Fintry Past
Schools
Kirk o' Muir School
At the east end of the Carron reservoir, is a small walled graveyard with the earliest dated gravestone of 1695. This was a tiny stone building in the corner of the old graveyard at the north east end of Carron Reservoir. It could be Scotland’s smallest school. There is no longer a church there.
The school was technically in St Ninian’s parish, but Fintry was the nearest village and children from that area usually travelled down to Fintry School. A stone from the foundations is held in Fintry Museum.
Lernock School
Lernock School was at Lernock Toll, (known locally as the gated road) about 2 miles out of Fintry on the way to Kippen. It would serve the Balgair area which, a way back, had a much bigger population. It then became a house and disappeared in the 19th century.
In 1834, William McAlpine is listed as a teacher and elder at Lernock. James Edmond of Provanston was a headmaster there.
Gonachan School
The Gonachan School dates back to the 1700s.
Today it is a cottage on the corner of the road to Denny, just before the Gonachan bridge (built by General Wade in 1750.)
It was in the original village of Fintry and families would have paid a small fee or goods to the head teacher before schools became free. In the 1880s there were about 40 children left in the school.
When the main village moved from the Clachan of Fintry to Newton of Fintry, it became known as The Poor School. The Gonachan School finally closed around 1900 and was sold to become a house.
Girls' School
From around 1800 there was a school for girls on the south side of Main Street. The building has long gone. It was situated in the gap site where Coopers or Spout Burn crosses under the road to pass by the Menzies Hall. The school for up to 40 girls was in an attic hall and was subsidised by Peter Spiers. Hugh Edmond later recalls going to the Scouts in the house next door on the east side.
Stewart School
When the mill came and the Newton of Fintry grew larger, a local merchant paid for and built Stewart’s School in 1839. This was well before schools for all in Scotland became the law in 1872.
It included a schoolmaster’s house and two classes. In 1899 there was an outbreak of typhoid in Fintry and Stewart’s school was used as an isolation hospital.
During World War 2 it took in evacuees, many of whom were taught in the Menzies Hall. In 1921 it had 61 pupils and 2 teachers. After it closed it became a community centre then a private home.
Fintry School
In 1961 another school was built at Culcreuch Avenue. It was opened by the Right Honourable Tom Johnston, former Secretary of State for Scotland and local resident.
The new school began with about 40 pupils but very shortly after the Menzies estate was built and the school had over 100 children by 1975 and added hutted accommodation. The present design was added in 2000. The Schoolhouse in the playground (for the headteacher) became vacant and was converted into a nursery.
In 2010 it received a full week’s inspection and was given the highest rating ever in Stirling and placed in the top three in Scotland.