Ballikinrain

Ballikinrain is an independent residential school in Stirling, central Scotland. It is run by CrossReach, a social care outreach arm of the Church of Scotland. The school is housed in the 19th-century Ballikinrain Castle, situated in the Parish of Killearn, 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) south-east of Balfron and 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) west of Fintry.

Ballikinrain Castle was built in 1868 for Sir Archibald Orr-Ewing, (1818–1893) a Conservative Party politician. Orr-Ewing was Member of Parliament (MP) for Dunbartonshire from 1868 to 1892, and was created a baronet on 8 March 1886.

He commissioned David Bryce (1803–1876) to design a new house in the Scottish Baronial style, for his 4,500-acre (1,800 ha) estate. The location is alongside the Ballinkinrain Burn, which rises to the south, on the Earl's Seat (578 metres (1,896 ft)), and runs for about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) across Ballikinrain Muir and through the estate, making in its descent a number of cascades, to the Endrick Water.

The castle was burned-out in June 1913, the blaze being attributed to suffragettes, causing £100,000 of damage. A three year restoration was completed in 1916.

In the early 20th century Ballikinrain Castle hosted Glasgow Poor Children's Fresh-Air Fortnight accommodating about 60 poor children. For a short time it was a hotel. Later, on the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, St. Hilda's School for Girls, a boarding school based at Liberton near Edinburgh, took up temporary residence at Ballikinrain Castle. After the war St Hilda's remained at Ballinkinrain, owing to the difficulty of securing a satisfactory renovation of the buildings at Liberton, which had been used by the army. The building is protected as a category B listed building.

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