Ordnance Survey large scale Scottish town plans, 1847-1895
DUMBARTON
(surveyed
in 1859)
Dumbarton is situated on the confluence of the Rivers Leven and Clyde about
15 miles north-west by west of Glasgow. It is the capital of Dunbartonshire and
the ancient capital of Strathclyde. It has been a royal burgh since 1222, and was a
post town, a market town and a seaport. Its name means 'Stronghold of the
Britons' and is derived from the Gaelic,
Dùn Breatainn. The official form of the burgh name has,
since the seventeenth century been Dumbarton, and despite some attempts to
change the name, only the county has kept the etymologically correct form
of the name as Dunbarton. At the time of this survey, the town's
population numbered around 4,500.
The town grew around its most ancient and prominent feature, Dumbarton
Castle, which is referred to locally as 'The Rock'. Dumbarton rock has been a
hill fort for many centuries, and the castle is still officially a Scottish
Royal Fortress along with Edinburgh and Stirling. Like most Scottish towns, its
principal street is the High Street, which, unlike most Scottish towns, runs
not in a roughly straight line, but is almost concentric with the river. At the
time of survey, the High Street was intersected by the Cross-vennel, and
various other smaller streets.
Most of Dumbarton lies on the right bank of the Leven, although the
suburb of Bridgend is on the left bank. A five-arched stone bridge dating from
the mid-eighteenth century linked the two.
Wilson, writing about the town in his Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland (1857), said of its appearance: 'The
town altogether has an irregular alignment and a plain appearance, displaying
some features of taste, indeed, but far from showy; and, in consequence of
standing on a low dead level, it neither forms nor commands any picturesque
view . . . And the town itself, seen from the Clyde or from any of the southern
approaches, looks only a huddled mass of squatting houses, chequered in front
by the timbers of ship-yards and overtopped in the middle by the tall chimnies
and the church-steeple.' He is kinder about the view from Dumbarton Rock,
however, calling it, 'panoramic and gorgeous'.
At the time of survey, Dumbarton's main industry was shipbuilding, and
it had five yards. Before that, the town had been known as a centre of
glassmaking. Its glassworks employed around 300 men at one time. When that
industry declined, the shipyard was built on the site of the old glassworks.
At the time of survey, around 2,000 men were employed in shipbuilding
and shipbuilding also generated other, associated, employment. The town had two
engine works, two foundries, and a large forge. There was also a busy rope
works, and several tanners and brickmakers.
Dumbarton at this time had two large inns, offices of the Commercial
Bank and the Union Bank, ten insurance offices, a gas-light company, a
mechanics' institution, a funeral society, an education society, an
agricultural society, and a horticultural society. It was, and still is, the
administrative centre of the region, and as such was where the weekly burgh
courts were held. There was a Free Church school, three schools for girls, and
four other non-parochial schools in the parish of Dumbarton. There were two
burgh schoolmasters, who received £40 per annum.
Religious
Life
Dumbarton's parish church
was built in 1810, and its minister received £233 6s. 2d per annum, which is
approximately £11,000 today. The town also had a Free church, a United Presbyterian
church, an Episcopalian chapel and a Roman Catholic chapel. Dumbarton is the
alleged birthplace of St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.
Groome, Francis H. (ed.),
1894-5. The Ordnance Gazetteer of
Scotland; a survey of Scottish topography, statistical, biographical, and
historical, 2nd ed., (London: William Mackenzie)
Mackay, George, 2000. Scottish Place Names (New Lanark:
Lomond)
Smith, Robert, 2001. The Making of Scotland: a comprehensive
guide to the growth of its cities, towns and villages (Edinburgh:
Canongate)
Wilson, Rev. John Marius
(ed.), 1857. The Imperial Gazetteer of
Scotland or Dictionary of Scottish Topography (Edinburgh: A. Fullarton
& Co.)
Edina Website – Online
Statistical Accounts of Scotland - http://edina.ac.uk/statacc/