Muiravonside Country Park
| Muiravonside Country Park | |
|---|---|
Three Teasels sculpture
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| Type | Country park |
| Location | south-east corner of the area of Falkirk |
| Nearest town | Linlithgow |
| Coordinates | 55°57′38″N 3°39′24″W / 55.96044°N 3.656731°WCoordinates: 55°57′38″N 3°39′24″W / 55.96044°N 3.656731°W |
| Area | 170 acres |
| Created | 1977 |
| Open | All year |
Muiravonside Country Park is 170 acres of woodland and parkland open to the public all year round with marked trails, picnic sites and a play area. It is situated in the south-east corner of the area of Falkirk, two miles south of Grangemouth. It was once the grounds of Muiravonside House and the country estate owned by the Stirling family of Falkirk.
The park forms part of the River Avon Heritage Trail past the historic Avon Aqueduct and relics of industry and farming, including a Lime Kiln, hydro-powered sawmill and restored listed 17th-century doocot. The old Home Farm now forms the visitor centre, which is closed for renewal. The Newparks Farm has been transformed into an animal attraction with many breeds of animals and birds. Over 90 species of bird have been recorded at the park.
In 2016, a Heritage Lottery grant and money from a nearby landfill site allowed the park to expand and improve it's trails, with the introduction of seven specially commissioned sculptures.
Reginald Prat de Tindale gave the estate to his daughter, Margaretta, upon her marriage to Richard de Miville in 1189. The hub of the estate was the, now ruined, Anglo-Norman 'Maiden Castle' located just outside the country park. Around this time the land is referred to as "Murgunessete" or 'the abode of Morgan'.
In 1471, the estate came into the Ross family by marriage.Sir John Ross fell at the Battle of Flodden in 1513, who was heir to the estate. the estate stayed in the Ross family, during which time the first Muiravonside House was built in 1609. This was extended in the 18th and 19th centuries.
In 1724, the estate was sold to John MacLeod, an Edinburgh advocate. This family had a long history of supporting the return of the Stuarts to the throne, Alexander McLeod, who stayed at Muiravonside, was one of Bonnie Prince Charlie's aide de camp. Leading up to the Jacobite rising of 1745 these Jacobite sympathisers were amongst those plotting the return the Stuarts. Also involved was a leading Scottish advocate and friend of the Macleods, Lord Grange, whose wife, Rachel Chiesley, threatened to expose his Jacobite sympathies and his plot for the crown. After being abducted on 22 January 1732, she was held at Muiravonside house temporarily, before being incarcerated in various remote locations on the western isles of Scotland, including the Monarch Isles, Skye and the Hirta, an island of St Kilda.
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Wikipedia