hills Community Church which meets in the Civic Centre.

Twin towns

Dollar is twinned with the French town of La Ville-aux-Dames, which lies just outside Tours in the Loire Valley.

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clackmannanshire</span> Historic county and council area of Scotland

Clackmannanshire, or the County of Clackmannan, is a historic county, council area, registration county and lieutenancy area in Scotland, bordering the council areas of Stirling, Fife, and Perth and Kinross. In terms of historic counties it borders Perthshire, Stirlingshire and Fife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fife</span> Council area of Scotland

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Tillicoultry is a town in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. Tillicoultry is usually referred to as Tilly by the locals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ochil Hills</span> Range of hills in Scotland, UK

The Ochil Hills is a range of hills in Scotland north of the Forth valley bordered by the cities of Stirling, Perth and the towns of Alloa, Kinross, and Auchterarder. The only major roads crossing the hills pass through Glen Devon/Glen Eagles and Glenfarg, the latter now largely replaced except for local traffic by the M90 Edinburgh-Perth motorway cutting through the eastern foothills. The hills are part of a Devonian lava extrusion whose appearance today is largely due to the Ochil Fault which results in the southern face of the hills forming an escarpment. The plateau is undulating with no prominent peak, the highest point being Ben Cleuch at 721 m (2,365 ft). The south-flowing burns have cut deep ravines including Dollar Glen, Silver Glen and Alva Glen, often only passable with the aid of wooden walkways.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Menstrie</span> Human settlement in Scotland

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alva, Clackmannanshire</span> Human settlement in Scotland

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The Hillfoots Villages are the villages and small towns which lie at the base of the southern scarp face of the Ochil Hills, formed by the Ochil Fault, in Stirlingshire and Clackmannanshire in central Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Devon, Clackmannanshire</span> Tributary of the River Forth, Scotland, UK

The River Devon is a tributary of the River Forth in Clackmannanshire and Perth & Kinross, Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harviestoun</span>

Harviestoun is an estate in Tillicoultry parish, Clackmannanshire, central Scotland. It lies at the base of the Ochil Hills, around 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) east of Tillicoultry and 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) west of Dollar.

Muckhart commonly refers to two small villages in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, Pool of Muckhart and Yetts o' Muckhart. Muckhart is one of the Hillfoots Villages, situated on the A91 around 3 miles northeast of Dollar. The Gaelic name, Muc-àird, comes from muc ("pig") + àird ("height"), and may derive from the fact that the surrounding fields may once have been used for pig farming.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castle Campbell</span> Historic site

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Devon Way</span>

Devon Way is a pathway in Clackmannanshire, Central Scotland. It lies on the southern section of the former Devon Valley Railway from Dollar to Tillicoultry a distance of 3+14 miles (5.2 km). It is used by for walkers, cyclists and horse riders and forms part of Route 767 on the National Cycle Network.

Crauford Tait WS was a 17th/18th century Scottish lawyer, improver and landowner and also a contemporary and friend of Robert Burns.

References

  1. "Mid-2020 Population Estimates for Settlements and Localities in Scotland". National Records of Scotland. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  2. Baillie, Bruce (19 August 2024). "Derivation of 'Dollar'". Dollar Museum. Archived from the original on 18 September 2012.
  3. "Iain Mac an Tàilleir: Scottish placenames, 2003" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 March 2007.
  4. "Dollar". The Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names (2 ed.). Oxford University Press. 2012. ISBN   9780199580897 . Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  5. Inscription on Dollar War Memorial
  6. 1 2 "Dollar Town Council". DollarCommunity.org.uk. Archived from the original on 20 January 2019.
  7. "Clackmananshire Council Elections 2017" . Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  8. Wong, Y. T. (1974). "Reviewed Work: Between Tradition and Modernity: Wang T'ao and Reform in Late-Ch'ing China. Harvard East Asian Series, No. 77 by Paul A. Cohen" . Monumenta Serica. 31: 619–620. JSTOR   40726188.
  9. Lee, Sidney, ed. (1898). "Syme, Patrick"  . Dictionary of National Biography . Vol. 55. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  10. Morris, Hugh (26 July 2022). "Fergus McCreadie Interview: 'Jazz is kind of a folk music in itself'" . Jazzwise. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  11. "Fergus McCreadie: I'm not even dreaming about Mercury Prize win". BBC. 27 July 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  12. "Dollar Golf Club". ScottishGolfCourses.com. PSP Media Group. Retrieved 24 May 2023.