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Dumbarton (; , Dumbartoun or Dumbertan; or Dùn Breatainn , meaning 'fort of the Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990.
Dumbarton was the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Strathclyde, and later the county town of Dunbartonshire. Dumbarton Castle, on top of Dumbarton Rock, dominates the area. Dumbarton was a royal burgh between 1222 and 1975.
Dumbarton emerged from the 19th century as a centre for shipbuilding, glassmaking, and whisky production. However, these industries have since declined, and Dumbarton today is increasingly a commuter town for Glasgow east-southeast of it. Dumbarton F.C. is the local football club. Dumbarton is home to BBC Scotland's drama studio.
Rhydderch son of Tudwal was a powerful Christian King who reigned at Dumbarton in the late sixth century. He is recorded as fighting against the heathen Angles in Northumbria, and was the patron of St. Kentigern, "apostle of Strathclyde and founder of the bishopric of Glasgow"."The Quest for Merlin" by Nikolai Tolstoy 1985
The fortress of Dumbarton was the stronghold of the kingdom of Alclud, and the centre of Breton power in northern Britain, for more than two centuries from the mid-seventh century, until the Vikings destroyed the fortress after a four-month siege in 870. The loss of the British power base led to the emergence of the new kingdom of Strathclyde, or Cumbria, with a major centre at Govan. The title "king of the Britons of Srath Clúade" was first used in 872. Dumbarton was later the county town of the county of Dunbartonshire, formerly known as Dumbartonshire. The name comes from the Scottish Gaelic Dùn Breatainn meaning "fort of the (Britons)", and serves as a reminder that the earliest historical inhabitants of Clydesdale spoke an early form of the Welsh language.
Alexander II granted the status of royal burgh in 1222.
In September 1605 Chancellor Dunfermline reported to King James VI that inundations of the sea were likely to destroy and take away the whole town. It was estimated that the flood defences would cost 30,000 pounds Scots, the cost being levied nationwide.Chambers, Robert (1885). Domestic Annals of Scotland. Edinburgh : Chambers. p. 183.
A bridge over the River Leven had been proposed in 1682. The Old Dumbarton Bridge was eventually built in 1765 by John Brown of Dumbarton, at the site of a ferry crossing. It was constructed at the behest of the Duke of Argyll, who was anxious to obtain access to Glasgow from his estate at Rosneath. The bridge, with five segmental arches with rounded cutwaters, resulted in the extension of Dumbarton to West Bridgend. The bridge was substantially developed in 1884 and 1934. It is now B-listed and was refurbished in 2006.
Hartfield House was completed in 1853.
During World War II Dumbarton was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe. The Germans were targeting the shipyards, and the area in the vicinity of the yards was consequently hit, with Clyde and Leven Street being severely damaged. In an attempt to lure the German aircraft away from the shipyards, decoy lights were routinely placed on the Kilpatrick hills above the town, lights were set out on reservoirs to mimic those of the shipyards reflecting on the waters of the Leven and Clyde. The ploy was sometimes successful in diverting the bombers and many bombs fell harmlessly onto the moors and lochs. The Auchenreoch Muir 'Starfish site' site above Dumbarton was part of a system of decoy fires operated by the RAF that used pyrotechnics to simulate the appearance of the incendiaries dropped by the German pathfinder aircraft, thereby diverting the bombers from their intended targets. 23 bomb craters are still identifiable in the area around the surviving control bunker as evidence of the success of the diversion.
The one time village and estate of Dumbuck now lie partly within the boundary of Dumbarton, while the remaining portion comprising the associated Dumbuck Hill and its large incorporated quarry (Dumbuck Quarry) are treated here together with the neighbouring village of Milton, as the next adjacent generally recognised locality today. In the Dumbarton portion, the Category B-listed Dumbuck House, originally constructed for Colonel Andrew Geils, was the original estate house and was converted into a hotel in the 20th century; more recently it has been permitted to fall into disrepair and its future is currently uncertain. For additional information regarding the Dumbuck estate, including mention of the somewhat bizarre Kosmoid Company that occupied the estate for a short while, refer the article on Andrew Geils. Information on the well known "Dumbuck Crannog" archaeological feature is presently included in the Wikipedia article for Milton Island.
The Castle has an illustrious history and many well-known figures from Scottish and British history have visited it. The castle was a royal fortress long before Dumbarton became a royal burgh; its ownership went from Scottish to English and back again. The castle was an important place during the Wars of Independence and was used to imprison William Wallace for a short time after his capture by the English. It was from here that Mary, Queen of Scots, was conveyed to France for safety as a child. Mary was trying to reach Dumbarton Castle when she suffered her final defeat at Langside. In later times, Queen Victoria and Elizabeth II visited the castle.
Today, Dumbarton Rock is a Scheduled Ancient Monument; it has legal protection in order to maintain and conserve the site for the future. As such any sort of work on the rock is strictly regulated by the Scottish Government and activities such as climbing on the rock are forbidden. From the top of the castle can be seen both the River Clyde and Leven Grove Park.
A grave site in the park sits as the resting place for the viscera of former Scottish king Robert the Bruce. Removal of these "viscera" for local burial was commonplace at the time, when a person's remains were to be transported a long distance for their own burial.
There is a Dumbarton constituency of the Scottish Parliament and a former Dumbarton constituency of the House of Commons.
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.
During the Second World War Blackburn Aircraft were to produce Sunderland flying boats from a factory adjacent to Denny's shipyard.
There is still a shipyard on the river Leven, Sandpoint Marina. A statue of the shipbuilder and shipowner, Peter Denny, stands outside the Municipal Buildings.
Other whisky-related site closures such as the Inverleven distillery which closed in 1991 and the J&B Scotch Whisky bottling plant and bond in the north of the town have contributed to the decline in Dumbarton's importance to the drink industry. However, part of the J&B bond has found a new life as a film set for television productions such as ' River City, Still Game and Two Doors Down.
Ballantine's Whisky became well known for the rather unusual 'security' guards used at their bonded warehouse complex at Dumbuck in Dumbarton; these are a large flock of white Chinese geese that were first introduced in 1959. Starting with just six individuals, this has risen to close to 100 birds today. They have the nickname 'The Scotch watch' and have been widely used in promotional material for the Ballantine's blended whisky. The geese are part of the tradition of the facility, and are both a tourist attraction and advertising icon. The Goosekeeper at the time (as of 1996) was Arthur Carroll, but as of 1997 they have been replaced by CCTV cameras.
The estate has also been the home of Polaroid UK since 1965. This was the largest Polaroid plant outside the US and at its peak it employed about 1800 people. Failing to recognise the impact of digital photography was its downfall and while they still have a presence in Dumbarton, fewer than 100 people are now employed there (mainly in the manufacture of sunglass lenses). The generator supplier Aggreko plc has had a facility in the town since the 1970s, in 2012 it opened a new, larger facility at the former J&B plant.
The town has two local weekly newspapers, The Lennox Herald and The Dumbarton Reporter.
Dumbarton F.C play home games at the Dumbarton Football Stadium (known as the C&G Systems Stadium for sponsorship reasons) adjacent to Dumbarton Rock. They won the 1882–83 Scottish Cup and are five times runners-up.
The Scottish League was formed in 1890 with Dumbarton as founding members. The first championship was shared between Dumbarton and Rangers, in the absence of a goal-difference rule to act as a tiebreaker.
There are seven bowling clubs in Dumbarton: Brock Bowling Club, Dixon BC, Dumbarton BC, Dumbuck BC, Eastfield BC, Rock BC and Townend BC.
The town is the birthplace of the motor-racing driver Sir Jackie Stewart OBE. He competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Championships. The Stewart Family owned and ran the garage at Dumbuck in Milton to the East of the town, the Garage later being taken over by Jackie's close friend John Lindsay.
Dumbarton is also immortalised in the traditional Scottish song "Dumbarton's Drums".
Novelist A. J. Cronin's maternal grandfather, Archibald Montgomerie, owned a hat shop at 145 High Street.
Dumbarton is the birthplace of David Byrne, a Grammy Award, Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning musician best known as the founding member and principal songwriter of new wave band Talking Heads.
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