Bantaskine

Bantaskine
Location	Falkirk, Scotland

Bantaskine is a park with woodlands in Falkirk, Scotland[1] that was formerly the Bantaskine Estate, a coal mining estate.[2][3][4][5][6] The artist Mary Georgina Wade Wilson grew up there. The Battle of Falkirk Muir was fought nearby.[7][8] It is also known as South Bantaskine. North Bantaskine, on the other side of the Union Canal, was an agricultural estate.[9] It is listed as a historically significant archeological site by Historic Environment Scotland.[6]

Etymology

The name may be from the Welsh words for a rise and a hollow, signifying a rise over a hollow.[10]

History

The property was owned by a merchant operating in West Indian territories, Thomas Campbell Hagart.[11] A brickworks was also on the property.[12]

Wilson family

The Bantaskine estate was held by the Wilson coal magnate family.[5] Coal magnate Robert Wilson established the estate as part of his coal mining empire. After his death, his 21-year-old son and future MP John Wilson (1815 - 1883) took over running the estate. He had eight daughters and a son.[13][14] The stained glass windows from a mansion that once stood in the property are preserved at a local shopping center.[15]

Robert Moffat stayed at the estate several times.[5][16] It had substantial landscaping and gardens. Miss Wilson used them as a subject of her paintings.[17]

Further reading

• Moffat, John Smith, Robert Moffat and Mary Moffat. The Lives of Robert and Mary Moffat. p 394. Armstrong (1885).
• Ross, David R. On the Trail of Bonnie Prince Charlie. Edinburgh: Luath Press (2004). ISBN 0946487685

References

1. "Parks & estates - Bantaskine Estate | Falkirk Council". www.falkirk.gov.uk.
2. "Bantaskine Estate | MyParkScotland".
3. "Parks & estates - Bantaskine Estate | Falkirk Council". www.falkirk.gov.uk.
4. "South Bantaskine Estate". April 26, 2018.
5. "Bantaskine family reigned when coal was king". www.falkirkherald.co.uk.
6. Historic Environment Scotland. "South Bantaskine (134515)". Canmore. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
7. "Falkirk". Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
8. Forth Valley Orienteers | Results | Bantaskine Local Event ... https://fvo.org.uk/events/2019/jun/16/bantaskine-local-event
9. Meek, Donald. "Passages from Tiree".
10. Waldie, George (July 6, 1883). "Walks Along the Northern Roman Wall: And Notes by the Way on the Early History of Falkirk, Arthur's Oven, the Gododin Poems, and Other Curious Things". G. Waldie – via Google Books.
11. "Summary of Individual | Legacies of British Slave-ownership". www.ucl.ac.uk.
12. "Falkirk Fire Brickworks, South Bantaskine, Falkirk, Stirlingshire | Scotland's Brick Manufacturing Industry".
13. Wilson, John; et al. (2024) [1721–1945]. "John Wilson of South Bantaskine papers". Collections.Falkirk.gov.uk. Feel Falkirk (Falkirk Leisure & Culture, Falkirk Council) / South Bantaskine Trust. Accession No. A1849. Archived from the original on 5 October 2024. Citing: Campbell, Alistair; Wilson, John (Spring 1994). "The Wilsons of South Bantaskine" and "The Development of South Bantaskine". Calatria. 6: 61–76.
14. Ian Elfick; Paul Harris (1998). T.N. Foulis: The History and Bibliography of an Edinburgh Publishing House. Werner Shaw. ISBN 978-0-907961-10-9.
15. Ross, David R. (November 16, 2000). On the Trail of Bonnie Prince Charlie. Dundurn. ISBN 9780946487684 – via Google Books.
16. Moffat, John Smith (July 6, 1888). "The Lives of Robert & Mary Moffat". A.C. Armstrong & son – via Google Books.
17. Maxwell, Sir Herbert (July 6, 1911). "Scottish Gardens: Being a Representative Selection of Different Types, Old and New". E. Arnold – via Google Books.

External links

• South Bantaskine Estate by Geoff Bailey from the Falkirk Local History Society

55°59′32″N 3°48′44″W