SMR 205 / NS 9476 7720
| c1530 | David Crawford | 1550 |
| 1550 | William Crawford (son) | after 1564 |
| 1647 | Alexander Livingston (purchase?) = Christian Stirling | |
| 1672 | Alexander Livingston (younger son) = Margaret Livingston | 1716 |
| 1716 | Alison Livingston (daughter) & Alexander Mitchell (Livingston) | |
| 1733 | Alexander (Mitchell) Livingstone (son) | 1734 |
| 1734 | William (Mitchell) Livingstone (brother) | 1774 |
| 1774 | John (Mitchell) Livingstone (brother) = Antonia Calder | 1786 |
| 1786 | Thomas (Mitchell) Livingston (son) | 1809 |
| 1809 | Alexander Learmonth Livingstone (nephew) = Jessie Learmonth | 1815 |
| 1815 | John Livingston Learmonth (son) | 1818 |
| 1820 | John Livingston Learmonth (uncle by purchase) | 1841 |
| 1841 | Euphemia Colville Livingston Learmonth (sister) = George Adam | 1861 |
| 1861 | Thomas Livingstone Learmonth (brother) = Christian Donald | 1869 |
| 1869 | Thomas Livingstone-Learmonth (3rd son) = Louisa Valiant | 1903 |
| 1903 | Thomas Livingstone-Livingstone Learmonth (son) | |
| 1928 | Howard John Kennard | 1946 |
| 1946 | The Grail | 1950 |
| 1984 | Haining Nursing Home |
The estate and house of Parkhall seems to have come about as a result of Archibald Crawford of Haining (at Almond Castle) making a grant of land from that barony to a relative so that he could establish a cadet branch. That relative was David Crawford and the grant of Parkhall was made in the early sixteenth century, certainly before 1541 when it was confirmed by Archibald’s eldest son, William (Reid Notes). William died shortly afterwards leaving no male heirs and Haining eventually came into the possession of Agnes Crawford and her husband, Thomas Livingston. Parkhall continued in the possession of the cadet branch of Crawfords as a pendicle of Haining. In 1550 Thomas Livingston and his wife granted an instrument of sasine in favour of William Crawford, son and heir of David, in the lands of Parkhall “extending to 10 acres with houses, buildings, and faulds, and 24 rigs, with the hauch of Haining” (ibid). The “hauch,” or rather “haugh,” was the good quality meadow land beside the Manuel Burn and it may have been the variant of this written as “hall” which was the second element in the name of Parkhall (Reid, 242).
In 1647 the Crawford connection came to an end when Alexander Livingston, son of the late John Livingston of Haining, obtained sasine of the lands of Parkhall and was the first of the Livingstons to be designed as “of Parkhall.” As well as Parkhall with its houses, he received
“parts and portions of the barony of Hayning lying within the muir commonly known as Nicholtoun, Weitscheitt, Hilsyd, Gilmidowland.”
It was now a significant estate. The superiority remained with the Livingstones of Linlithgow and Callendar. A charter to Alexander Livingstone, son of the 2nd Earl of Linlithgow, dated 1663 included:
“The lands, barony, and buildings of Hayning, Manuel, Parkhall, Hillside, Madiston (with the coals and coal-heighs of the same), Gilmoiretoun, Niscoltoun, Gillanderland, Mauelrig, Gilmundieland, Easter and Wester Ballenbreich, mills of Manuel and Ballanbreich, with all the lands, mills, & c of the barony of Hayning.”
In 1681 Alexander Livingston of Parkhall bought the estate of Whiterig from his cousin, George Livingston. The lands of Manuelrig and Maddiston were added in 1768. It continued to grow and in 1773 the lands of Parkhall included Maddiston, Gilmeadowland with the pendicles thereof called Whiterig, Snab, Parkford, Whiteshott, Rowantreeyards or Eastgate, Folds, Nicolton, and Tappuckstone (Reid Notes). In the 1780s Tarduff Muir was divided and the Livingstons of Parkhall received a due share.
A charter dated 29 November 1716 was necessitated by the passing of the Clan Act and the attainder and forfeiture of the superior, James Earl of Linlithgow and Callendar. This resulted in the Crown being the superior and it confirmed Parkhall to the Livingstons there
“in fee and heritage for ever by payment of one white plume at the usual terms in name of blench-ferme.”
In 1716 Alexander Livingston junior of Parkhall settled his estate on his fifth daughter, Alison Livingston, and her husband, Alexander Mitchell, on the condition that the latter adopt the family surname. Her granddaughter, Margaret (Mitchell) Livingston, married John Learmonth, the grandson of Alison’s sister Mary, and the Livingstone Learmonths eventually acquired Parkhall. Another of Alison’s sisters married Richard Burn of Clarkston in 1699 and when he died in 1733 she inherited. In 1752 she assigned her interest in Clarkston (now called Avondale) to her nephew and this was often used as the family home.
The house of Parkhill at this period stood on the site of the later farm of that name, to the south-west of the present mansion. Roy in 1755 shows it surrounded by numerous rectangular enclosures that extend south over the Manuel Burn to the road from Muiravonside Church to Maddiston. The old public road that ran west from Almond Castle lay to the north of Parkhall House as it was then. The fact that the family preferred to stay at Clarkston shows that the dwelling at Parkhall was not particularly distinguished.
The complex of rectangular enclosure was typical of the period and it was bordered on the north by a terrace lined on either side by trees. This lay more or less along the summit of the west/east ridge and provided magnificent views over the Forth Valley. It would have acted as an observation platform and promenade. Traces of it still survive.
Bibliography
| Livingston, E. | 1920 | The Livingstons of Callendar and their Principal Cadets. |
| Reid, J. | 1994 | ‘The Feudal Land Divisions of East Stirlingshire,’ Calatria 6, 79-110. |
| Reid, J. | 1994 | ‘The Feudal Land Divisions of Muiravonside Parish (Part 2) : the principal subdivisions,’ Calatria 7, 21-85. |
| Reid, J. | 2009 | The Place Names of Falkirk and East Stirlingshire. |
| Jaques, R. | 1825? | “THE HAINING, James Gillespie Graham Large grey ashlar, two-storey villa, formerly Parkhall, in established gardens at end of long drive. Handsome portico with four Doric columns, piended slate roof; courtyard to rear.” (p.104). |
Falkirk Local History Society 