Falkirk’s Water Supply : 1860-1950 :

As Falkirk entered the 1860s it had just finalised an agreement with John Wilson of South Bantaskine to direct water from his underground coal workings into the earlier abandoned wastes which the town had used as a giant underground reservoir or basin for decades.  In March 1861 the Provost was able to state that

“the water had now been brought into the cistern, and the wells were supplied with an abundant quantity” (Falkirk Herald 28 March 1861, 3). 

The basin from which the Town was formerly, but scantily, supplied with water, was in the ancient coal waste which was about 2½ acres in extent, and lay between the Union Canal and the town.  This subterranean basin was bounded on the south, west, and north by solid coal; while on the east a ridge of solid rock separated it from the old waste in Callendar Wood.  In the early 19^th century it had been augmented, on a small scale, by water from old workings on a higher level south of the Canal.  The point at which the water was taken from the basin and fed into pipes to the town was known as the Fountainhead and lay at the top of Drossie Road near the later railway station.  The pipes led to a series of public taps placed in stone settings at the sides of the streets, known as wells.

There was another division of old workings running from Greenhorn’s Well under the old quarries in the direction of South Bantaskine in which there was also a considerable quantity of water.  It was separated from the town’s basin by a stone ridge.  This water had several outlets, one of which was under the canal bridge, and a second at the foot of the hill near the cottages at South Gartcows.   The periphery of this coal field was still worked by John Wilson and over the years about 80 acres of additional coal wastes were created, extending from South Bantaskine eastwards and south to Prospecthill.  A large basin in these workings dipped to the south-east from Standalane farmhouse towards the direction of Prospecthill, and from this point Wilson needed to run the water off in order to continue his operations. 

This plan was not agreed to and consequently he installed the siphon and proceeded to work the coal.  Some years afterwards he was approached by the Feuars seeking water, and agreed to abandon the working of the coal which then remained, but only if William Forbes, the landlord, consented; and having laid out hundreds of pounds on roads, siphons, and other operations necessary to work the entire coal, he required a sum in compensation.  The Feuars corresponded with the Stentmasters on the subject, and together they agreed to pay £120.  In consequence Wilson waited upon Mr Forbes, who generously agreed to leave this portion of coal unwrought for the public good.  The terms were then agreed to, and Wilson ceased working in that basin.

The connecting mine was then dug.  It was several hundred yards long and was driven through the ridge from the old basin under the canal tunnel house to the other basin near Prospecthill, and took advantage of an existing air mine.  However, before the final arrangement was signed, the chairman of the Feuars died and a lull took place.  Wilson therefore left his siphons, rails, and other material in place until the Provost and Magistrates of the town’s new administration arranged to carry out the former agreement.  Meanwhile, Wilson allowed the water to rise till it flowed through this new mine nearly a quarter of a mile to the old basin, and the inhabitants enjoyed the flow of water in the interim (at least as much as their old pipes could run).  With the agreement finally signed, in June 1861, he had to reduce the water in the new basin in order to remove his siphon, rails, sleepers, & c.  During this period the new supply of water was muddied and many vocal complaints were made that the water coming into the town was dirty.  James Aitken & Co was one of the main users and beer making was affected.  The disturbance was of short duration and afterwards the water supply was greatly enhanced in quantity, and included water from the Britannia Pit.  The lead water pipes from the Fountainhead to Falkirk were replaced by much larger ones of cast iron.  This material was now readily available for such use and was a game changer in improving the distribution network.  In October 1861 the Provost stated that

“so abundant was the supply that they were compelled to run off a great portion of it to waste” (Falkirk Herald 10 October 1861, 3).

Things looked well set for the foreseeable future.  Then, at the end of 1862, the North British Railway Company decided to extend its sleeper creosoting works at the High Station.  Despite having contaminated the town’s water supply just a few years earlier when it originally established the works, creosote soon saturated the ground, both inside and outside the new building, till the supply of water was rendered quite unfit for cooking or drinking.  The Police Commissioners threatened the Railway Company with legal action and quickly secured the removal of the works.  The North British Railway Company paid for the contaminated water to be pumped out of the old basin but it was some time before the creosote stopped seeping through the ground (see Coast – Pitwood Imports: wooden railway sleepers ).  Some of the affected works that used the town water sought financial compensation from the railway company.  James Aitken & Co resorted to carting water from Marion’s Well.  In the meantime it was agreed that the North British Railway would pay for the digging of a new mine so that the water from the new basin could bypass the polluted old basin and be fed directly into the town’s pipes.  Despite attempting to get out of this agreement, the company did pay £200 and provided old rails and sleepers to Mr Borland who was driving the mine.  William Black, the town’s consulting engineer, oversaw the project.  It was some time before the water in the old basin could be utilised.

Now it offered to supply water to Falkirk on the ordinary terms – 4d per 1000 gallons consumed.  The town’s officials had hoped for a better offer, but had to accept.  To keep the consumption down, locks were placed on the wells so that no person could get access to soft water unless furnished with a key.  The new supply was turned on at the beginning of the new year and in the course of the first two weeks some 11,500 gallons were used.  The water gave great satisfaction; and some individuals considered that it was softer even than that from Marion’s Well.

Although the supply of water was thus increased it was failing to keep up with demand.  In 1859 the distribution of the water by the Stentmasters had been limited to the old burgh of regality, beyond which it had no remit to operate.  Even within the burgh the system was restricted to the central part of the High Street and the immediately adjacent closes.  It was only extended to the west and east gates of the town in 1863, and it was 1877 before the pipes were led into the Howgate.  New uses were being made of the water.  In 1863 two fire-hydrants were put in, one at either end of the High Street, at which the fire engine’s water barrel could be filled.  This was seen as “an experiment made as to the capabilities of the water supply, for the extinction of fires.”  The demand from businesses increased exponentially and this provided a revenue stream with which to make the improvements.

Despite the 1859 Police Act, which enlarged the burgh, it was some time before attention turned to providing water to Grahamston and Bainsford.  In 1870 it was decided to supply Grahamston directly from the Union Canal and the North British Railway Company agreed to allow the pipes to bypass the cistern in the town centre.  For this it was to be paid £5 a year, or more if the four wells in Grahamston were increased in number.  Comments were made that the water turned clothes yellow when used for washing, but there was little alternative.  The number of wells was soon increased to ten but it was not long before the local children were accused of damaging them and wasting water. 

“WATER SUPPLY.  NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, that it has come to the knowledge of the Commissioners of Police that a considerable WASTE of the TOWN’S WATER arises from parties using it for Washing Carriages, as well as by Builders, Plasterers, and other Workmen in their Trades; and in order to put a stop to such misuse of the Water, and its appropriation to other than Domestic and Ordinary Purposes, Intimation is now made, that, Parties hereafter Offending will be Prosecuted.  Farther, that to accommodate Innkeepers, Stablers, Contractors, and others who require Water for other than domestic purposes, directions will be given by Mr MITCHELL, Inspector, at his Office in the Council Chambers, for their obtaining a supply of Soft Water, which must be taken in Barrels on Carts to be supplied by the Users.

By Order, ROB. HENDERSON,

Clerk to the Commissioners of Police…” (Falkirk Herald 29 June 1876, 1)

It is therefore surprising to hear yet another optimistic provost stating that:

“he might now congratulate the Commissioners, and the people of the town generally, on the successful conclusion to which the operations of the Water Committee had been brought.  He believed they were now in possession of an overflowing supply of good water, and that the question was happily closed for a good many years to come.  Not the least of the good features which the question offered was that of economy.  The whole expenditure would probably not exceed £414, and of that the Railway Company were good for £114.  The water presently stood at 9½ ft, but he had been advised to let it stand at 9 ft.  There was even a waste of 60 gallons per minute…” (Falkirk Herald 9 August 1877, 4).

The Police Commissioners, however, knew that they had to augment the water supply.  They sought and obtained permission from William Forbes to supplement the existing system of tunnels by joining them with the subterranean network to the east under Callendar estate.  It was introduced in 1879, and the supply was still found to be inadequate for the increasing requirements of the people.  The scheme was supposed to have included a supply from Greencraig Pit, but that needed the cutting through of the intervening whinstone dyke which was going to be expensive.  This was problematic and so alternatives were sought.

Many schemes were put forward and rejected – so many that the representatives of the Burgh of Stirling made fun of their Falkirk colleagues and the public became disillusioned.  Notable amongst these schemes was one by James Leslie Chief Executive of Edinburgh who had experience with the water supplies to Edinburgh and Dundee.  He had put forward a Loch Coulter scheme but it had not been taken up.  Traditionalists still believed that the high ground to the south of the town was the obvious place to seek the water.  Bailie Blackadder submitted his Auchengean Scheme in opposition to that of Greencraig and it had enough merit to cause a rethink.  By contrast, Provost Cockburn, Alexander Brown, William Black Chief Executive. visited the old reservoir on the Earl’s Burn which had been built for the mill-owners of Denny (Bailey FLHS website).  A month or so later the Commissioners resolved to employ William R. Copland of Glasgow, who specialised in drainage and water supply, to make a report on probable sources.  He reported on three schemes and their probable cost.  As a result the Auchengean scheme was discarded on account of its cost.  Copland indicated a preference for the scheme at the Denny Hills and proposed two alternatives – one from the Earl’s Burn alone, or one from Loch Coulter supplemented by the Earl’s Burn.  Most councillors were in favour of the Denny Hills but, given the high costs, they opened the question to discussion by the public.

Meanwhile, Bailie Blackadder and Ralph Stark of Summerford investigated the ground at Camelon between the railway and Dorrator and discovered a number of strong springs and proposed that water be pumped and sent into the town as a supplementary supply.  The Camelon Scheme was cheaper than the work at Greencraig, especially as in the summer of 1883 the Bailie offered to provide a pump at his own expense.  He ran an engineering business specialising in such machinery.  So this scheme was included in the voting paper as one of the three before the Commissioners.  Blackadder and Stark canvassed for their scheme.  Accompanied by a woman carrying two sample pitcherfuls of water, they appeared at ward meetings and handed the water around the audience.  When the plebiscite papers were counted the ratepayers had voted in favour of the Camelon Scheme.  As a consequence six councillors resigned – Provost Cockburn, Bailie Christie, Councillors Baird, Gartshore, Hutchison and Anderson.  New elections were held and afterwards Provost Hodge had to look at the problem anew, with priority given to the Camelon Scheme which the public had backed.  The water there was tested and the cost determined.  It was considered unsuitable on both accounts.  Of the two springs under consideration north-west of Camelon, one was found to be subject to contamination from the cemetery.  So a scheme at Lochgreen, proposed by Councillor Griffiths, was examined along with a new version of the Greencraig one.  Instead of introducing the Greencraig Pit water, recommended by William Black, it was proposed to store the existing water supply in a reservoir to be constructed at Parkfoot.  Lochgreen was visited, and the requirements carefully examined, but in June 1884 it got its quietus by the casting vote of the Provost, and by the unanimous decision of the Council the reservoir scheme at Parkfoot was shelved.

A drought later that year meant that the question was becoming urgent.  The schemes were re-opened and a new one at Bell’s Meadow introduced.  By means of pumping it was estimated that from the various springs in the meadow a supply of something like 118,000 gallons per day could be obtained, and this, in conjunction with the existing supply, was considered sufficient.  However, fears were entertained that on account of its situation the water might be subject to contamination and so that scheme too was abandoned.  At the August 1884 Council meeting the proposed cutting of the whinstone dyke was again debated.  The meeting was stormy and at the end Councillor Simpson proposed a motion in favour of the Earl’s Burn Scheme.  In September this was estimated to cost £40,000, and it was adopted.

Immediate steps were taken to promote a bill in Parliament in the ensuing session and it was duly lodged.  Ward meetings were meagrely attended and all, except one, were in favour.  However, opposition slowly grew, including by some who favoured a different source in the Denny Hills.  In response it was pointed out that the Council wished to avoid opposition from Sir James Gibson Maitland and the mill-owners on the Bannock.  So vocal did the opposition become that the Commissioners were forced to withdraw the bill in January 1885.

Mr Robertson C.E., Glasgow, was asked for yet another report on a scheme suggested by the protestors.  He reported on Glencleugh and Auchengean.  He estimated that both sources would yield a supply of a quarter of a million gallons daily, which would just about answer existing wants.  The cost of works was estimated at £5,875, not including the prices of land or legal expenses which would bring it close to £10,000,  It was promoted by Mr Griffiths, but soon had to be quietly expanded.  Before the public it transpired that it had been modified and now resembled in form that of Copland’s Auchengean scheme which was estimated at £10.500, increasing to £19,000 with legal and land expenses.  A second public meeting rejected the scheme outright, but this was disregarded by the Council.  They did, however, ask Robertson to cost the changes and the new estimate, exclusive of legal and land expenses, came in at £12,500.  It was put to public plebiscite and again rejected.  At the next Council elections those candidates in favour of a Loch Coulter Scheme were selected, including Messrs Baird, Cockburn, Simpson and Young.  They quickly adopted Copland’s combined Loch Coulter and Earl’s Burn scheme and it was put before Parliament in 1886.  At last it looked as if a solution had been found.  However, Sir James Gibson Maitland and others with vested interests opposed it and the House of Lords Committee refused to pass it (Hill 1992).

It had been an expensive series of failures and although the town had to proceed with caution there was a pressing need for the additional water supply.  A temporary expedient was required to tide it over until a comprehensive scheme was adopted and carried out.  Arrangements were made with Ralph Stark of Summerford for the pumping of water from Summerford Pit.  At little cost this scheme was carried out, the water pumped from the pit being conveyed to the Old Fountain, and mixed with the existing supply.  It had been estimated that the Pit would yield around 70,000 gallons a day and might come down as low as 50,000.  For 61 days from 23 April 1887, 4,230,000 gallons were pumped, an average of 67,300 gallons per day.  The daily average from 22 June to 29 June was 58,500 gallons, and from 30 June to 4 July, 54,000.  It was thus clearly shown that continuous pumping reduced the supply.  The cost per annum of pumping 70,000 per day was £290.  The plant cost £3,560.  With it the total supply of the town was 235,000 gallons per day, made up of 100,000 gallons from the “mine mouth,” 70,000 from Drossie Road, and about 65,000 from Summerford Pit. 

In 1887 Provost Weir favoured the use of artesian wells such as those which were already in use by some of the local industries in the Falkirk area.  On examination it was found that they were not producing sufficient water and would be too expensive to run. 

At the same time the full Council had commissioned James M Gale CE, Glasgow, to make an exhaustive examination of the whole district.  He was well respected and his connection with the Corporation of Glasgow precluded his employment in the implementation of his recommendations and meant that he was considered to be unbiased.  His report of September 1886 gave an estimate of the cost and the capacity of three separate schemes – namely, Skipperton Burn, Buckie Burn and Faughlin Burn. 

The first of these was a revamped version of the Lochgreen Scheme.  For the Skipperton scheme two reservoirs were proposed – one below Lochgreen House, capable of containing 87,031,250 gallons, and one above Burnhouse, capable of containing 42,368,750 gallons.  The first reservoir was estimated to cost £2,550 and the second £2,370, which with filters and tanks for 510,000 gallons a day, a 12-inch main pipe, price of land, & c, made a total cost of £24,955.  It would not yield the quantity of water required and what there was, was of objectionable quality. 

The Buckie Burn scheme provided for three reservoirs – one on the Wee Buckie Burn, with a catch-water conduit.  It would have had a capacity of 9,540,000 cubic feet  – 59,625,000 gallons.  The middle reservoir on Buckie Burn, was for 7,863,000 cubic feet, or 49,143,750 gallons.  The lower reservoir at the same place, 3,756,000 cubic feet, or 23,475,000 gallons.  The first reservoir was estimated to cost £4,350; the catch-water conduit £770; the middle reservoir £3,474; and the lower reservoir, £5,606.  The other expenses made up a total for this scheme of £48,625.

The Faughlin Burn scheme was also designed to have three reservoirs.  There would be one at Faughlin Burn, having a capacity of 4,688,000 cubic feet, equal to 29,300,000 gallons.  A reservoir at Little Denny Burn would have a capacity of 15,664,000 cubic feet, and would give 97,900,000 gallons.  There would also be a compensation reservoir on Garts Burn, which would have a capacity of 24,000,000 cubic feet, and give 150,000,000 gallons.  This water was needed to replace that which would otherwise have gone into the River Carron and served the mills downstream – it was known as compensation water.  The Faughlin Burn reservoir would cost £3,760; Little Denny Burn Reservoir, £7,330; and the compensation reservoir, £1,610.  The other expenses incidental to the formation of these brought up the total of this scheme to £50,800.

Of the three schemes, Mr Gale recommended the latter, as best suited to the town and district, having the best quality water and meeting demand for years to come.  The Falkirk Herald was scathing

“If there is a great scarcity of water in Falkirk, that is not the case with water schemes.  Each succeeding year seems to bring along with it a fresh supply of schemes for discussion, but, alas! Hitherto they have had no other result than to increase the debt of the town by payments to engineers, lawyers, and other professional men.  The last Scheme cost between four and five thousand pounds, which were just as completely thrown away as if they had been cast into Loch Coulter” (Falkirk Herald 25 September 1886, 2). 

The temporary respite provided by the Summerford Pit, it continued, had merely allowed the Commissioners to continue

“the vacillating and procrastinating policy of our municipal rulers in all their dealings with the water supply of the town”.

The Provost too was not a keen supporter.  Provost Weir believed that they could get by simply by reducing wastage at the wells.  In the summer of 1887 he visited the Faughlin Burn and gave it as his opinion that it would not provide sufficient water and wanted to revive the Loch Coulter Scheme.  He was a lone voice.  Other members of the Falkirk Council visited the sites of the proposed reservoirs at Little Denny and Faughlin that July and liked what they saw.  The ground was of little agricultural value meaning that there would be no pollution from that source and that the land would be cheap.  Councillor Cockburn pushed the Faughlin Burn Scheme.  Learning from past experience it was decided to widen its scope by including the districts of Denny, Dunipace, Larbert and Stenhousemuir.  That September meetings were held with representatives of those areas.  The Denny Police Commissioners employed Kyle, Dennison, & Frew, civil engineers, to examine the situation and came up with its own scheme to obtain water from the Garvald Burn.  Despite the set-back, Falkirk Council resolved to proceed with the Faughlin Burn Scheme and to appoint William Copland as engineer and Mr Beveridge as Parliamentary agent.  The Local Authority of the Parish of Larbert decided to join them and agreed to form the Falkirk and Larbert Water Trust.  The Bill was lodged at Westminster on 17 December 1887.  The 45 page Bill was entitled “A bill to incorporate a public trust for better supplying with water the burgh of Falkirk, and districts and places adjacent; and to make and maintain new and additional waterworks; and for other purposes”  or the “Falkirk and District Water Act, 1888.”  The Trustees were to number seventeen, with five from the Police Commissioners of Falkirk; five Elective Trustees, to be elected by persons beyond the burgh of Falkirk (four of which were to be from Larbert).  The Bill provided powers to make new waterworks, including reservoirs, filters, water tanks, and embankments, with roads of access and lines of pipes to reservoirs, and so on with powers to borrow up to £80,000.  The area covered was to comprise and include the burgh of Falkirk, the burgh of Denny and Dunipace, and the burgh of Grangemouth, and the villages of Larbert, Stenhousemuir, Bonnybridge, Camelon, Carron, Carronshore, and Laurieston, etc.

Despite having been involved in its formulation, Carron Co opposed the Water Bill in a transparent attempt to wreak economic concessions.  The House of Lords seems to have recognised flaws in the company’s argument and dismissed its objections.  The paper manufacturers at Denny were also against it as they claimed that the compensation water was insufficient and not of the same quality as the soft water they had been using.  Adjustments were made and on 24 July 1888 Royal Assent was granted.

In December adverts were posted asking for tenders for the works, which were to be divided into three sections.  Contractors were invited to tender for the whole, or for one or two sections only.

Section No 1 comprised the construction of a Compensation reservoir on Earl’s Burn, a Supply reservoir on Faughlin Burn, a conduit of cast-iron pipes 4¾ miles in length from Faughlin Burn to Little Denny Reservoir, and other contingent works.

Section No. 2 comprised the construction of a Storage reservoir, filters and clear water tanks at Little Denny; a conduit of cast-iron pipes connecting reservoir with filters, and other contingent works.

Section No. 3 comprised the construction of a Main Conduit of cast-iron pipes 6 miles in length, from the site of the filters at Little Denny to Falkirk; a Main Conduit, 4 miles in length, from Dunipace Bridge to Carronshore, the various branch pipes required within the Burgh of Falkirk and the Larbert Water District, and other contingent works.

Last minute adjustments were made.  More land was acquired from James Graham, agent for Forbes of Callendar, allowing the embankment and water level at the Little Denny Reservoir to be raised to the full extent of the limits of deviation allowed in the Act – 5ft, thus increasing the storage capacity from 98 to 135 million gallons.  The capacity of the Faughlin Burn Reservoir was to be 32 million gallons in place of 29.  The Earl’s Burn Reservoir was to be 143 million gallons, between the top water level and the limit to which, in consequence of the opposition of the papermakers on the Carron, they were allowed to draw it down – viz 10ft below top of the water level.  The conduit between Faughlin Burn and Little Denny reservoirs was to be partly 14-inch and partly 15-inch diameter cast-iron pipes, capable of conveying at the rate of 3,860,000 gallons in every 24 hours.  From the filters at Little Denny to Dunipace Bridge, the main pipe was to be 16 inches in diameter, capable of conveying to that point at the rate of 1,689,000 gallons in 8 hours.  From Dunipace Bridge to Falkirk, the main pipe was to be 14-inch in diameter, giving a discharging capacity at the rate of 630,000 gallons in 8 hours.  From Dunipace Bridge to Stenhousemuir, the main pipe to be 8 inches in diameter, delivering at the rate of 195,000 in 8 hours.  From Stenhousemuir westward to the boundary of the Larbert water district at Carronshore, the pipe to be six inches in diameter, with a rate of 125,000 gallons in 8 hours.   The alterations in the piping were estimated to add about £800 to the cost of the works.  Branch piping to the value of £3,000 was required.

Seventeen bids were tendered before January 1889.  At £48,460 the offer of D.Y. Stewart & Co of Glasgow was the cheapest for the whole works.  If the work was divided up amongst the tenderers, as had been intended, it would increase the cost by £426, and therefore only a single contract was issued.  Stewart & Co was a respected company and had done the work for the Dundee water supply.  Activity began on site early in March with the erection of huts at the sites of the Earl’s Burn and Faughlin reservoirs for the accommodation of the workmen.  The workmen for Little Denny were located in town.  The first sod was officially cut on 2 April 1889 and Stewart & Co presented a silver spade engraved with the inscription:

“Presented to William Hodge, Esq, of Awells and Muiravonside, Provost of Falkirk, J.P., and Chairman of Falkirk and Larbert Water Trust, on the occasion of his cutting the first sod at Commencement of the water-works at Faughlin Burn, 2^nd April, 1889.” 

It was enclosed in an oak case, with blue silk and velvet lining.  As the ceremony took place in an isolated location a luncheon was provided for the Trustees and their guests – an extravagant affair with plenty of drink which brought forth irate criticism from the public.

The work proceeded well.  The material for the Earl’s Burn embankment was both easily reached and suiting the purpose well, and clay was also being got that was likely to make good puddling.  Mr Bowser, of the firm of contractors, seemed to think he would get through his work even within the two year time specified. Amazingly, the pipes cast at Carron fifty years before for the old reservoir were found to be good enough to be used again.  At Faughlin Burn the work ground was dry and good soil to work on.  At Little Denny reservoir, which was the principal part of the work, everything seemed to be going on well also.  By June there were nearly 400 men employed altogether, along with 44 horses.  To maintain order a works’ policeman was appointed.  Amongst his jobs was the turning out of the men from the public houses at closing time.  An idea of the scale of the operation can be had from the fact that by 25 July 1,168 tons of pipes had been cast and passed by the inspector – that amounted to 2,564 lengths of pipe making 134,000yds in all.  Altogether the scheme was expected to require about 4,000 tons, or 25 miles, of cast-iron piping of various sizes from 24 inches to 3 inches in diameter.

By the beginning of October about 400,000 tons of material has been shifted for the construction of the embankments. The road at Faughlin Burn has been diverted and the 200ft wide base of the embankment lain by the 106 men there.  Around 50 men were employed on the Earl’s Burn Reservoir.  At Little Denny reservoir about 126 men and 33 horses were employed, besides 64 men at the filters and 24 on the pipe track.  The enormous embankment there was about half way up.  It was 1,160 ft in length, measuring 500ft broad at the base, and would eventually taper to 13ft 6in at the top.

The lack of suitable building stone in the vicinity of the works meant that more concrete was used than originally planned, but Copland gave the go ahead.  The use of this material on a large scale for such public works was still in its infancy and inevitably caused problems when the workmen failed to wash the stone used in it properly.  In January 1890 it was discovered that the concrete at Faughlin had been made of rotten rock and it gave way.  It should have been crushed whinstone, washed and clean.  This was said to have been due to an individual workman.  However, it was found that the concrete at the Earl’s Burn Reservoir was also giving way.

The project was well ahead of schedule but Copland does not seem to have monitored the works well and in January 1890 a leak was observed at the Earl’s Burn Reservoir.  It had to be determined whether the water was coming through the rock or the puddle wall.  Already apprehensive, rumours spread rapidly amongst the public.  At the end of February it was widely canvassed that one of the receiving tanks at Little Denny had burst, and that the pipes in several places between Faughlin and Little Denny had also burst and were leaking.  Councillor Cockburn, convener of the Works Committee, in company with Captain Dobbie, Councillor Johnston and Mr Wilson, the town clerk, proceeded to Little Denny, and there, and for a considerable distance along the train of the pipe from Faughlin made a careful examination of the work. All that they discovered were three slight leaks in the pipe which had been caused by “over-driving” the joints.  These were quickly lifted and renewed.  The defective concrete at the Faughlin Burn byewash was renewed in May and the following month so was that at the Earl’s Burn Reservoir.

In late June the contractors sent word to the Falkirk and Larbert Water Trust that the work had been completed and shortly afterwards the engineer certified it.  A site for the cottage proposed to be erected for the waterman who would be in charge of the reservoir and tanks at the Faughlin and Little Denny reservoirs was selected and it was proposed to have telegraphic communication between the works and headquarters.  The water was officially turned on amidst great ceremony by the Duchess of Montrose in late July 1890 and was extensively described in the pages of the Falkirk Herald.  David Ronald also mentions the event in his diary:

“The opening of the Water Works in 1890 was a great day in Falkirk.   Triumphal arches were erected, flags put out, and there was a procession from the Town Hall via Camelon Road, Larbert, Stenhousemuir, Carron, Bainsford, and back to the Town Hall.  I did not see it myself.  Every organisation was represented.  Among them, the butcher Jimmy Ferguson…  One story I was told was about the Clerk’s nephew Neilson, who was firemaster and headed the procession with members of the fire brigade.  These cleared the crowd so that the Duke of Montrose, who opened the Works and the procession generally, could get a passage.  He was riding on a white horse, which he could do very well, in his fire brigade uniform that he rarely wore, and on his tunic there was a shining whistle, which gave a peculiar sound.  This was at­tached to his tunic by five or six strands of light coloured chain hanging in loops over his breast.  The Captain of the Brigade wore a brass helmet and his uniform, and the firemen had black helmets with less decorative tunics.   They were all on horseback.  The story goes that when the procession reached Bains­ford Canal Bridge some old wives from John Street, a pretty rowdy quarter in those days, were standing on the street with their arms folded in their aprons.  One said to the other when they saw the white horses prancing across the canal bridge “Oh, here’s the Duke”, and as they came nearer another women said “it’s no the Duke at a, it’s the dirt men”.”

The construction project had been massive in scale and importance and so the main components of the completed works will be described here.

Earl’s Burn Reservoir

The reservoir for the storage of compensation water was situated on the Gargunnock Hills near the source of the Earl’s Burn, one of the main tributaries of the Carron, at a distance of 15 miles from Falkirk, and at an elevation of 1,205 ft above sea level.  It was on the site of an earlier reservoir.  The area draining into it was about 600 acres, and the reservoir occupied 90 acres, and could store about 250 million gallons of water.  The embankment was only 1,329ft long, with a maximum height of 22ft and width at base of 140ft.  The compensation water was measured by passing it through a gauge well at the outside of the embankment before it discharged into the stream.  The accompanying contemporary illustration was taken from the rising ground at the west end of the embankment and conveys an idea of the large sheet of water and the extent of the work.  The old embankment had to be cleared away, and more stable foundations found.  Excavations, to the extent of 6,468 cubic yards, were made, including a sufficient cutting into the solid whinstone and filling up with puddle clay to afford complete security.  The embankment was composed of about 7,000 cubic yards of clay puddle, 15,000 of earthwork, and 4,000 tons of stone in pitching, beaching, and broken stones.  Great difficulty was experienced in finding puddle clay in the locality and rock suitable for pitching, and the expense and trouble connected with conveying these to the place by carting over rough moorland roads was considerable.  Indeed, for nearly two miles of the distance a road for the purpose had to be formed.  The waste water channel was in line with the old one, but as the latter had been nearly filled up with moss, excavation to the extent of 2,929 yards was necessary. 

Faughlin Burn Reservoir

This reservoir is situated a short distance above Carron Bridge, on the east side of the Kilsyth Road.  The supply of water was taken from the Faughlin Burn, a small tributary of the Carron, situated about 11 miles from Falkirk and about 5 miles from Denny.  This stream, above the point where it was intercepted by the construction of the dam, drained an area of 1,010 acres, and yielded an abundance of excellent quality water.  The average yield during the driest years was put at the rate of 1½ million gallons per day.  The embankment forming the reservoir was 630ft long, and of a maximum height of 38ft, and width at base of 180ft, the top water level being 733ft above the sea.  The reservoir thus contained, when full, 32 million gallons of water and occupied 22 acres.  The method of construction was much the same as that adopted at Earl’s Burn.  The lie of the land allowed the embankment to be constructed from one side of the valley to the other.  A large amount of excavation was necessary to provide space for the storage of the water, and the road had to be diverted and a new bridge erected.  In all 6,886 cubic yards of material was excavated, of which 1,009 consisted of rock.  The deepest part of the puddle trench was excavated to a depth of 30 feet into the rock. 

Pipe Between Faughlin and Little Denny Reservoirs

The reservoir at Faughlin was not large enough to contain as much water as was necessary for the supply of the town and district, and consequently the water was conducted from the small reservoir by a conduit, consisting of cast-iron pipes, partly 14-inch and partly 15-inch in diameter for a distance of five miles to a point in the valley of the Little Denny Burn, a mile above the town of Denny, where a larger reservoir was constructed.  382 tons of the 15-inch pipes were used, and 826 tons of the 14-inch pipes, while there were 25 tons of special pipes, making in all 1,233 tons.  The cast iron pipes were laid for a distance of 4¾ miles.  Among the more difficult parts of the work was the crossing of the Castle Rankine Glen, where the pipes had to be led down one side to the bottom of the glen and up again on the other.  The piping passed through the moor east of the Faughlin Burn reservoir, along the road for half a mile, then though the wood above the ruin of the Hermitage, through the fields along the valley of the Carron, and out on to the road at Graywalls Farm.  From there the pipe was laid along the road to Cummocksteps Bridge, which had to be widened to allow the pipe being laid across it.  It then entered the fields at Fankerton, and from a point on the shoulder of Myothill it pursued a straight line to the Denny Reservoir.  On the way two lines of railway had to be crossed.

The Little Denny Reservoir

  The top water level was 315ft above the ordnance datum.  As the Water Trust did not seek or obtain powers to impound the poorer quality water of Little Denny Burn, that stream was passed round the outside of the reservoir by means of a 24-inch diameter pipe conduit, discharging into the byewash of the reservoir at the outside of the embankment.  The diversion of the Little Denny Burn and the formation of the waste water channel took 191 cubic yards of concrete, 1,534 cubic feet ashlar cope, and 364 cubic yards rubble masonry. The execution of the whole work at the Little Denny site necessitated the stripping of 4¼ acres, and the excavation in connection with the puddle trench, waste water channel, & c, of 6,924 cubic yards.  The embankment consisted of 12,600 cubic yards of puddle clay, and about 100,000 tons weight of earthwork, broken stone, pitching, & c. 

Bibliography

Bailey, G.B.	2022	Falkirk Local History Society website   The Earlsburn Reservoir and the Earthquake of 1839
Hill, S.A.	1992	‘The Falkirk Water Issue: Falkirk vs Sir James Maitland in the Falkirk Water Bill case (1886),’ Calatria 3, 89-112.

G.B. Bailey, 2026