Falkirk ( ; ; ) 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 ...

of Scotland, historically within the county of

Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling ( ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling.Registers of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. It borders Perthshir ...

. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

and northeast of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the 2001 UK Census. The population of the town had risen to 34,570 according to a 2008 estimate, making it the 20th most populous settlement in Scotland. Falkirk is the main town and administrative centre of the Falkirk council area, which has an overall population of 156,800 and inholds the nearby towns of

Grangemouth Grangemouth (; , ) is a town in the Falkirk (council area), Falkirk council area in the central belt of Scotland. Historically part of the Counties of Scotland, county of Stirlingshire, the town lies in the Forth Valley, on the banks of the Firt ...

, Bo'ness, Denny, Camelon, Larbert and Stenhousemuir, and the cluster of Braes villages. The town is at the junction of the Forth and Clyde and Union Canals, a location which proved key to its growth as a centre of

heavy industry Heavy industry is an industry that involves one or more characteristics such as large and heavy products; large and heavy equipment and facilities (such as heavy equipment, large machine tools, huge buildings and large-scale infrastructure); o ...

during the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Falkirk was at the centre of the

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

and

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

industry, underpinned by the Carron Company in nearby Carron. The company made very many different items, from flat irons to kitchen ranges to fireplaces to benches to railings and many other items, but also

carronades A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast iron, cast-iron cannon which was used by the Royal Navy. It was first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, and was used from the last quarter of the 18th century to the mid- ...

for the Royal Navy and, later, manufactured pillar boxes and phone boxes. Within the last fifty years, heavy industry has waned, and the economy relies increasingly on retail and tourism. Despite this, Falkirk remains the home of many international companies like Alexander Dennis, the largest bus production company in the United Kingdom. Falkirk has a long association with the publishing industry. The company now known as Johnston Press was established in the town in 1846. The company, now based in Edinburgh, produces the '' Falkirk Herald''. Attractions in and around Falkirk include the Falkirk Wheel, The Helix, The Kelpies, Callendar House and Park and remnants of the

Antonine Wall The Antonine Wall () was a turf fortification on stone foundations, built by the Romans across what is now the Central Belt of Scotland, between the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth. Built some twenty years after Hadrian's Wall to the south ...

. In a 2011 poll conducted by STV, it was voted as Scotland's most beautiful town.

History

Ancient Period

''An Eaglais Bhreac'' is a derivative formed from the

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...

of the first recorded name ''Egglesbreth'' from the Brittonic for "speckled church", presumably referring to a church building built of many-coloured stones. The Scottish Gaelic name was

calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...

d into Scots as ''Fawkirk'' (literally "variegated church"), then later amended to the modern English name of ''Falkirk''. The

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

name ''Varia Capella'' also has the same meaning.How did Falkirk get its name, The Falkirk History Society
www.falkirklocalhistory.club. Retrieved 6 April 2023 Falkirk Old Parish Church stands on the site of the medieval church, which may have been founded as early as the 7th century. The

, which stretches across the centre of Scotland, passed through the town and remnants of it can be seen at Callendar Park. Similar to

Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall (, also known as the ''Roman Wall'', Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Aelium'' in Latin) is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Roman Britain, Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Ru ...

but built of turf rather than stone so less of it has survived, it marked the northern

frontier A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary. Australia The term "frontier" was frequently used in colonial Australia in the meaning of country that borders the unknown or uncivilised, th ...

of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

between the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is a firth in Scotland, an inlet of the North Sea that separates Fife to its north and Lothian to its south. Further inland, it becomes the estuary of the River Forth and several other rivers. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate ...

and

Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde, is the estuary of the River Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland. The Firth has some of the deepest coastal waters of the British Isles. The Firth is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre, Kintyre Peninsula. The ...

during the AD 140s.Frontiers of the Roman Empire - History
www.antoninewall.org. Retrieved 2011-04-29 Much of the best evidence of Roman occupation in Scotland has been found in Falkirk, including a large hoard of Roman coins and a cloth of

tartan Tartan or plaid ( ) is a patterned cloth consisting of crossing horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours, forming repeating symmetrical patterns known as ''setts''. Originating in woven wool, tartan is most strongly associated wi ...

, thought to be the oldest ever recorded.THE ROMAN COIN HOARD AND THE FALKIRK TARTAN
www.falkirklocalhistorysociety.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-04-29 A Roman fort was confirmed to be found by Geoff Bailey in the Pleasance area of Falkirk in 1991. A Roman themed park at Callendar House was awarded lottery funding to help raise awareness of the wall.

Contemporary Period

In the 18th century the area was the cradle of Scotland's

, becoming the earliest major centre of the iron-casting industry.

James Watt James Watt (; 30 January 1736 (19 January 1736 OS) – 25 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved on Thomas Newcomen's 1712 Newcomen steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1776, which was f ...

cast some of the beams for his early

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...

designs at the Carron Iron Works in 1765. The area was at the forefront of

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

construction when the Forth and Clyde Canal opened in 1790.Forth and Clyde Canal
www.forthandclyde.org.uk. Retrieved 2011-04-29 The Union Canal (1822) provided a link to

and early railway development followed in the 1830s and 1840s.History of the Union Canal
www.scottishcanals.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-04-29 The canals brought economic wealth to Falkirk and led to the town's growth. Through time, trunk roads and motorways followed the same canal corridors through the Falkirk area, linking the town with the rest of Scotland. Many companies set up work in Falkirk due to its expansion. A large brickworks was set up at this time, owned by the Howie family. During the 19th century, Falkirk became the first town in Great Britain to have a fully automated system of street lighting, designed and implemented by a local firm, Thomas Laurie & Co Ltd.1.2.5 Civic Administration
www.falkirk.gov.uk. Retrieved 2011-04-29

Battles of Falkirk

Two important battles have taken place at Falkirk: *The

Battle of Falkirk The Battle of Falkirk (; ), on 22 July 1298, was one of the major battles in the First War of Scottish Independence. Led by Edward I of England, King Edward I of England, the English army defeated the Scottish people, Scots, led by William Wal ...

fought on 22 July 1298, saw the defeat of William Wallace by King

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 1254 ...

. *The Battle of Falkirk Muir took place on 17 January 1746, the Jacobites under Charles Edward Stuart defeated a government army commanded by Lieutenant General Henry Hawley.

Government and politics

In terms of local government the town sits at the heart of Falkirk Council area, one of the 32 unitary authorities of Scotland formed by the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994. The headquarters of the council are located in the Municipal Buildings, adjacent to the former FTH Theatre, on West Bridge Street in the centre of town. The council was the first

local government in Scotland Local government in Scotland comprises thirty-two local authorities, commonly referred to as ''councils''. Each council provides public services, including education, social care, waste management, libraries and planning. Councils receive th ...

to be governed by the Labour Party, in 1921. It has been led by a

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...

minority since 2017. The current Leader of the council is Cllr Cecil Meiklejohn. Falkirk is located within the Scottish parliamentary constituency of Falkirk West which elects one

Member of the Scottish Parliament Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; ; ) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The additional member system produces a form of proportional representation, where ...

(MSP) under the

first past the post system First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or first-preference, and the candidate with more first- ...

. The current MSP is Michael Matheson, who won the seat at the 2007 Scottish Parliament General Election. The previous MSP,

Dennis Canavan Dennis Andrew Canavan (born 8 August 1942) is a Scottish politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Falkirk West (UK Parliament constituency), Falkirk West from 1974 to 2000 (known as West Stirlingshire (UK Parliament constituency), West S ...

, who sat as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

, was elected with the largest majority in the Scottish parliament representing Falkirk's electorate's displeasure with New Labour, but stepped down in 2007 for family reasons. Canavan, who announced in an open letter to his constituents in January 2007, that he was stepping down from representative politics at the Scottish Parliament election, 2007 had been an MSP or MP for the area for over 30 years. The constituency of Falkirk West also sits in the Central Scotland Scottish Parliament electoral region which returns seven MSPs under the

additional member system The additional-member system (AMS) is a two-vote seat-linkage-based mixed electoral system used in the United Kingdom in which most legislator, representatives are elected in single-member districts (SMDs), and a fixed number of other "addition ...

used to elect Members of the Scottish Parliament. In the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

, the town is entirely contained within the UK parliamentary constituency of

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

which elects one member to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

under the plurality system. The constituency also takes in surrounding villages and is currently represented by Euan Stainbank of the

Scottish Labour Party Scottish Labour (), is the part of the UK Labour Party active in Scotland. Ideologically social democratic and unionist, it holds 23 of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 37 of 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons. It is repres ...

. Traditionally, Falkirk had been seen as a stronghold for the Labour Party. Prior to

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

in 2020 it was part of the pan-Scotland

European Parliament constituency Member of the European Parliament, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are Elections in the European Union, elected by the population of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union (EU). The European Elect ...

which elected six

Members of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Comm ...

(MEP)s using the

d'Hondt method The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is an apportionment method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in proportional representation among political parties. It belongs to ...

party-list proportional representation Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a system of proportional representation based on preregistered Political party, political parties, with each party being Apportionment (politics), allocated a certain number of seats Apportionm ...

Geography

Falkirk is located in an area of undulating topography between the Slamannan Plateau and the upper reaches of the

. The area to the north of Falkirk is part of the floodplain of the River Carron. Two tributaries of the River Carron - the ''East Burn'' and the ''West Burn'' flow through the town and form part of its natural drainage system.Milne et al. (1975) p1 Falkirk sits at between 50 metres (164 ft) and 125 metres (410 ft)

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

.Milne et al. (1975) p2 The underlying geology of the town of Falkirk is characterised by glacial deposits. Elevations above are covered by a mixture of glacial till and boulder clay with low-lying areas covered by

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...

y soils and

loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–si ...

s. As Falkirk is not far from the coast, post-glacial features akin to raised beaches are particularly predominant to the north of the town centre, and this gives rise to differing elevations within the town. Unsorted glacial till gives rise to such features of glacial deposition as eskers, and drumlins which are predominant over much of the area. Such elements provide natural transport routes and it is this complex underlying geology that the town is built upon.

Climate

Like much of the rest of Scotland, Falkirk has a

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

maritime climate, which is relatively mild despite its northerly

latitude In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate system, geographic coordinate that specifies the north-south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from −90° at t ...

. Winters are especially mild given that

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

and

Labrador Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...

lie on the same latitude, with daytime temperatures rarely falling below . Summer temperatures are comparatively cool, with daily upper maxima rarely exceeding . The proximity of the town to the sea mitigates any large variations in temperature or extremes of climate. The prevailing wind direction is from the south-west, which is associated with warm, unstable air from the

Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the United States, then veers east near 36°N latitude (North Carolin ...

that gives rise to rainfall. Winds from an easterly direction are usually drier but colder. Rainfall is distributed fairly evenly throughout the year. Vigorous Atlantic depressions - sometimes called European windstorms can affect the town between October and March. The highest recorded temperature was 31.5C in August 2010.

Demography

The

United Kingdom Census 2001 A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th Census in the United Kingdom, UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194. The 2001 UK census was organise ...

identified the town as having a total resident population of 32,422.No 3 - 2001 Census Population of settlements and wards
www.falkirk.gov.uk. Retrieved 2011-04-29 The population was estimated at 34,570 in 2008 which makes the town the 20th most populous settlement in Scotland. The wider Falkirk area which includes

, Larbert and Stenhousemuir has an overall population of 98,940 making this the 5th largest urban area after

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

and

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

. The population of the town and surrounding area is forecast to grow over the next ten years, primarily due to net in migration from other parts of Scotland and the UK. Unemployment in the Falkirk area is low at 2.5%, below the Scottish average, but average household income and gross weekly pay are below the comparative Scottish and UK averages.

Economy

Today, the economy of Falkirk is focused on retail and services, in contrast to the heavy industries and manufacturing sectors which contributed to the growth of the town over the last 300 years. Falkirk is a large retail centre catering to the town itself and a wide surrounding area, stretching from

Cumbernauld Cumbernauld (; ) is a large town in the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, most-populous locality in Scotl ...

in the west to Bo'ness in the east.Smith, R (2001) p345 The retailer

Marks and Spencer Marks and Spencer plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks & Sparks or simply Marks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home produc ...

opened a store in Falkirk Town Centre in 1936 but this closed in 2018 (the building is now a creative arts space). The High Street was pedestrianised in the late 1980s, and the Howgate Shopping Centre opened in April 1990. Another shopping centre, Callendar Square was opened in 1993 but finally closed in 2020. A number of supermarkets including

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

Asda Asda Stores Limited (), trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA, is a British supermarket and petrol station chain. Its headquarters is in Leeds, England. The company was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded ...

Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets Limited, trading as Morrisons, is the List of supermarket chains in the United Kingdom, fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Sco ...

and Scottish Co-op have developed on peripheral sites surrounding the town centre since the late 1990s.Smith, R (2001) p346 The public sector and public services also have a foothold in the Falkirk area. Falkirk Council is one of the largest employers in this sphere, with a workforce of over 7,000, many based at the council headquarters in the town centre. One of the principal offices of the UK Child Support Agency, covering Scotland and the north east of England, is located in the Callendar Business Park on the outskirts of Falkirk. Similarly the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

(NHS) and

Department for Work and Pensions The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for welfare spending, welfare, pensions and child maintenance ...

have a presence in the town and employ local residents. Many Falkirk residents are also employed within the

petrochemicals Petrochemicals (sometimes abbreviated as petchems) are the chemical products obtained from petroleum by refining. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable so ...

sector based in neighbouring

where there is an agglomeration of such industries underpinned by the Ineos (formerly BP) oil refinery located there. Alexander Dennis, one of the world's largest bus manufacturers, is headquartered in Falkirk with the operations plant located nearby.

Culture

Falkirk hosted a national arts festival which ran in Callendar Park from 2000 to 2009 called Big In Falkirk. After its inception in 2000, the festival won Scottish Thistle Award for Events & Festivals in 2005. Consisting of a free weekend of events, the festival was one of the largest cultural events in Scotland, attracting over 100,000 people. Hosted in Falkirk's historical Callendar Park, the venue covers with Callendar House as the focal point, the entertainment featured a wide variety of outdoor theatre, pyrotechnic displays,

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

s, comedy and big name music acts, alongside activities for all ages. Falkirk hosted the Royal National Mòd in 2008.List of Mod's places
for each year on

Sabhal Mòr Ostaig Sabhal Mòr Ostaig (; ) is a public higher education college situated in the Sleat peninsula in the south of the Isle of Skye, Scotland with an associate campus at Bowmore on the island of Islay. Sabhal Mòr is an independent Academic Part ...

website The Gold medals were won by Falkirk resident Lyle Kennedy and Kerrie Finlay from

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

. Interest in Gaelic has grown in Falkirk since the Mòd and there are now five Gaelic organisations active in the Falkirk area: An Clas Gàidhlig (provides Gaelic lessons to adults), An Comunn Gàidhealach Meur na h-Eaglaise Brice (is the local branch of An Comunn Gàidhealach), Fèis Fhoirt (provides traditional music and Gaelic song tuition for children and adults), Falkirk Gaelic Forum (promotes Gaelic in Falkirk) and Falkirk Junior Gaelic Choir (is a long established and successful youth choir).

Recreation

The historical Callendar House is an imposing mansion with a 600-year history which is now a public museum and open access parkland, with a cafe and shop. The Park Gallery, a contemporary art gallery is also based in the house. 2007-07-04-06151 GreatBritain Falkirk

Health

Falkirk is administered by NHS Forth Valley, this includes the unitary authorities of

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

and Clackmannanshire. Following the opening of the new Forth Valley Royal Hospital, the Falkirk and District Royal Infirmary was renamed Falkirk Community HospitalHealthcare Strategy - Falkirk Community Hospital
www.nhsforthvalley.com. Retrieved 2011-04-30 with many of the main services, including the accident and emergency unit being transferred. Falkirk Community Hospital will still provide many services like

podiatry Podiatry ( ), also know as podiatric medicine and surgery ( ), is a branch of medicine devoted to the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disorders of the foot, ankle and lower limb. The healthcare professional is known as a podiatrist. The US ...

and

palliative care Palliative care (from Latin root "to cloak") is an interdisciplinary medical care-giving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating or reducing suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Man ...

. The Community Hospital continues to have a Minor Injury Unit, to treat emergency cases of a non life-threatening nature. In-patient and community services at Bonnybridge Hospital will re-locate to Falkirk Community Hospital in 2012, once new modern, en-suite accommodation has been developed. A new purpose-built dental centre, Langlees Dental Centre, provides a "teach and treat" dental centre in the Langlees area of Falkirk opened in August 2009. It has seven dental surgeries and is involved in training final year students at Glasgow Dental School.

Landmarks

The Falkirk Wheel, the only rotary canal connector in the world, is located within

. The attraction was completed in 2002 and it connects the Forth and Clyde Canal to the Union Canal.The Falkirk Wheel - History
www.thefalkirkwheel.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-04-30 On Falkirk High Street lies the Falkirk Steeple. The current building was built in 1814 and is protected as a category A

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. A stylised image of the steeple appears on the crest of Falkirk Football Club. The Steeple is widely regarded as the centre point of the town. Nearby, on Cow Wynd is the Tattie Kirk, a Category B listed octagonal former church built in 1804, adjacent to its former graveyard. The FTH Theatre (the "Falkirk Town Hall Theatre") in West Bridge Street was commissioned to replace the old town hall in Newmarket Street which was demolished in 1968. In 2022, it was announced that the Town Hall and FTH Theatre would close as the building required significant renovation. In 2023, it was announced that the council would purchase the empty former Callendar Square shopping centre. The centre is due to be demolished in 2024 with a view to constructing a combined new town hall, theatre, library and civic space for Falkirk. Alongside the M9 between Falkirk and Grangemouth, The Kelpies are horse-head sculptures depicting

kelpie A kelpie, or water kelpie (Scottish Gaelic: '' each-uisge''), is a mythical shape-shifting spirit inhabiting lochs in Scottish folklore. Legends of these shape-shifting water-horses, under various names, spread across the British Isles, appea ...

s (shape-shifting water spirits). They are part of Helix Park, a land transformation project to improve the connections between and around communities in Falkirk.

Transport

Roads

The Falkirk Area occupies a central position in Scotland, with direct access from the key north–south and east–west motorway networks: the M9 from the north and east and the M876 from the west. Falkirk has main rail and canal routes within easy reach from

and

; it is central to access to both

and Edinburgh airports. Falkirk is well situated both for access by rail from England and for access to other parts of Scotland excluding

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

, which has no direct rail link to Falkirk. Road access is to Fife provided by the Kincardine Bridge, Clackmannanshire Bridge and the Forth Road Bridge, via the M9.

Railway

Falkirk has two railway stations: Falkirk High and Falkirk Grahamston. Falkirk High is on the main Glasgow-Edinburgh line, with connections to either city running on a 15-minute frequency. At peak times, 8 trains per hour stop: 4 for Glasgow Queen Street via Croy and 4 for Edinburgh Waverley, via Polmont and Linlithgow. Journey times to Edinburgh vary from 24 minutes to 35 minutes, depending on stopping stations and time of day; the journey time is between 18 and 28 minutes to Glasgow. Falkirk Grahamston lies on the Edinburgh to Dunblane Line. To Edinburgh Waverley, there are 4 trains per hour, with journey times varying around 34 minutes. To Glasgow Queen Street, there are 2 trains per hour via the Cumbernauld Line with journey times from 39 minutes to 43 minutes.

Buses

Falkirk bus station lies in the town centre however since 20 August 2018 has been closed. Its bus routes which provided links to the cities of Stirling, Edinburgh and Glasgow, as well as local routes have now been moved to the nearby street of Newmarket Street.

Education

Falkirk is home to one of the four campuses of Forth Valley College which was formed on 1 August 2005 from the merger of Falkirk,

and Clackmannan colleges. The Falkirk Campus is by far the largest of the four campuses.

Secondary schools

Falkirk District is served by eight high schools which have all been recently rebuilt.

Media

Falkirk is served by a weekly newspaper, the '' Falkirk Herald'', which is published by Johnston Press. The company was established by the Johnston family from Falkirk, who have been involved in publishing since 1767. The family acquired the ''Herald'', their first newspaper, in 1846. The publishing company was renamed F Johnston & Co Ltd in 1882, a title it would retain until it was floated on the London Stock Exchange as Johnston Press in 1988. The corporate headquarters of Johnston Press are now in Edinburgh, but the company retains two offices in Falkirk and Grangemouth.

Religion

The 2001 census showed the majority of the population claim to belong to one of the Christian denominations with 48% of these being

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

, 12% being

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, and 5% belonging to other Christian denominations. 29% of people belong to no religion, about 1% above the national figure. The Church of Scotland's Presbytery of Falkirk includes congregations in Bo'ness, Bonnybridge, Cumbernauld, Grangemouth and Larbert, as well as Falkirk.

Sport

Football

Men's

Falkirk currently has three men's

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

teams, Falkirk Football Club, Stenhousemuir F.C. and East Stirlingshire Football Club. Falkirk Stadium - geograph

Falkirk F.C. was founded in 1876 and was elected to compete in the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4&nbs ...

in 1902. The club's highest ranking came in the 1907–08 season and once again in 1909–10 when the club finished runners-up of Division One, the country's top football division, losing out to Celtic F.C. on both occasions. The club has reached the final of the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1913 Events January * January – Joseph Stalin travels to Vienna to research his ''Marxism and the National Question''. This means that, during this month, Stalin, Hitler, Trotsky and Tito are all living in the city. * January 3 &ndash ...

and

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

respectively. The club currently competes in the

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

and plays their home games at the Falkirk Stadium near Grangemouth. The town's other men's club, East Stirlingshire F.C., was founded in 1881 originally as ''Bainsford Britannia'' and has competed in the Scottish Football League since

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15 ...

. The club has predominantly played in the lower leagues of Scottish football, spending only two whole seasons in the top division after being promoted from Division Two in 1931–32 and 1962–63. The club currently competes in the Lowland Football League and from the 2018–19 season will play their home games at the Falkirk Stadium following a groundshare agreement with Falkirk F.C. Firs Park was the home of the club for the majority of the club's existence but was vacated at the end of the 2007/08 season.

Women's

Falkirk currently has two women's

teams, Central Girls Football Academy and Falkirk Ladies. Central play in the second tier (SWPL2) and Falkirk play in the third tier (SWFL) of women's football.

Roller Derby

Falkirk is home to Scotland's first Co-ed Roller Derby League. Clubs from the area are the Skelpies men's team, the Central Belters women's team and the Belter Skelpers Co-ed team.

Rugby

Falkirk Rugby Club can trace their roots to 1906 when F.R.F.C. was first formed. It was disbanded at the start of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In 1972 the club was resurrected when the works team from ICI Grangemouth decided to become "open" and looked for a new home. They initially played at Stirling Road playing fields before building their clubhouse at the present site at Sunnyside in 1981. The club has risen through the ranks of rugby winning six consecutive promotions, five of them as league champions, a Scottish record.

Hockey

Falkirk also has a Hockey team, Falkirk GHG Hockey Club, which was formed from the merger of Graeme High School Former Pupils Hockey Club and Grangemouth Hockey Club in 1999. It now has four men's teams which play in various leagues, with their first team playing in the national league.

Basketball

Falkirk Fury Basketball Club, currently called Clark Eriksson Fury Basketball Club in a sponsorship deal with local firm Clark Eriksson, represents the town in the sport.Clark Eriksson Falkirk Fury Basketball Club
, Retrieved 2012-02-10. The team was established in 1992 and originally consisted of players from Falkirk High School and sports development players. Today the team competes in all 6 Scottish National Age Groups. The men's side currently competes in the Scottish Men's National League, the top league in Scottish basketball and is considered the second tier of British basketball below the BBL and in line with the

English Basketball League The National Basketball League, or NBL for short, is a league competition representing semi-professional and amateur basketball clubs from England and Wales. It forms levels 2 to 5 on the British basketball pyramid, in line with the Scottish B ...

. The club plays home games at the Mariner Centre in Camelon or sometimes at the Grangemouth sports complex. Boxing Falkirk Boxing Club was once running above the town's oldest pub The Wheatsheaf bar and bore such names as welterweight Jim Boyle and heavyweight Dearn Savage.

Archery

Falkirk has a number of

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a Bow and arrow, bow to shooting, shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting ...

clubs in and around the greater Falkirk area: * Falkirk Company of Archers was established in 1971 and is affiliated to the Scottish Archery Association (SAA) which is a region of the national governing body; Archery GB. During summer, members shoot outdoors on Sunnyside playing fields and during winter members shoot indoors at Woodlands Games Hall. The club is a

target archery Target archery is the most popular form of archery, in which members shoot at stationary circular targets at varying distances. All types of bow – longbow, barebow, Recurve bow, recurve and Compound bow, compound – can be used. In Great Brita ...

club with most members shooting

recurve bow In archery, a recurve bow is one of the main Bow shape, shapes a bow (weapon), bow can take, with limbs that curve away from the archer when unstrung. A recurve bow stores more energy and delivers energy more efficiently than the equivalent strai ...

, though traditional archery has made a resurgence in the club recently with some members shooting barebows, horse bows and longbow.

Twin towns

Falkirk is twinned with: *

Créteil Créteil () is a Communes of France, commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. Créteil is the ''préfecture'' (capital) of the Val-de-Marne Departments of France, dep ...

, FranceFalkirk Twinning Association
, www.falkirktwinning.org Retrieved 2011-05-07 *

Odenwald The Odenwald () is a low mountain range in the Germany, German states of Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. Location The Odenwald is located between the Upper Rhine Plain with the Bergstraße Route, Bergstraße and the ''Hessisches Ried' ...

, Germany *

Quimper Quimper (, ; ; or ) is a Communes of France, commune and Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Finistère Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in northwestern France. Administration Quimper is the ...

, France *

San Rafael, California San Rafael ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Raphael (archangel), St. Raphael", ) is a city in and the county seat of Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of th ...

, United States

Notable people

Art and literature

* Alan Bissett - a Scottish novelist * Dame Elizabeth Blackadder - artist * Alan Davie - artist (born

) * Janet Paisley - poet, playwright, author * Stuart Reid - children's book author

Business and industry

* Walter Alexander - millionaire founder of Walter Alexander Coachbuilders in Falkirk, later to become the world's largest builder of coaches and buses, Alexander Dennis * Adam Crozier - chief executive of

ITV plc ITV plc is a British media company that holds 13 of the 15 regional television licences that make up the ITV (TV network), ITV network (Channel 3), the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom. ITV plc ...

and former chief executive of the

Football Association A football association, also known as a football federation, soccer federation, or soccer association, is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world gov ...

* Captain Robert Dollar - the Scottish-American businessman, was born in Falkirk and maintained a house there, which is now the centre of Dollar Park * William Forbes of Callendar - the proprietor of Carron Iron Works, was the largest landowner in Stirlingshire, and was seated in the centre of Falkirk at Callendar House * Henry Adolph Salvesen naval architect and exporter * James Walker (engineer) - influential civil engineer of the first half of the 19th century * Sir John Wilson, 1st Baronet - made a fortune as a coal-master and built Bantaskine House on the South Bantaskine Estate, Falkirk. He was Unionist MP for Falkirk and was made a baronet

Historical

* The Earls of Callendar and Linlithgow - were seated in the centre of Falkirk, at Callendar House, before being stripped of their titles. Other peers historically connected to the area include the Marquess of Zetland whose estate was in Grangemouth, the

Earl of Dunmore Earl of Dunmore is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. The title Earl of Dunmore was created in 1686 for Charles Murray, 1st Earl of Dunmore, Lord Charles Murray, son of John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl. The title passed down through genera ...

who owned the nearby

Pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a Tropical vegetation, tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been culti ...

, Lord Thurlow of Kinnaird, the Duke of Montrose and the

Duke of Hamilton Duke of Hamilton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in April 1643. It is the senior dukedom in that peerage (except for the Duke of Rothesay, Dukedom of Rothesay held by the sovereign's eldest son), and as such its holder is the pr ...

. The Bolton baronets of Carronhall were also seated near Falkirk, as were the Bruce baronets of Stenhouse, of whom the actor Nigel Bruce was a member, growing up at Stenhouse Castle.

Media and entertainment

* Gary Wales (actor) - Actor & Film Producer * Adam Stafford - Musician and film maker * Kaye Adams - Television presenter * Ruth Connell - Actress and producer *

Elizabeth Fraser Elizabeth Davidson Fraser (born 29 August 1963) is a Scottish singer. She was the vocalist for the band Cocteau Twins, who achieved success in the UK from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. Their studio albums '' Victorialand'' (1986) and '' H ...

- Founding member and lead singer of the band from Grangemouth Cocteau Twins * Robin Guthrie - Founding member and guitarist of the band from Grangemouth Cocteau Twins, music producer * Brian McNeill - Founding member of the Battlefield Band, Scottish folk singer * Forbes Masson - Actor and Writer * Malcolm Middleton, David Gow and Aidan Moffat of the post-folk band Arab Strap * Euan Morton - Actor and Singer, known for his role as

Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer-songwriter and DJ who rose to fame as the lead singer of the pop band Culture Club. He began his solo career in 1987. Boy George grew up in Eltham a ...

in the musical

Taboo A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

* David Paisley - Actor and Singer

Politics and society

* Elizabeth Caradus - Suffragette and Temperance activist *

Tommy Douglas Thomas Clement Douglas (20 October 1904 – 24 February 1986) was a Scottish-born Canadian politician who served as the seventh premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961 and leader of the New Democratic Party from 1961 to 1971. A Bap ...

- Scottish-Canadian

social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

politician, who is often cited as "father" of Canada's single-payer public health insurance system. Voted the "greatest Canadian of all time" in a nationwide poll * Thomas W. Howie - Former Falkirk councillor * John McAleese - team leader during the SAS assault on the Iranian embassy in May 1980 (brought up in Laurieston) * Sheila McKechnie - Scottish trade unionist, housing campaigner and consumer activist * David Muir - former Director of Political Strategy to former Prime Minister

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...

* Robert D. Wilson - American politician and farmer; served in the Wisconsin State Assembly and was born in Falkirk * Iain Lindsay, British diplomat * Jack MacDonald - Scottish-Canadian

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

politician, leader of the Communist Party of Canada between 1923 and 1929

Science and technology

* John Aitken - physicist and meteorologist, operated from a laboratory in his home in Falkirk, where he first detected atmospheric dust particles using the koniscope, his invention. * Ernest Masson Anderson -geologist, born in Falkirk * George Forrest - a Scottish botanist. Famous for bringing back over 30,000 specimens of 10,000 plants mostly from the Yunnan Province of China. * John McQueen Johnston - physician and pharmacologist * George McRoberts (1839–1896) explosives expert *

Alfred Nobel Alfred Bernhard Nobel ( ; ; 21 October 1833 – 10 December 1896) was a Swedish chemist, inventor, engineer, and businessman. He is known for inventing dynamite, as well as having bequeathed his fortune to establish the Nobel Prizes. He also m ...

befriended McRoberts and set up a detonator factory in Falkirk, living at Hawthorn Cottage in the Laurieston district for several years * George Trapp (educator) - scientist and headmaster * Eric Vance - Chemist responsible for the coloration of Nomex, the essential fabric of most military uniforms, effectively designing the future of camouflage. * Henry Wade - Military and urological surgeon

Sport and recreation

* Nicola Docherty - Rangers W.F.C. & Internationalist footballer * Brown Ferguson - former footballer & current Manager of Stenhousemuir F.C. * Steve Frew - Commonwealth Games Gold Medalist.Grangemouth Gymnast who won Scotland's first Gymnastics Gold Medal in Commonwealth Games history. * Colin Gallie - racing driver * Bob Mauchline - footballer * Bob McGregor - Swimmer who won silver in the 100m Freestyle at the 1964 Olympic Games * John Meechan - footballer, centre-forward * Charles Melville - cricketer * Willie Ormond - former Hibs & Internationalist footballer * David Provan - former Rangers & Plymouth Argyle footballer * Leanne Ross - Glasgow City F.C. & Internationalist footballer * Tam Scobbie - former

& St. Johnstone footballer * Alex Scott - former Rangers, Everton & Internationalist footballer * Eddie Turnbull - former Hibs & Internationalist footballer * David Weir - former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

* Alex Wood (ice hockey) - ice hockey player

References

Sources

*Dowds, T (2003): "The Forth and Clyde Canal - A History". Tuckwell Press. *Macleod, I (2004): "The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Scotland". Lomond Books, Edinburgh. *Milne, D; Leitch, A; Duncan, A; Bairner, J & Johnston, J (1975): "The Falkirk and Grangemouth Area". Paper for the Scottish Association of Geography Teachers' (SAGT) conference, October 1975. Moray House College of Education, Edinburgh. *Nimmo W (1880): "The History of Stirlingshire, Third Edition" Vol II. Hamilton, Adams and Company, Glasgow. *Smith, R (2001): "The Making of Scotland". Canongate Books, Edinburgh.

External links

Falkirk Council WebsiteFalkirk Community Trust WebsiteList of Falkirk Schools
{{Authority control Schools in Falkirk (council area) Towns in Falkirk (council area)