Dumbarton
| Dumbarton District 1975-96 |
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Dumbarton (
Dùn Breatainn in
Scottish Gaelic) is a
burgh in
Scotland, lying on the north bank of the
River Clyde where the
River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary.
Dumbarton Castle, sitting on top of Dumbarton Rock, dominates the area. As of
2001 the town had a population of roughly 20,550.
Dumbarton functioned as the capital of the
ancient Kingdom of Strathclyde, and later as the county town of the
county of
Dunbartonshire (formerly known as "Dumbartonshire"). The name comes from the
Scottish Gaelic meaning "Fort of the
Brythons (Britons)". The Britons themselves knew it as "Alclud" (Ail Chluaidh), the "Rock on the Clyde".
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Dumbarton Rock from the west. |
Dumbarton Castle sits on Dumbarton Rock, close to the spot where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. The Castle has an illustrious history and many well-known figures from Scottish and British history have visited it. These include
Mary Queen of Scots,
William Wallace,
Queen Victoria and
Queen Elizabeth II. From the top of the Castle one can behold a beautiful view of both the Clyde, and of Leven Grove Park. The Park itself was a gift to the town by the Dennys who owned the shipbuilding company (now a waste ground soon to be turned into housing) which was about 100 yards away from the Castle.
During
World War II Dumbarton was heavily bombed by the
German air force. The Germans were trying to bomb the shipbuilding yard therefore the area around it was hit quite a few times with Clyde and Leven street being severely damaged. Today the new Knoxland Primary school has been built on the area which is now known as Leven Street.
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The rock and castle from the town. |
In more recent times, the town became a centre for
shipbuilding at Denny's yard, which closed in 1963. The old Denny's shipyard tender
''The Second Snark is still in use on the
Firth of Clyde as a passenger ferry and cruise boat.
The last surviving part of the Denny's shipbuilding company is the
Denny Ship Model Experiment Tank which forms part of the
Scottish Maritime Museum. This was the first commercial ship model testing tank built in the world and it retains many original features today: a water tank as long as a football pitch, clay moulding beds for casting wax model ship hulls and the original Victorian machinery used for shaping models.
After the decline of the ship building industry, the town became known as a centre of the
whisky distillery industry. However in recent years this has gone into similar decline, with sites such as the
J&B Scotch Whisky bottling plant in the north of the town closing, as well as the Inverleven distillery which shut in
1991.
With the decline of the whisky industry, Dumbarton is becoming more a commuter town for those who work in nearby
Glasgow and other locations.
From 1975 Dumbarton lent its name to a
local government district in the
Strathclyde region of
Scotland. In 1996 the administrative functions of this district transferred to the
West Dunbartonshire and
Argyll and Bute unitary councils (See
Subdivisions of Scotland). Dumbarton town currently serves as the administrative centre of the West Dunbartonshire authority.
There is also a
Dumbarton constituency of the Scottish Parliament and a former
Dumbarton constituency of the House of Commons.
*The town has a football team,
Dumbarton F.C., who play in the
Scottish Football League.
*The Denny Civic Theatre is used by a number of local groups, including the
Dumbarton People's Theatre.
*The famous ship the
Cutty Sark was built in Dumbarton at the Denny's Shipbuilding Company.
*Dumbarton is the birthplace of
David Byrne from
Talking Heads, and of the
motor-racing driver
Jackie Stewart.
*Natives of Dumbarton are known as "Sons of the Rock", in reference to the site of Dumbarton Castle.
There are a number of distinct areas of the town:
Bellsmyre;
Brucehill;
Castlehill;
Crosslet;
Dennystown;
Dumbarton East;
Kirktonhill;
Silverton;
Townend;
Westcliff.
*
Robert Burns (poet) Links to Dumbarton*
Scottish Maritime Museum
