Gargunnock is a small village in the

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

council area, west of

, in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

. The census population was 912. It is situated on the south edge of the Carse of Stirling, at the foot of the Gargunnock Hills, part of the Campsie Fells. Several small burns flow down from the Gargunnock Hills The last naturally suitable crossing point on the

Forth Forth or FORTH may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''forth'' magazine, an Internet magazine * ''Forth'' (album), by The Verve, 2008 * ''Forth'', a 2011 album by Proto-Kaw * Radio Forth, a group of independent local radio stations in Scotla ...

before reaching Stirling Bridge is situated just outside Gargunnock. Thus, coupled with the land condition and drainage around the feet or the Gargunnock hills, made Gargunnock the ideal location to build a farming settlement. During the occupation of Scotland, the English posted a battalion in the

Peel tower Peel towers (also spelt pele) are small fortified keeps or tower houses, built along the English and Scottish borders in the Scottish Marches and North of England, mainly between the mid-14th century and about 1600. They were free-standin ...

on the outskirts of the village to protect this important ferry. It is believed that William Wallace brought his army through Gargunnock (called ''Gargowans'' at the time), setting up fort on the Kier Hill, to take control of this part of the river in advance of the Battle of Stirling Bridge. Bonnie Prince Charlie is also said to have passed through the village on his travels. More recently, during the nineteenth century Gargunnock was famous for its fine oak-spale baskets, until intensive

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then land conversion, converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban area, urban ...

removed the raw materials necessary for this trade and the industry moved to Loch Lomond. Gargunnock War Memorial was erected in 1919 to a design by Sir Robert Lorimer marking the local people killed during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

.Dictionary of Scottish Architects: Robert Lorimer Additional names were added at the close of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The majority of pupils from Gargunnock Primary continue their secondary education at the nearby Stirling High School, with others attending Balfron High School.

References

External links

*
Gargunnock Village History
Villages in Stirling (council area) {{Stirling-geo-stub