History of Grangemouth

The construction of the Forth and Clyde Canal in 1768 by Sir Laurence Dundas of Kerse House gave birth to a new community called at first Sealock, then Grangeburnmouth and finally Grangemouth. The provision of harbour facilities and the direct link to the rapidly expanding town of Glasgow brought swift success to the new port and it soon displaced Carronshore as the principal landing place on the river. Vessels from all over Europe landed grain, flax, hemp, iron and timber which were transferred to canal lighters which carried them to factories and farms across the breadth of Scotland. In return went the coal of Lanarkshire as well as manufactured goods from foundry and mill and even the products of the new American states. As early as the 1790s canal boats were being built in the village including, of course, the Charlotte Dundas, from Alexander Hart's yard. The patron provided a dry dock in 1811 and the business expanded in line with the remarkable growth of the port itself. By then the village had a Custom's House of its own at last and no longer had to pay duties to its rival Bo'ness.  

By the late 1830s, demand had reached record levels with 750 vessels each year arriving and leaving and over 3,000 passing through to the canal. Facilities were inadequate and a great improvement scheme was started involving the re-direction of the Grange Burn. A new dock, known today as the 'old dock' was built, the river Carron deepened and the major timber basin enlarged. This work was completed by 1843 by which time the population of the village had grown to over 1,500. Even more rapid growth followed and less than twenty years later, yet another dock, the Junction Dock, was added. These additions firmly established Grangemouth as Scotland's principal timber import centre and soon the storage, saw milling and distribution of red woods and pines from the Baltic and Canada became Grangemouth's most important activity and the foundation of much of its prosperity.

 

The growing population was crowded into the area lying between the canal and the River Carron and here the patron provided both church and school. Expansion outwith the old town was inevitable and by the mid 19th century Grangemouth had spilled out over the canal and a whole new town was emerging on the unoccupied land to the east. Careful planning ensured that the streets were wide and well laid out and that they were filled with houses of quality each with its own garden. In 1872 responsibility for municipal affairs passed from the Dundas family to a new burgh council and soon the marks of civic pride began appearing all over the prosperous town. A magnificent public park was opened in 1882 named after the Earl of Zetland and two years later he laid the foundation stone of the new Town Hall.

 

In 1888 the handsome new Victoria Public Library was erected and fine new churches of various denominations, other public buildings and schools soon graced the elegant streets. By the turn of the century the population was over 8,000 and by then the large Carron Dock was in operation and in 1906 facilities were further improved by the opening of the Grange Dock.

 

By then a new factor had emerged in the industrial expansion of the town. In 1897 the SCWS established a large factory in the town making soap and glycerine and it was followed in 1919 by James Morton's pioneering Scottish Dyes which became part of the ICI's dyestuffs division in 1928. Four years before that Scottish Oils had opened a refinery to process crude oil from the Persian Gulf and from these small beginnings the
massive Grangemouth petro-chemical complex has grown to dominate all other activities in the area. Although the town has declined as a port in the last thirty years and there have been recent closures in the chemical industries, Grangemouth is relatively prosperous and remains the economic strength of Falkirk district.

Content provided by Ian Scott ©