Plean | |
---|---|
The Plean Tavern on the town's Main Street | |
Location within the Stirling council area | |
Population | 1,950 (2022) [1] |
OS grid reference | NS835869 |
Civil parish | |
Council area | |
Lieutenancy area | |
Country | Scotland |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | STIRLING |
Postcode district | FK7 |
Dialling code | 01786 |
Police | Scotland |
Fire | Scottish |
Ambulance | Scottish |
UK Parliament | |
Scottish Parliament | |
Plean is a village, in the Stirling council area of central Scotland, located on the main A9 road from Falkirk. At the 2001 census, Plean had a population of 1,740. Plean has some historic buildings, some council houses and an estate. [2]
Plean has a Church of Scotland Church with an attached graveyard, a petrol station, chip shop, a small clinic, small library, pub, pharmacy, cafe, Indian takeaway and three convenience stores. East Plean Primary School was formerly housed in a traditional building dating from 1874. Many of the original features of the building were retained in the refurbishment of the school, which was completed in summer 2000, including the addition of a purpose-built nursery. The school building was damaged beyond repair in November 2010 when a fire was deliberately started in a hut to the rear. The building was subsequently demolished and a new modern school is being built on the site. Andrew Stretton, 18, set fire to a cardboard box in a shed, but the blaze spread to the main building causing serious damage. Stretton was sentenced at Stirling and ordered to carry out 300 hours of community service, and put on probation for two years. [3]
The Plean Estate was once owned by the Earl of Dunmore; he had sold it to the Robert Haldane who was already the owner of the Airthrey Estate in Stirling. [4] It stayed in the Haldane family until it was sold in 1799 to Francis Simpson, [4] a former captain with the East India Company. [5]
Simpson's wife Jean Sophia Cadell, daughter of William Cadell of Banton, was only twenty-one when she died in 1806, she left behind two children for Simpson to look after; one son, William, and a daughter, Frances. [6] In 1819, Francis built Plean House and the other estate buildings. [4]
William Simpson's Home is a local charity based in Plean, established by Francis Simpson, providing residential social care for men with alcohol-related brain damage, and with underlying mental health illness. [7]
Plean Country Park is located in Plean, in the grounds of the now-ruined Plean House. Entry is free and the park is maintained by Stirling Council. Nearby Plean Castle, or Plane Tower, was once a home of the Somerville family. It was restored from ruin twice in the twentieth century and is now a private house. [8]
Plean railway station served the village from 1904 to 1956.
Stirling is a city in central Scotland, 26 miles (42 km) northeast of Glasgow and 37 miles (60 km) north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its merchants and tradesmen, the Old Bridge and the port. Located on the River Forth, Stirling is the administrative centre for the Stirling council area, and is traditionally the county town and historic county of Stirlingshire. Proverbially it is the strategically important "Gateway to the Highlands". It has been said that "Stirling, like a huge brooch clasps Highlands and Lowlands together". Similarly "he who holds Stirling, holds Scotland" is sometimes attributed to Robert the Bruce. Stirling's key position as the lowest bridging point of the River Forth before it broadens towards the Firth of Forth made it a focal point for travel north or south.
Robert Haldane was a religious writer and Scottish theologian. Author of Commentaire sur l'Épître aux Romains, On the Inspiration of Scripture and Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans.
Borrowstounness, commonly known as Bo'ness, is a town and former burgh and seaport on the south bank of the Firth of Forth in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Historically part of the county of West Lothian, it now lies within the Falkirk council area, 17 miles northwest of Edinburgh and 6+3⁄4 miles east of Falkirk. At the 2011 census, the population of Bo'ness was 15,100.
Crail is a former royal burgh, parish and community council area in the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland.
Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling is a historic county and registration county of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling.
The Stirling council area is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and has an estimated population of 92,530 (2022). It was created in 1975 as a lower-tier district within the Central region. The district covered parts of the historic counties of Stirlingshire and Perthshire, which were abolished for local government purposes. In 1996 the Central region was abolished and Stirling Council took over all local government functions within the area.
Newton Mearns is a suburban town and the largest settlement in East Renfrewshire, Scotland. It lies 7 miles (11 km) southwest of Glasgow City Centre on the main road to Ayrshire, 410 feet (125 m) above sea level. It has a population of approximately 26,993, stretching from Whitecraigs and Kirkhill in the northeast to Maidenhill in the southeast, to Westacres and Greenlaw in the west and Capelrig/Patterton in the northwest.
Giffnock is a town and the administrative centre of East Renfrewshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland.
Stenhousemuir is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies within the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The town is 2 miles north-northwest of Falkirk and directly adjoins to Larbert in the west, where the nearest rail access is located. The villages of Carron and Carronshore adjoin Stenhousemuir to the east but to a lesser extent. Historically, Stenhousemuir lies with the historic county of Stirlingshire. At the 2001 census it showed that it had a resident population of 10,351 but according to a 2009 estimate this was revised to around 10,190 residents. The combined population of the four localities in 2011 was 24,722, representing about 15% of the Falkirk council area total.
Faifley is a large estate forming part of the town of Clydebank, Scotland, adjoining the former village of Hardgate, with a population of approximately 5,001. Along with Duntocher and Hardgate, Faifley falls within West Dunbartonshire's Kilpatrick ward with a combined population of 12,719 in 2011.
The Royal Burgh of Haddington is a town in East Lothian, Scotland. It is the main administrative, cultural and geographical centre for East Lothian. It lies about 17 miles east of Edinburgh. The name Haddington is Anglo-Saxon, dating from the sixth or seventh century AD when the area was incorporated into the kingdom of Bernicia. The town, like the rest of the Lothian region, was ceded by King Edgar of England and became part of Scotland in the tenth century. Haddington received Burgh status, one of the earliest to do so, during the reign of David I (1124–1153), giving it trading rights which encouraged its growth into a market town.
Stirling was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
Linlithgow is a town in West Lothian, Scotland. It was historically West Lothian's county town, reflected in the county's historical name of Linlithgowshire. An ancient town, it lies in the Central Belt on a historic route between Edinburgh and Falkirk beside Linlithgow Loch. The town is situated approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of Edinburgh.
The Church of the Holy Rude is the medieval parish church of Stirling, Scotland. It is named after the Holy Rood, a relic of the True Cross on which Jesus was crucified. The church was founded in 1129 during the reign of David I, but the earliest part of the present church dates from the 15th century. As such it is the second oldest building in Stirling after Stirling Castle, parts of which date from the later 14th century. The chancel and tower were added in the 16th century.
Clan Stirling is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Lowlands.
Clan Haldane is a Lowland Scottish clan.
Airthrey Castle is a historic building and estate which now forms part of the buildings and grounds of the University of Stirling in central Scotland. The 18th-century building with 19th-century additions occupies a beautiful setting in landscaped grounds in the southern edge of the Ochil Hills, above the Forth valley. It is located close to Bridge of Allan, two miles from the historic city of Stirling.
Cambusbarron is a village in Stirling, Scotland. In the 2001 census, it had a population of 3,224. There is evidence of settlement at the site since the Bronze Age, and several forts dating from the Iron Age have been found near the village. One such fort is located at Gillies Hill, a large semi-natural ancient woodland area with a range of unusual wildlife, thought to be the site of Robert the Bruce's camp shortly before the Battle of Bannockburn.
The William Simpson's Home is a care home in Plean, Scotland. It provides care for members of the armed services who have developed mental health or alcohol related problems.
Wallace ThorneycroftFRSE MIME MISI JP (1864–1954) was a 19th/20th century British mining engineer, businessman, coal-mine owner and geologist. He was President of the Institute of Mining Engineers. As a geologist and archaeologist he was an expert on vitrified forts and one of the first to undertake practical experiments to establish their mode of construction.