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Cambusbarron is a village in Stirling, Scotland. In the 2001 census, it had a population of 3,224. There is evidence of settlement at the site since the Bronze Age, and several forts dating from the Iron Age have been found near the village. One such fort is located at Gillies Hill, a large semi-natural ancient woodland area with a range of unusual wildlife, thought to be the site of Robert the Bruce's camp shortly before the Battle of Bannockburn.
Cambusbarron grew during the nineteenth century due to the presence of the Hayford Mill, a large wool-spinning mill and tweed manufacturer, on the outskirts of the village. Several limestone mines and quartz-dolerite quarries have been active in the area around Cambusbarron during the twentieth century. There are three in the village. Notable former residents include evangelist Henry Drummond, documentary writer John Grierson and footballer Frank Beattie.
In the sixteenth century, Cambusbarron came under the control of successive Earls of Kellie, before being sold to William Leslie, later the tenth Baron of Balquhain, in 1640. It was then sold to the burgh of Stirling in 1665.
A public school was erected in Cambusbarron in 1875, with capacity for 270 pupils. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, quarrying became an important industry in and around the village. Cambusbarron lies just beyond the western extremity of the Stirling and Clackmannan coalfield, but has significant limestone and quartz-dolerite deposits, both of which have been extracted. Further quarries opened in the area during the twentieth century.
Gillies Hill is also the site of the Murrayshall Quarry. Permission to begin extraction of stones from a small section of the hill was granted in 1982, but by 1996 the quarry had become dormant. In 2007 a proposal by Heidelberg Cement and Tarmac Limited to reopen the quarry on a larger scale led to fierce local opposition and the formation of the Save Gillies Hill group to campaign against the proposal. The Stirling Council on 1 March 2012 required the quarry operators to comply with certain requirements related to • production of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) (3.24.4) • update quarry restoration plan (3.24.5) • provision of fencing (3.24.7) The Council also decided that failure to comply with these requirements would lead to the Council starting the process of issuing a Suspension Order (SO) for the current permission APPROVED RECOMMENDATIONS FROM 1ST MARCH MEETING OF STIRLING COUNCIL
Education in the village is provided by the ten-classroom Cambusbarron Primary School. In 2008 the school led the Money Week program designed to teach primary school pupils about finance.
Cambusbarron is also home to a local amateur football team, Cambusbarron Rovers A.F.C., which was founded in 1960. It plays in the Caledonian Amateur Football League, and has won the Scottish Amateur Cup on three occasions.
After its closure the mill remained largely unchanged for many years, and was used as a training base by the King's Own Scottish Borderers during World War I. It was briefly used as a carpet factory prior to World War II, and as a civil defence store after the war, before gaining Category A listed status in September 1989. Hayford House, an 1850 Jacobean villa built for Robert Smith senior close to the mill, was Category B listed at the same time.
The former Water Pump House at the North Third Water Filter Plant, which dates from 1931, is also Category B listed. It was initially closed in 1975, but reopened in 1989 after its filtration equipment was updated. After closing again in 2000, it was sold to a private owner in 2006, receiving its listed status in March 2007.
Professional footballer Frank Beattie (1933–2009) was born in the Cambusbarron, and after his retirement ran a newsagent in the village. He also managed Cambusbarron Rovers in the late 1970s and early 1980s, winning the Scottish Amateur Cup trophy with the side in 1978.
Politician Richard Olszewski grew up in Cambusbarron.
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