Roman invasion
Don't ruin our ruins
UNDER-FUNDED, under-promoted and under-used.
That's the general preconception of Falkirk Council's stewardship of Kinneil Estate at Bo'ness.
The former ancestral lands of the Hamilton family, one of the great pillars of the Scottish aristocracy, has recently been making the headlines as Falkirk Council bids to close its museum there.
The council wants to channel Kinneil Museum's budget into a refurbished Hippodrome Cinema.
Officers believe there will be more scope in the Hippodrome to interpret the town and Kinneil Estate's history.
The council also plans to remove Roman artefacts to a central location, probably the award-winning Callendar House Museum in Falkirk, with the remainder housed in the Hippodrome.
Unsurprisingly, many community activists would prefer Bo'ness's Roman connections to be built upon, citing Historic Scotland's bid for World Heritage status for the Antonine Wall as justification.
Kinneil, in the Pictish Peanfahel, can lay claim to being one of the earliest "villages" in Scotland with records going back to the 6th century AD. Of course, there was a human presence in the area hundreds of years before that.
When the invading Roman legions found their progress northwards through Scotland halted by the Picts, they retreated and built the Antonine Wall which starts (or finishes) at Bridgeness, to the east of Kinneil.
The Wall, which runs through Kinneil Estate was established in 142 AD by the army of Quintus Lollius Urbicus and marks the northermost permanent outpost of the mighty Roman empire.
Before then, toward the end of the previous century, a line of forts and fortlets was built by Gnaeus Julius Agricola. At that time the waters of the River Forth would all but have lapped against the northern side of the Antonine Wall.
And Kinneil would have been a hugely important vantage point and stronghold from which to survey the comings and goings of the warlike Caledonian tribes.
Of course, the Romans failed to
control the Highlands and, eventually, retreated south leaving the Antonine Wall, their most impressive landmark in Scotland, to slowly crumble away.
It was only in the 13th century that Kinneil became an "estate" in the accepted sense, a grateful Robert the Bruce granting the Barony of Kinneil to Sir Gilbert Hamilton who killed "the great general of England on Kynnale (Kinneil) Muir".
Thus began the influential Hamiltons' links with the Bo'ness area, Kinneil Estate only returning to public ownership in the 1920s.
Kinneil House, originally a simple 14th/15th century keep, has been extensively extended and altered over the centuries but its development can be traced to certain significant stages.
Presumably Sir Gilbert Hamilton approved the construction of the
original keep, on the site of the four-storey Kinneil House, currently roofed but ruinous inside. Then James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran and Regent of Scotland, built the L-plan Kinneil Palace adjacent to and slightly north-east of the original building.
This massive build dates from 1553 and is in a strong defensive position, towering over the Gil Burn ravine.
It was extensively extended and altered by Duke William Hamilton and Duchess Anna Hamilton in 1677 by the addition of twin pavilions, the northern of which linked the Palace with the original building.
Times change, and, following the execution of Charles I, Cromwell's troops ground down opposition in Scotland and General Lilbourne took up residence at Kinneil.
As an aide to General Monck, he helped police Scotland and one of the great legends of Bo'ness folklore was born.
For his wife Lady Alice was unhappy in Scotland and, it is said, was locked in her room by her husband. She made her escape, was recaptured and, in desperation, wearing only a white nightgown, threw herself from the rooftop into the Gil Burn ravine some 200 feet below.
Her ghost, the "white lady" is said to haunt Kinneil House to this day.
The Industrial Revolution saw great changes and pioneers such as Dr John Roebuck, of Carron Works fame, and James Watt, the pioneer of steam power lived and worked at Kinneil Estate.
The ruinous James Watt's cottage lies just behind Kinneil House.
Other attractions include the 12th century Kinneil Church, which was accidentally destroyed by fire in 1745, and Kinneil Fortlet, which dates to the Roman occupation and was uncovered by Dr Lawrence Keppie in 1978.
Visistors can also enjoy man-made curling ponds which, although silted up and the banks overgrown, could soon secure money to improve their wildlife attraction.
Today, Kinneil House and Palace are in the care of Historic Scotland and Kinneil Estate is a much-loved green space — used by historians, dog
walkers, joggers and horse riders alike.
But despite its proud history, it has lost out to better known and, arguably, better promoted country estates.
Local activist Ken Wright, who wrote up a heritage trail for Kinneil Estate for the www.bo-ness.org website, said: "I am appalled at the plan to close Kinneil Museum.
"If the Antonine Wall, Kinneil Palace and Watt's cottage were in America, or even England, they would have been developed as a tourist site of historic importance. But, to date no Falkirk Council administration of any political persuasion has considered this."
Mr Wright called for greater public access to both the threatened Kinneil Museum and Kinneil House and Palace, to which access is extremely limited.
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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