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 ...
of
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. 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 Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic name for the ...
and south of the
Ochil Hills
The Ochil Hills (; ) is a range of hills in Scotland north of the River Forth, Forth valley bordered by the cities of Stirling, Perth, Scotland, Perth and the towns of Alloa, Kinross, and Auchterarder . The only major roads crossing the hil ...
, within the council area of
Clackmannanshire
Clackmannanshire (; ; ), or the County of Clackmannan, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, Council areas of Scotland, council area, registration counties, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland ...
. Sauchie has a population of around 6000 and is located northeast of
Alloa
Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; , 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 some say it ceases to ...
and east-southeast of
Tullibody
Tullibody () is a village set in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies north of the River Forth near to the foot of the Ochil Hills within the Forth Valley. The village is southwest of Alva, Clackmannanshire, Alva, northwest of Alloa and ...
.
History
The name means the place or field of the willows. The land originally belonged to
Clan Campbell
Clan Campbell ( ) is a Scottish Highlands, 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 be ...
, being mentioned in connection with
Cailean Mór and
Gilleasbaig of Menstrie. In 1321
Robert the Bruce
Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (), was King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329. Robert led Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence against Kingdom of Eng ...
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, the , which is common ...
of
Clackmannan
Clackmannan ( ; , 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. The town is within ...
. A tower was built in 1335, and the present
Sauchie Tower
Sauchie Tower, also known as Devon Tower, is a 15th-century tower house in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. The tower is located by the village of Fishcross, north of Sauchie and north of Alloa, close to the River Devon, Clackmannanshire, River Devo ...
is on the same site. The extant tower was built before 1431 when
Mary de Annand
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religion
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Bless ...
, 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.
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 (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
ing tradition and is home to the football club
Sauchie Juniors, who compete in the
East of Scotland League. The club was founded in 1960 and play their home games at Beechwood Park in Sauchie, next to the park is
Alloa Golf Club. 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 (born 1931), footballer
*
Grant Gilchrist
Grant Stuart Gilchrist (born 9 August 1990) is a Scottish professional rugby union player who plays as a Lock (rugby union), lock for United Rugby Championship club Edinburgh Rugby, Edinburgh and the Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland ...
(born 1990), Scotland and Edinburgh rugby player
*
Alan Hansen
Alan David Hansen MBE (born 13 June 1955) is a Scottish former footballer and BBC television football pundit. Regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time and one of Liverpool's best ever centre-backs, he enjoyed a highly decorated ...
(born 1955), footballer
*
John Hansen (born 1950), footballer
*
Willie Morgan
William Alix "Willie" Morgan MBE (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. ...
(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 and Anne of Denmark for building castles and palaces, and is claimed to have been an important figure in the development of Free ...
(c. 1550–1602),
mason 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 officia ...
*
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
See also
*
List of places in Clackmannanshire
The article is a list of links for any town, village and hamlet (place), hamlet in the Clackmannanshire Council areas of Scotland, council area of Scotland.
__NOTOC__
A
*Alloa, Alloa railway station, Alloa Tower
*Alloa Inch
*Alva, Clack ...
References
*''Sauchie and Alloa - A People's History'', John Adamson, 1988
External links
Sauchie Community WebsiteSauchie Library
{{authority control
Villages in Clackmannanshire
Alloa