Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 3

GRANGEMOUTH
opened in 1843. It covers an area of 7J acres ; and
one-half of it has a depth of 17 feet, the remainder
drawing only 13 feet of water. Up till 1859, when
another basin was formed, the trade was mostly coast-
wise ; but there has since arisen a considerable foreign
and colonial trade, as shown by the following table,
which gives the tonnage of vessels that entered from
and to foreign and colonial ports and coastwise with car-
goes and in ballast : —
Entered.
Cleared.
1853, .
1867, .
1873, .
1877, .
ISSl, .
British.
Foreign.
Total.
British.
Foreign.
Total.
95,486
153,378
194,899
314,278
303,899
78^422
144,337
121,068
79,826
95,486
231,800
339,236
435,346
382,725
95,050
136,613
199,143
315,293
306,164
74,375
149,122
117,837
76,916
95,050
210,988
348,265
433,130
383,080
Of the total, 1519 vessels of 382,725 tons, that entered
in 1881, 970 of 287,804 tons were steamers, 137 of
21,265 tons were in ballast, and 982 of 263,608 tons
were coasters; whilst the total, 1517 of 383,080 tons,
of those that cleared, included 977 steamers of 290,959
tons, 689 ships in ballast of 177,219 tons, and 1005
coasters of 258,513 tons. Again, the total tonnage of
vessels registered as belonging to the port was 9080
(only 828 steamers) in 1853, 12,649 in 1869, 8270 in
1874, and 10,499 in 1881, viz., 57 sailing vessels of 1875
tons and 32 steamers of 8624. This increase, and the
fact that it was a common experience to have from 40 to
80 vessels lying in the Roads waiting for room in the
docks, showed the necessity of extending the harbour
accommodation ; and in 1876 the necessary powers for
the construction of the new dock were obtained. After
considerable engineering difficulties, arising from the
nature of the soil, the dock was formally opened on
3 June 1882 amid much enthusiasm, the interest of the
occasion being enhanced by the inauguration, on the
same day, of a public park presented to the burgh by
the Earl of Zetland. The new works, which cost
£300,000, give a water area of 19J acres for the new
docks and timber basins, lOJ acres being the actual ex-
tent of the dock. The entrance is 55 feet wide, with a
depth on the sill of 26 feet. Outside tlie gates, on the
E side, is a wall 850 feet long, where ships can unload
should they be hindered from entering the dock by lack
of water. At the entrance there is a depth at low water
of 8 feet ; the rise in spring tides is 18 feet and 14 in
neap tides. The quayage extends to 900 yards, and
the length of the dock is 1100 feet, its breadth 400.
The timber-basin, at the S end, is 8 acres in extent,
and has a depth of 8 feet. A channel, 70 feet wide and
15 feet deep, passing through the new timber-basin, con-
nects the old and the new docks, and a substantial swing
bridge, laid with rails, spans the entrance to the dock.
The quays of the dock have been fully equipped with
hydraulic coal-hoists on an admirable system and with
Armstrong cranes. At the bridges, which are arranged
to move by water-power, hand power is also provided
in case of a breakdown of the hydraulic machinery.
Sheds to the extent of 600 feet are provided, and the
railways in connection with the works have a total
length of 32 miles. The trade of the port is of a general
character, the principal imports being timber, metals,
flax, grain, sugar, fruit, chemicals, paper, and provi-
sions. Of timber 91,950 tons were imported in 1879,
160,018 in 1880, and 92,940 in 1881. In spite of
its proximity to the great iron-producing districts of
Lanarkshire, large importations of pig-iron from Middles-
brough have recently begun, and, in 1882, amounted
to over 1000 tons daily, 20,000 tons being forwarded
yearly to Glasgow. Of coals 64,208 tons were shipped
to foreign countries and coastwise in 1860, 104,939 in
1869, 174,526 in 1878, and 101,359 in 1881, when the
total value of foreign and colonial imports was £1, 087, 038
(£1,255,943 in 1880) and of exports £354,657 (£565,884
in 1875). The trade between Grangemouth and London,
212
GEANTON
amounting to 100,000 tons annually, is wholly in the
hands of the Carron Iron Company, and there are nu-
merous steamship lines trading with ports in Norway,
Sweden, the Baltic, and elsewhere. The first steamer
launched from Grangemouth was the Hecla, 80 feet long,
built in 1839 as a tug for use at Memel, in Prussia ; and
shipbuilding, after declining for several years, has again
revived, 12 vessels of 1835 tons having been launched
here during 1879-81, all of them iron, and all steamers
but two. Employment is also afforded by saw-mills,
brick and tile works, and a rope and sail factory.
Apart from its trade and manufactures, Grangemouth
is a place of little note. It is regularly and substan-
tially bmlt, but is far from picturesque. This chiefly
arises from the situation, which is low and flat ; and
this, with the prevalence of so much water in river,
canal, and docks, has led to Grangemouth being likened
to a Dutch town. It has a post office, with money
order, savings' bank, insurance, and telegraph depart-
ments, branches of the Bank of Scotland and the Commer-
cial Bank, offices or agencies of 22 insurance companies,
2 hotels, a gas company, a good recent water supply,
etc. The Public Institute, erected in 1876-77 at a cost
of £2100, contains a lecture-room, with accommodation
for 450 persons ; the public park, 8 acres in extent, is
adorned with a handsome spray fountain. In 1880 ■
Grangemouth was constituted a quoad sacra parish in
the presbytery of Linlithgow and sjmod of Lothian and
Tweeddale. Its church is an Early English edifice,
with a spire 60 feet high, having been erected in 1866
as a chapel of ease, in lieu of one built by the fii'st Earl
of Zetland in 1837. The Free church is a handsome
edifice of 1883, in the Gothic style, and there is also
a United Presbyterian place of worship. Two public
schools, Dundas (1875) and Zetland (1827), with respec-
tive accommodation for 486 and 327 children, had (1881)
an average attendance of 433 and 250, and grants of
£412, 14s. and £232, 3s. Erected into a police burgh,
under the Lindsay Act in 1872, Grangemouth is governed
by nine commissioners. In 1881 the Earl of Zetland,
whose seat, Eeese House, stands 5 furlongs SW of
the town, asserted his superior rights over the burgh
by pointing out that the feu-charters he had granted
forbade the establishment of public-houses. The
attempt to suppress such houses gave rise to a litigation
which was carried on in the Supreme Courts of Scotland
and the House of Lords for a long time. In the Court
of Session it was held that such powers in a feu-charter
were contrary to public policy, and could not be en-
forced ; but on appeal the House of Lords reversed this
decision, holding that the only question to be tried was
whether the superior's rights had lapsed by disuse. The
municipal constituency numbered 882 in 1883, when
the annual value of real propertv amounted to £32,382.
Pop. (1831) 1155, (1841) 1488, (1861)2000, (1871)2569,
(1881) 4560, of whom 2382 were males; whilst 2993
were in Falkirk parish, 1493 in Bothkennar, and 94 in
Polmont. Houses (1881) 856 inhabited, 77 vacant, 2
building.— Oi-rf. Sur., sh. 31, 1867.
Grangemuir, an estate, with a handsome modern
mansion, in Anstruther-Wester parish, Fife, IJ mile
NNW of Pittenweem. Its o^mer, Walter Douglas-
Irvine, Esq. (b. 1825 ; sue. 1867), holds 2697 acres in
the shire, valued at £5298 per annum. — Ord. Siir., sh.'
41, 1857.
GrangepaJis, a coast village, with a public school, in
Carriden parish, Linlithgowshire, adjoining the eastern
extremity of Borrowstounness. It formerly had exten-
sive salt-pans and a chemical work, but now it merely
shares in the industry of Borrowstounness. Pop. (1861)
747, (1871) 876, (1881) 792.
Grannoch, Loch. See Grennooh.
Grant Castle. See Castle-Grant.
Granton, a seaport and post-town in the parishes of
Cramond and St Cuthbert's, Edinburghshire, 5J mUes
S by E of Burntisland, 2J W by N of Leith, and 2|
NW by N of Edinburgh Post Office. Historically it
is notable as the point where English troops landed
in 1544 under the Earl of Hertford before they ravaged