Public Parks

An Introduction

Until the 19^th century the idea of public parks would have been anachronistic to the inhabitants of central Scotland.  They got plenty of physical exercise in their daily lives and childhood was relatively short.  There were plenty of open spaces for games and so little traffic that roads were essentially linear playgrounds.  The latter is illustrated by the game known as “hengie” or bullets, which involved throwing a stone ball along the public roads over a set course, with the team taking the least number of throws winning.  It was very popular but, needless to say, it was banned by one of the many Road Acts as a result of the increasing traffic.  This way of life changed as the pace of activity increased and the urban areas grew in size with more and more children attending school for longer and longer.  Farmer’s fields in the vicinity of the towns were pressed into service as playgrounds during their fallow spells and by the mid-19^th century the civil authorities were paying for the privilege of using them.  Each year the burgh officials sought out suitable fields to be used.  They were not always available.  At the same time the number of organisations concerned about the welfare of the youth mushroomed.  Many of these held annual outings and picnics supported by aristocratic sponsors.  Estate owners contributed to the enrichment of the lives of the young in these organised parties with Christian charity and opened up their fields and gardens for several days a year.  This inspired not only an awe of nature but an appreciation of the vibrancy of huge arrays of flowers in gardens.

The first permanent public park in the Falkirk district was that at Camelon beside the Forth and Clyde Canal and was first leased in 1862.  Its purposes were stated to be those of recreation, quoiting and bleaching!  The south-facing slope and the presence of a stream made it suitable for the practical function of bleaching cloth which could then be dried on the hedges.  It was to be 1929 before the land was transferred into the ownership of the local authority.

Falkirk’s first permanent public park was Princes Park on the Slamannan Road which was created in 1893.  For years the Town Council had leased different fields adjacent to the small town on an ad hoc basis but with the changing agricultural practices and the growth of the town these were becoming more difficult to secure.  The location of the new park, up a steep hill some distance away from the town, was far from ideal, but the Council already owned the land as a result of the division of the common muir in 1807.  It was to be a cheap affair.  All that was needed was a field to provide a safe place for the children to play and exercise and for the adults to listen to live music provided by bands.  A trotting track was laid down at little expense – the ash required for it and its carriage being provided by the North British Railway.   The principal costs were those of a gate and a wooden platform for the bands.

The location of Prince’s Park was so inconvenient that in 1895 a second park was acquired at Thornbank to the east of the town.  Much of the money required to purchase it came from public subscriptions.  Its chief feature was also an ash perimeter track which had already been installed by a local running club.  Opening Falkirk’s second park, Provost Griffith said that it had been provided for the people of the town so that

“they should have breathing spaces – that they should provide lungs for a community such as Falkirk was, so that they might have a healthier people” (Falkirk Herald 10 Aug 1895). 

It was named “Victoria Park,” with the Queen’s permission.

At Bo’ness, a public park was provided at the instigation of a well-meaning local landowner for Queen Victoria’s Jubilee in 1897.  Henry M Cadell was in the process of forming a new “garden” suburb and the steep ground at the Braes was not suitable for housing.  It was, however, ideal for a public park as it provided sheltered views across the Forth and contained a public well.  He had terrace paths made in the hillside and planted trees.  The trees were a major feature of the layout and were part of a trend for all of the parks in the area.  They could be used to create avenues and vistas, or as individual specimen trees to commemorate special occasions such as the opening of the parks, or coronations, or even the cessation of hostilities after a prolonged war.  And they were useful for shelter.

Swings, chutes (slides) and maypoles were soon provided but the lack of formal ornamentation was deliberate and not simply to save money, as can be observed in the following statement referring to a park in Bo’ness;

“The proposals mooted for setting-out and embellishment of the Glebe Park savoured too much of the front garden plot.  What is wanted is an open space, more than gentleman’s lawn or a park decorated with a profusion of flowers and shrubs.  It is to be hoped the Commissioners will see to it that nothing is done to make the Glebe other than a park for recreation and a place suited for a quiet rest of a summer evening...” (Linlithgow Gazette 17 March 1900, 4).

Inevitably there was much back sliding – and not just on the chutes.  The public came to demand better laid out parks with formal paths and flower beds.  The landowners who released the land to them demanded fencing to stop the boisterous youths from entering their adjacent fields or works and in the case of Dawson Park this was provided by the Carron Company.  Often the fencing at the main gate was more ornamental than elsewhere, and the gates could be quite elaborate.

The 1930s witnessed a great explosion in the provision of recreational facilities for the public in the new suburbs.  Financial aid for playground equipment came from the Miners’ Welfare Scheme and with its help the zenith was reached on the evening of 14 August 1934 when some three playing fields were officially opened by the Eastern No 2 District Council at Wallacestone, California and Brightons Quarry.  Each had two sets of swings, a plank swing, a chute, and a joy wheel.  The very following year that council took over the supervision of playing fields at Reddingmuirhead and Glen Village.  The ground at Reddingmuirhead had been purchased by the Redding Miners’ Welfare using the central fund, whilst that at Glen Village had been bought by the Callendar Miners’ Welfare. 

Public parks played an important role in the war effort against Germany.  During the First World War many had been utilised to provide land for the provision of allotments in an effort to grow more food and this was repeated in 1940.  This war was different because now the enemy bombers could reach all parts of the kingdom.    In October 1939 local people turned out in large numbers to dig slit trenches in the parks to act as public air raid shelters.  Some were adopted by the ARP authorities and were provided with shoring, but most were dangerous and had to be filled in.  Surface shelters were built in their place and after the war these were converted into stores, shelters for old men and changing rooms.  A decontamination centre to treat the victims of poisonous gas was erected at the Lido and also became changing rooms for the adjacent sports fields.  At Dollar Park a control centre was converted into a children’s nursery; and at Bellsmeadow another decontamination centre became a health clinic.  The elevated location of some of the parks made them suitable for the positioning of observation posts and the central location of others for machine gun posts.  They could also be used for training local volunteers in shooting and the Home Guard often held exercises in the parks.

As well as the displays of wartime equipment there were exhibitions of all sorts.  Flower and vegetable shows returned.  Beauty competitions were arranged for babies and young women.   Football, hockey, tennis, table tennis, draughts, and other games were catered for.

The following decades saw a trend to the development of country parks.  Country Parks were normally centred on old estates and were recognised by the Countryside Commission.  They had rangers to guide the public and organise events and some 40 or so were created in Scotland.  Falkirk District Council acquired Muiravonside Estate and this has been developed over the years.  It complemented existing estate parks at Callendar, Kinneil and South Bantaskine.

In recent years there has also been a trend to establish “Friends” groups to help with the promotion and maintenance of the parks.  That at Dollar Park is one of the most active and was involved with the consolidation of the doocot there, the restoration of the floral clock, and the enlargement of the war memorial.

Name

There are two names for public parks in Scotland which stand out as being the most common – Glebe Park and Victoria Park.  Both are self-evident.  By the end of the nineteenth century, just as sites for public parks were being sought, the established church was disposing of the glebes which the ministers had used to graze their animals and to provide additional income.  As this was essentially a supplement to their salary the minsters had to agree to the sale.  At the same time Queen Victoria was reaching the end of her monumentally long reign and in 1897 many diamond jubilee celebrations were commemorated by the opening of a public park.  The Queen graciously permitted her name to be attached to many.  There are also two parks called Prince’s Park in the area – one on the Slamannan Road looking down onto the town of Falkirk (dating to 1893), and one at California (dating to 1935).  The district also has two Blinkbonny Parks – one in Falkirk and one in Slamannan.  The name is a Scottish compound which implies a place with a good view – the Scottish equivalent to Bellevue.  Both parks enjoy such a facility and in each case the word is taken from existing place names. 

In the twentieth century private donors stepped forward and their names were attached to the land that they gifted to the public.  Hence Anderson Park and James Anderson Park, Calder Park, William Dawson Park, Dollar Park, Duncan Stewart Park and so on.  Carron Company was responsible for Burder Park and Maclaren Memorial Park.

Bonnybridge Gardens occupy the old site of the old Central Railway Station and so could have been called Central Park.  This linear park runs parallel to Wellpark Terrace which was named long before the station closed; and so Well Park was another possibility.

Paddling Pools and Water Features

When Dollar Park was handed over to the Falkirk Town Council in 1922 it already contained a gravity fed “jet d’eau” which had been created by its owner, James Russel, in 1853.  This was located in the centre of a 6.6m diameter bowl.  Shortly afterwards the Gentleman Fountain in the town centre was dismantled and the eagle finial was placed in the centre of this pond, and was later replaced by the magnificent statue to Peace from south Bantaskine created by Sir Alfred Hardiman in 1918.  The power of the water jet had been diminished but the lily pond with its fish was a great attraction.  Sadly, it is now infilled and serves as a flower bed.

Large ponds may be found at Kinneil and Callendar.  The latter was part of the late 18^th century designed landscape for the mansion when there was a movement to create romantic rural settings.  The former started life as a reservoir for the nearby distillery but is now a tranquil haven.

PARK	DATE OPENED	GRID REFERENCE	SHAPE & SIZE
Zetland Park	1931	NS 9300 8134	Pond – large
Crownest Park	1939	NS 8681 8273	Pond – large
Glebe Park, Denny	1950	NS 8117 8268	square – medium
Allan Crescent	1950	NS 8101 8348	square – medium
Victoria Park, Falkirk	1950	NS 8968 8046	circular – large
Camelon Park	1952	NS 8732 8026	circular – medium/large
Dalgrain Park	c1955	NS 9119 8206	square – medium
Anderson Park, Denny	1950s	NS 8119 8202	square – medium
Dollar Park	1963	NS 8805 8034	kidney-shaped – large

For the same safety reasons the authorities preferred to cover over streams that flowed through the public parks.  Here the children could paddle or guddle for fish.  At Dalgrain Park a drainage ditch represented an old line of the River Carron.  As it lay in a low part of the field and so was prone to flooding it was placed in a pipe and the ground level significantly raised.  In many cases the cost of culverting the burns was too high and thankfully many, such as that in Camelon, survived. 

One unusual park feature was the skating pond at Victoria Park in Falkirk which was installed in late 1895.  A small bank of clay puddle, 1ft 10ins tall at its highest point, was inserted into the centre of the running track to enclose an area of almost 4 acres and this could be filled with water from a specially laid pipe.  In heavy frost the sheet of water froze and provided a safe skating surface for the local children as well as a convenient curling surface for the adults.  It was paid for by Provost Weir.  The pond was flooded in mid-November each year and usually kept in this state until late February when it was drained and the grass allowed to grow again.  The skating pond ceased to function probably as a result of global warming.  The shallow paddling pool in Zetland Park occasionally froze, much to the delight of opportunistic skaters.  The modern extension to Callendar Loch has slowly silted up and is now so shallow that it too freezes and pupils from the nearby schools have to be rescued from time to time.

Prince’s Park and Victoria Park in Falkirk, had wooden platforms for the bands to play on.  Rather confusingly these are sometimes referred to as “bandstands” in the contemporary archives.  An open raised dais made of concrete or asphalt might also be so described.

PARK	DATE	GRID REFERENCE	COMMENTS
Glebe Park, Bo’ness	1901	NS 9983 8142	Walter Macfarlane & Co.  Still present.
Dollar Park	1924	NS 8794 8029	Home made.  Demolished 1960s.  Rebuilt 2012.
Carronbank Park	c1905	NS 8099 8306	Home made wooden structure.  Demolished 1915.
Zetland Park	1925	NS 9295 8140	Demolished 1973.
Victoria Park, Bo’ness	1925	NT 0077 8138	Home-made wooden platform.

Other Features

At the entrance to Kinneil Park is a massive reproduction of a first century Roman harness fitting which was found during the excavation of the fortlet there.  This park also has several log benches with chainsaw sculpted terminals and a heritage trail featuring totem poles is due to open in 2025.  Similar carvings may be found in the children’s playground at Callendar Park where the stumps of trees were carved in situ and, in keeping with that of the enclosure, have a Roman theme.

Symbolic sculptures in the form of war memorials also appear in our parks.  In some cases, such as at Dollar Park, this is because the land was already in public ownership and so reduced the cost of erection.  Here the location was also aptly adjacent to one of the main entrances into the town.  The monument is in the shape of a cenotaph – an empty tomb.  More common were the obelisks and variants upon them.  The tall monument at Bo’ness overlooking the Forth was placed in a detached part of the Glebe Park – cut off by the construction of Stewart Avenue.  At Bonnybridge, on the other hand, the park was largely created to take the polished pink granite obelisk.  The latest, as recently as 2022, stands within Dawson Park.

The 1298 Battle of Falkirk was commemorated at the Victoria Park in Falkirk by a decorative drinking fountain sponsored by Robert Dollar in 1912.  It is topped by a lion and in the last few years its setting has been much enhanced.  More simple in form was the cairn erected in Callendar Park in 2007 to the memory of William Wallace and the men who died at that battle.  The earth mound to the north-west of Callendar House may commemorate the siege of that castle in 1651 by Oliver Cromwell.  It was part of the late 18^th century designed landscape. 

Features from the old aristocratic estates survive within Callander Park and may also be found at Muriavonside Park, Dollar Park, Kinningars Park, Kinneil Park, and South Bantaskine Park.  These include doocots, summer houses, lodges, arboretums, family graveyards and walled gardens.  Other features such as kennels, observatories, quarries, and sundials are either hidden from view or lost.  They may be considered as archaeological sites along with a hill fort and a strong castle in Callendar Park, a monastic grange in Zetland Park, an Iron Age hut in Rannoch Park, and Roman burials in Camelon New Park.

These possessed chutes (slides), swings, see-saws, maypoles, plank swings, and joy wheels.  In more recent years we have climbing frames, flying foxes, skate boarding ramps, and MUGA pitches.  To allow the guardians to monitor young children these are often set in fenced enclosures within the parks.

The flower beds which require much care and attention have been reduced to a rump.  In the 1920s most parks had a propagating house or greenhouse to raise plants but these were easy targets for the vandals, as were the beds.  Latterly these were replaced by a central nursery in the walled garden at Kinneil but in 2019 even this was closed.  The floral clock at Dollar Park, absent for many years, was recently revived by the Friends of that park.  The arboretum there is robust and continues to delight.  One recent trend has seen a considerable improvement in the path networks.  These have been surfaced with asphalt and provided with ground level solar lighting, making them safer to use in the long winter nights.  In the long winter evenings they look like landing strips and are much used for regular exercise and by dog walkers.

Topography

Where football pitches were required this often involved a lot of terracing and the movement of hundreds of tons of earth.  Quite a few pitches were placed on levelled industrial bings – such as that for the Anchor Brickworks in Dunipace; at Broomhill in Bonnybridge; and for the Policy Bing at Lionthorn.  Two tiered parks ended up with a High Park and a Low Park – examples at Tygetshuagh and Laurieston.  At Victoria Park in Falkirk a natural scarped bank marked the edge of the carse and this was exaggerated and retained.  A running track was placed on the lower flatter ground to the east.  This also proved ideal for the large skating pond. The upper park was used for monuments, formal gardens and the community centre.

Opening Times

Right up until the Second World War most parks were kept locked on Sundays and playing football in them on that day resulted in many a court appearance for the young boys involved.  The parks were fenced about and the by-laws created by the local councils stipulated that they should be closed from mid-evening until early morning.  The reason for this was more to do with control than public morality.  Naturally, the policy failed as it resulted in much vandalism as the children did their utmost to break into the secure compounds.  The financial cost of replacing segments of the cast iron railings at Dawson Park was almost crippling.  Whilst the removal of the railings of parks in the Second World War did little to improve their appearance, it did at least open them up.  Exemptions with regard to the removal of the railings were only given if they were considered to be of particular artistic merit or they were required for safety.  This resulted in the incongruous sight of heavy iron gates with stubs of railings attached set along an otherwise open boundary.

Inventory

Today we are blessed with a large number of public parks, recreation grounds, playing fields and public open spaces.   These categories overlap.  The parks and open spaces in the Falkirk district cover over 24 square kilometres spread out on 632 individual sites.  Only a select few are included here but it is hoped that they reflect the variety available.  These are the spaces with some formal ornamentation, even if it only takes the form of garden benches.

The following parks are covered in this inventory:

AREA	PARK	SIZE (Acres)	DATE ESTABLISHED
Bo’ness	Calder (& Castleloan)	5.5 increased to 7.4	1927
Bo’ness	Douglas (Bankhead)	14.0 decreased to 12.4	1928
Bo’ness	Glebe	5 decreased to 4.0	1899
Bo’ness	Kinglass (Chance)	1.1 increased to 2.0	1910
Bo’ness	*Kinneil		1923
Bo’ness	Kinningars	14.6	c 1970
Bo’ness	Victoria	9.5 decreased to 7.2	1897
Bonnybridge	Allandale
Bonnybridge	Anderson	6	1920
Bonnybridge	Bonnybridge Gardens		1970s
Bonnybridge	Bonnybridge Memorial		1920
Bonnybridge	Duncan Stewart	7	1935
Bonnybridge	High Bonnybridge (Loch or Broomhill)	5.6 acres	1951
Bonnybridge	Hollandbush
Bonnybridge	Roman Road	1.3	1953
Camelon	Camelon	7.7	1862
Camelon	Camelon New	13.0	1938
Camelon	Stirling Rd		1970s
Denny	Allan Crescent		1950s
Denny	Anderson		1950s
Denny	Carronbank	5.2	c1910
Denny	Herbertshire Castle	17.8	1950s
Denny	James Anderson	6	1929
Denny	Tygetshaugh		1950s
Falkirk	Bellsmeadow	? + 7.5 decreased to 15.1	1949
Falkirk	Blinkbonny	6.5	1910
Falkirk	Dawson	12	1907
Falkirk	*Dollar	10.9	1923
Falkirk	Laurieston (Zetland)	5.2	1880s, ext 1932
Falkirk	Princes	8.3 decreased to 7.9	1893
Falkirk	*Victoria	16.2	1895
Falkirk	Westquarter		1955
Grangemouth	Dalgrain		1950
Grangemouth	Inchyra	16.0 increased to 30.9	1960s
Grangemouth	Rannoch		1970s
Grangemouth	*Zetland	8.5 increased to 45.8	1882
Larbert	Bothkennar
Larbert	Burder		1937
Larbert	Crownest	Decreased to 6.5	1938
Larbert	MacLaren Memorial	3.3	1927
Larbert	Russell (Greengate)		1980s
Larbert	Stewartfield	1.8	1920s
Polmont	Gray-Buchanan		1974
Polmont	King George V		1956
Polmont	Laurie		1934
Polmont	*Muiravonside	170	1978
Polmont	Polmont		1970s
Slamannan	Blinkbonny	7.2	1956
Slamannan	Rumlie	2.2	1964
Slamannan	Slamannan		1936

Those in *bold had been surveyed before the present work was undertaken.

BO’NESS

• Calder Park & Castleloan Park
• Douglas Park (Bankhead)
• Glebe Park, Bo’ness
• Kinglass Park (Chance Park)
• Kinneil Park
• Kinningars Park
• Victoria Park

BONNYBRIDGE

• Allandale
• Anderson Park, Bonnybridge
• Bonnybridge Gardens
• Bonnybridge Memorial Park
• Duncan Stewart Park
• High Bonnybridge & Loch Parks
• Hollandbush Park
• Roman Road Park

CAMELON

• Camelon Park
• Camelon New Park
• Stirling Road Playing Fields

DENNY

• Allan Crescent Playground
• Anderson Park, Denny
• Carronbank Park
• Glebe Park, Denny
• Herbertshire Castle Park (Gala Park)
• James Anderson Park
• Tygetshaugh Park

FALKIRK

• Bellsmeadow
• Blinkbonny Park
• Callander Park
• Dawson Park
• Dollar Park
• Laurieston Park
• Princes Park
• South Bantaskine Park
• Victoria Park
• Westquarter Park

GRANGEMOUTH

• Dalgrain Park
• Inchyra Park
• Rannoch Park
• Zetland Park

LARBERT

• Bothkennar Park
• Burder Park
• Crownest Park
• Maclaren Memorial Park
• Russell (Greengate) Park
• Stewartfield Park

MUIRAVONSIDE Country Park

• See Muiravonside House

POLMONT

• Gray-Buchanan Park
• King George V Park
• Laurie Park
• Polmont Park
• Princes Park, California
• Wallacestone Park

SLAMANNAN

• Blinkbonnie Park, Slamannan
• Rumlie Park
• Slamannan Public Park

Bibliography

Gillies, A.	2018	Denny and Dunipace in Words and Pictures.
Waugh, J.	1977	Slamannan Parish through the Changing Years

G.B. Bailey, 2025