Sauchie is a town in the

Central Lowlands The Central Lowlands, sometimes called the Midland Valley or Central Valley, is a geologically defined area of relatively low-lying land in southern Scotland. It consists of a rift valley between the Highland Boundary Fault to the north and ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. It lies north of the

River Forth The River Forth is a major river in central Scotland, long, which drains into the North Sea on the east coast of the country. Its drainage basin covers much of Stirlingshire in Scotland's Central Belt. The Gaelic name for the upper reach of ...

and south of the

Ochil Hills The Ochil Hills (; gd, Monadh Ochail is a range of hills in Scotland north of the Forth valley bordered by the towns of Stirling, Alloa, Kinross, Auchterarder and Perth. The only major roads crossing the hills pass through Glen Devon/ Gle ...

, within the council area of

Clackmannanshire Clackmannanshire (; sco, Clackmannanshire; gd, Siorrachd Chlach Mhannainn) is a historic county, council area, registration county and Lieutenancy area in Scotland, bordering the council areas of Stirling, Fife, and Perth & Kinross and th ...

. Sauchie has a population of around 6000 and is located northeast of

Alloa Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; educated Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; gd, Alamhagh, possibly meaning "rock plain") is a town in Clackmannanshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is on the north bank of the Forth at the spot where ...

and east-southeast of Tullibody.

History

The name means the place or field of the willows. The land originally belonged to

Clan Campbell Clan Campbell ( gd, Na Caimbeulaich ) is a Highland Scottish clan, historically one of the largest and most powerful of the Highland clans. The Clan Campbell lands are in Argyll and within their lands lies Ben Cruachan. The chief of the clan ...

, being mentioned in connection with

Cailean Mór Cailean Mór Caimbeul (also known as Sir Colin Campbell; died after 1296) is one of the earliest attested members of Clan Campbell and an important ancestor figure of the later medieval Earls of Argyll. Cailean was the son of Gilleasbaig, a kni ...

and Gilleasbaig of Menstrie. In 1321

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventual ...

granted the lands of Sauchie to Henry de Annand, former

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transl ...

Clackmannan Clackmannan ( ; gd, Clach Mhanainn, perhaps meaning "Stone of Manau"), is a small town and civil parish set in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Situated within the Forth Valley, Clackmannan is south-east of Alloa and south of Tillicoultry. ...

. A tower was built in 1335, and the present Sauchie Tower is on the same site. The extant tower was built before 1431 when

Mary de Annand Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also call ...

, the co-heiress to the estate, married Sir James Schaw of Greenock. The tower is all that remains of the village which developed within its protective radius. In the early 18th century the Schaw family moved from the tower to the more comfortable Newtonschaw. The village developed a brick works by the River Devon which fell into disuse following the collapse of the local mining industry. Beechwood Park, Sauchie

The rare and typically Scottish New Sauchie or Auchinbaird Vaulted Tower Windmill stands on a ridge overlooking New Sauchie and dates from the late 17th or early 18th century. It was a grain mill and later converted to a dovecote and has been preserved as a landscape feature and tourist attraction.

Sport

The village has a strong

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, Kick (football), kicking a Football (ball), ball to score a Goal (sport), goal. Unqualified, Football (word), the word ''football'' normally means the form of football tha ...

ing tradition and is home to the football club Sauchie, who compete in the East of Scotland League. The club was founded in 1960 and play their home games at Beechwood Park in Sauchie. The village is also home to several youth teams including Claremont Football Club.

New Sauchie

New Sauchie is a relatively modern settlement developed around the Holton Village area to house miners working in the Earl of Mar's colliery at the Holton mine, and Newtonschaw, a village housing servants of the Schaw family. It lies about south of the original village. Schawpark Golf Course lies on the site of the Schaw family estate which is no longer extant.

Notable people

Robert Carberry Robert Carberry (born 6 January 1931) was a Scottish footballer who played as a half-back in the Football League for Norwich City, Gillingham, and Port Vale between 1953 and 1958. Career Carberry played for Avondale, before joining Norwi ...

(born 1931), footballer *

Grant Gilchrist Grant Gilchrist (born 9 August 1990) is a Scottish rugby union player who plays at lock for Edinburgh Rugby in the United Rugby Championship. Background Gilchrist was schooled at Lornshill Academy, and played with Alloa RFC before moving on ...

(born 1990), Scotland and Edinburgh rugby player *

Alan Hansen Alan David Hansen (born 13 June 1955) is a Scottish former footballer and BBC television football pundit. He played as a central defender for Partick Thistle, for the successful Liverpool team of the late 1970s and 1980s, and for the Scotla ...

(born 1955), footballer * John Hansen (born 1950), footballer *

Willie Morgan William Morgan (born 2 October 1944) is a Scottish former professional footballer. Club career A winger, Morgan started his career with Burnley, making his first-team debut against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough in 1963. He took over from ...

(born 1944), footballer *

William Schaw William Schaw (c. 1550–1602) was Masters of Work to the Crown of Scotland, Master of Works to James VI of Scotland for building castles and palaces, and is claimed to have been an important figure in the development of Freemasonry in Scotland. ...

(c. 1550–1602),

mason Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cut ...

and

courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the offici ...

* Robert Shaw (died 1527),

Bishop of Moray The Bishop of Moray or Bishop of Elgin was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Moray in northern Scotland, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics. If the foundation charter of the monastery at Scone is reliable, then the Bishopric of Mor ...

* John Stahl (1953–2022), actor * Prof. David Wilson (born 1957), criminologist

References

*''Sauchie and Alloa - A People's History'', John Adamson, 1988

External links