Dunblane
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Dunblane (Gaelic: Dùn Bhlàthain) is a small town north of Stirling in the Stirling council area in Scotland. It has a population of around 10,000, and its main landmark is Dunblane Cathedral.
The town is situated off the A9 road, on the way north to Perth. The River Allan runs through the town centre, with the Cathedral and the High Street on the east side.
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[edit] History
The name Dunblane means 'fort of Blane'. This early saint (Old Irish Bláán) flourished probably in the late 6th century. His main seat was Kingarth on the Isle of Bute. He or his followers may have founded a church at Dunblane, or the cult of Bláán may have come there with settlers from what is now Argyll in later centuries. The earliest evidence for Christianity on the site are two cross-slabs of the 10th to 11th centuries preserved in the cathedral. Incorporated into the later medieval building, but originally free-standing, is an 11th-century bell-tower, whose height was increased in the 15th century. The nave and aisleless choir are 13th century. Dunblane did not have a rich or extensive medieval diocese (37 parishes), and the cathedral is relatively modest in scale, but its refined architecture is much admired, as is its setting overlooking the valley of the River Allan. After the Reformation, the nave was abandoned and soon became roofless and used for burials. The choir was retained as the parish church. The nave was re-roofed and the Cathedral provided with new furnishings by Robert Rowand Anderson between 1889 and 1893.
Dunblane is split into two Church of Scotland parishes: the Cathedral and St Blanes. Dunblane Cathedral is remarkable in having retained more of its late-medieval choir stalls than any other Scottish church building (except King's College Chapel, Aberdeen). Though still used as a parish church, the building is in the care of Historic Scotland. To the south of the cathedral are some stone vaults of medieval origin, which are the only remaining fragment of the bishop's palace.
The town was part of Perthshire until the 1974 abolition of Scottish counties. Dunblane refers to itself as a city, as do other towns in Scotland which have a cathedral. The term city was historically applied to cathedral settlements to distinguish them from towns, but in historic times, as today, being a city offered no legal privileges (unlike a burgh or royal burgh).
[edit] Schools
Dunblane has four primary schools and one secondary school. Four of these are public. The remaining, Queen Victoria School, is a private boarding school. There are currently around two thousand pupils in schools in Dunblane.
[edit] Dunblane Primary School
Located on Doune Road, this two-storey building is situated in the heart of the residential area. The school has a public playing field (which is regularly used for extra-curricular activities and local clubs) and a public nursery attached. The school was completely refurbished in 1998 and an assault course and basketball court were added.
[edit] Newton Primary School
Built in 1996, the name of the school comes from Newton Farm, which goes back as far as the Charter of 1655 when Oliver Cromwell confirmed James Pearson of Kippenross as the owner. The streets that encircle the school, Newton Crescent and Ochiltree, named after the Bishop of Dunblane between 1429 and 1447, reflect the rich history in which the school is embedded.
[edit] St Mary's Episcopal School
Being Dunblane's oldest school, this dates back to 1850, when it was founded by the nearby St Mary's Episcopal Church. However, this is the smallest school in Dunblane, and is located in Smithy Loan, off the High Street.
[edit] Queen Victoria School
HM QVS is a co-educational boarding school for children of those in the British Armed Forces. It is situated roughly one mile north of the town centre, in a secluded area overlooking the A9.
Queen Victoria School can trace its history back to the turn of the century when the idea was first mooted of a school to commemorate those Scottish soldiers and sailors who fell in South Africa during the Boer Wars. The proposal was warmly received by Queen Victoria herself, and upon her death the following year, it was resolved that the School should serve the dual purpose of commemorating the dead servicemen as well as being a living memorial to the late Empress. To this end money was raised in a national effort which captivated the imagination of the Scottish public. For example, every Serviceman donated a day's pay, and an appeal for contributions from the Scottish workforce received a generous response. Work began in earnest, and Queen Victoria School was officially opened on 28 September 1908 by His Majesty King Edward VII.
The school chapel is a notable example of Scottish medieval revival architecture, based on the 14th century Dominican (later parish) church of St Monans in Fife.
[edit] Dunblane High School
Fed by pupils from the three public primary schools in Dunblane, as well as some of those from Bridge of Allan, Doune, Stirling, and the surrounding areas, this school has a roster of roughly 750 pupils and sixty teachers. The building is located in Highfields, at the top of Old Doune Road, and spans over three storeys. The school also has an all-weather pitch and large playing field, as well as a small longjump track. A new school is due to be built in the current school's playing field, before the current building is destroyed and sold for public development in the Stirling Council Public-Private Partnership project.
The school was recently deemed top state school in Scotland both relating to academic achievement and learning environment[citation needed]. The school has also hosted a number of international sports people, including ex-Scotland International Callum Davidson and, in tennis, the Murray brothers.
[edit] Recent developments
The town has suffered somewhat from excessive growth in recent years. The old town centre retains a number of historic buildings in addition to the cathedral, including the seventeenth-century Leighton Library, the oldest private library in Scotland open to the public (on selected days in summer). A well-preserved seventeenth-century town-house nearby houses a local history museum (open in the summer).
Especially since the early 1970s, however, the town has grown extensively and is now regarded as a highly-sought-after commuter town thanks to its excellent road and rail links to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Perth and nearby Stirling. This, coupled with the fact that the local high school consistently turns out some of the best results from a state school in Scotland, means that the town is not only sought-after by commuters but also by families of school-age children. How much of the school's performance is affected by the population bias, which is largely made up of middle class commuters, is subjective. Dunblane is close to the University of Stirling's campus at Bridge of Allan, and is a popular location for academics.
The rapid expansion of the town, expedited by the bypass completion of 1990, has led to a large increase in local car usage, resulting in considerable parking problems. For a town of its size, Dunblane has something of a shortage of local amenities, with, for instance, only one supermarket. As a result, many people prefer to shop in nearby Stirling.
[edit] The Dunblane Massacre
On March 13, 1996 Thomas Hamilton, aged 43, a disgruntled former scout leader, ousted by The Scout Association over twenty years previously, shot dead sixteen young children and their teacher, Gwen Mayor, in Dunblane Primary School's gymnasium. He used his legally-licensed weapons and ammunition before killing himself by firing a .357 revolver into his mouth.
There is a memorial to the seventeen victims in the local cemetery and a cenotaph in the cathedral. The funds raised in the aftermath of the tragedy have been used to build a new community centre for the town. Following the incident, the government passed legislation banning ownership of all handguns (firearms under 24 inches in length) in Great Britain.
[edit] Famous residents
Dunblane has more than its fair share of sporting stars, including Andrew Murray, the UK's current number-one male tennis player, Steven Caldwell and Gary Caldwell (Sunderland AFC and Celtic F.C. players, respectively) and Lynn Kenny, a rising star of the female golf circuit. Software developer Chris Sawyer stays in Dunblane: the man behind successful games such as RollerCoaster Tycoon and RollerCoaster Tycoon 2,[1] Transport Tycoon and Locomotion.
The local solicitor and historian, Alexander B Barty lived and worked in Dunblane, and wrote the classic work "The History of Dunblane."
The hotel magnate Sir Reo Stakis is buried in Dunblane Cemetery.
[edit] External links
- grid reference NN785015
- dunblaneweb.co.uk
- Cullen report becomes available
- St Mary's Episcopal School Website
- Dunblane Cathedral Arts Guild
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- Mapping from Multimap or GlobalGuide or Google Maps
- Aerial image from TerraServer
- Satellite image from WikiMapia
[edit] Notes
- ^ Sawyer was not involved, however, in the creation of RollerCoaster Tycoon 3
