Robert Baird who owned the colliery at Limerigg built a school for the children of his miners at Low Limerigg around 1865. At the annual inspection in August 1866 the newspapers reported that
“This school is no small benefit to the neighbourhood, and great credit is due to Mr Baird for having established such an institution in connection with his works.”
The adjacent miners’ houses became known as “School Row.”
The works were taken over by John Nimmo & Son and in 1876 the school was closed with the pupils going to the new Limerigg Public School. The teacher, Mr Masterton, moved to Longrigg School in Lanarkshire. The coal company then deducted 2d a week from the colliers’ wages and handed the money over to the School Board so that the children from its works received free education at the source. A new Education Act in 1889 meant that this was no longer necessary and so at a mass meeting the colliers agreed to continue to pay 1d a week so that their children could be educated beyond the compulsory age of the 5th standard.
The old schoolroom at Low Limerigg seems to have been retained for public meetings and in 1890 it was renovated by John Nimmo & Son and handed over to the community as a reading room. The Company agreed to provide 50 newspapers a week, as well as the necessary coal and lighting. The house next to the old school was also handed over for use as a recreation room and draught tables, dominoes, bagatelle, and so on, were provided. The reading room was still used for instruction and became known as the Science and Art School. An appeal by Mr Maxwell, the colliery manager, to the School Board in 1894 to take over its management was unsuccessful. As industrial activity declined the mining village was becoming depopulated and 25 of the houses at School Row were demolished in August 1897. The old schoolroom was demolished in April 1914.
| DATE ARRIVED | HEADTEACHER | DATE LEFT | No. PUPILS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1865 | Mr D McPherson | 1871 | |
| 1871 | Mr D S Masterton | 1876 |
Sites and Monuments Record
| Low Limerigg School | SMR 2277 | NS 855 710 |
Falkirk Local History Society 