Polmont

History

The name Polmont derives from the Scottish Gaelic term Poll-Mhonadh, which translates into English as "Pool of the Hill". Old Polmont was situated on a raised beach overlooking the Firth of Forth and the Ochils. There were two Roman temporary marching camps, one on either side of what is now Grangemouth Golf Course: on the western side was Little Kerse, and on the eastern side was Polmont Hill. The Antonine Wall ran through Polmont from Mumrills, the largest fort on the wall, west of Polmont. Remains of the wall can best be seen in Polmont Woods, accessed by a footpath next to the M9 motorway bridge. The first mention of Polmont was in 1498, relating to the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The next mention was in the [https://stataccscot.edina.ac.uk/static/statacc/dist/viewer/osa-vol3-Parish_record_for_Polmont_in_the_county_of_Stirling_in_volume_3_of_account_1/osa-vol3-p344-parish-stirling-polmont?search=polmont Statistical Accounts of Scotland]. Old Polmont has changed little as can be seen from this [https://maps.nls.uk/view/74984085 1862 Map] but, in 1968, the first section of the M9 motorway cut through farm land between Old and New Polmont. Polmont was originally included within the parish of Falkirk, but was severed under the authority of the Court of Teinds (teind is the Scots word for tithe), and made an independent parish, in 1724. The parish boundary was from the Firth of Forth up to Muiravonside, and it was later renamed Grangemouth Parish as the port of Grangemouth grew. Nothing of the early history of Polmont has been recorded. New Polmont was built along the Great North Road (A9), south of Old Polmont, and was originally called Bennetstown or Bennestone (named after the Laird of Whyteside, Mr Bennet, on whose land it was built. Apart from housing,…