Kilsyth - History and Development

History and Development

There is archeological evidence of settlement since Neolithic times . The Romans recognised the strategic significance of Kilsyth with forts at Colziumbea (NS 7391 7774) and Castle Hill (NS 7091 7610) as well as the Antonine Wall forts of Bar Hill and Croy Hill which are clearly visible from the present-day town. In the Middle Ages, Kilsyth held a key strategic position on one of the main routes across the narrowest part of Scotland and was the site of two castles (now destroyed) at Balcastle and Colzium shown in Timothy Pont's map of 1580.

The Civil War Battle of Kilsyth took place on hillsides between Kilsyth and Banton, North Lanarkshire in 1645. Kilsyth was later closely associated with the various attempts by the Jacobites to regain the crown.

The town economy has shifted over the past three centuries from farming, handloom weaving and extractive industries to light engineering, transport and service industries. Many of the townsfolk of working age now commute to work in nearby Glasgow and other larger towns nearby.

Kilsyth has claims to be the place where the winter sport of curling was first constituted. The town had the world's first curling club which survives to this day. Curling was played on the Curling Pond in the Colzium Estate in the east of the town.

In the 1950 s the town boasted as having the highest proportion of council housing in Europe as the old miner's rows and other slum accommodation was removed. In recent year several small housing estates have been developed on either end of the town.

There are currently over three thousand properties in the Kilsyth area (including the local villages. There are currently two large new developments underway in the town, by Dawn Homes at Burngreen Brae and by Taylor Wimpey at Cavalry Park. These will bring around 360 new properties to the town over the next four years and increase the population of the town by another one thousand people.