Doors Open Days | Clackmannanshire

Clackmannanshire

Welcome to Doors Open Days in Clackmannanshire, which is organised, coordinated and promoted by Clackmannanshire Heritage Trust (SC112838).

This year there will be guided tours of the impressive Alloa, Clackmannan and Sauchie Towers, as well as Menstrie Castle. Five churches in the county, three in Alloa, one in Clackmannan and, new this year, Menstrie Parish Church, will be opening their doors to visitors to enable them to discover their stories and splendid interiors.

Popular destinations Alloa Fire Station, Clackmannanshire Council Archives, The Coach House Theatre in Alloa, Alva Ice House, Alva Old Kirkyard and the Johnstone Mausoleum, Dollar Museum and Tullibody Heritage Centre will also welcome people in again.

Menstrie and Tullibody Community Gardens will be taking part and encouraging people to grow their own food, eat more healthily and enjoy the benefits to wellbeing of spending more time outdoors.

Finally, there will be three interesting historic walks - Alloa Historical Estate Walk and, in Dollar, a tour of many historical places in the town and another walk focussing on the stories of Dollar Mine and Railway Station.

Clackmannanshire Heritage Trust is dedicated to protecting, preserving, conserving and raising awareness of the rich heritage of the county. We would like to thank everyone who has helped to make Doors Open Days 2023 possible and are very grateful for their continuing enthusiasm and support.

This year our printed programme has been published with the generous support of Ochil View Housing Association Ltd SC033130.

Please note that in some buildings only the ground floor is accessible to people with mobility difficulties. Please refer to the key next to each entry. Visitors enter the buildings at their own risk. Neither Clackmannanshire Heritage Trust nor any participating building owners are responsible for any accidents or damage incurred.

Regional Coordinator

Susan Mills

Susan was born and educated in North East England. She has a BA in English and Related Literature (York) and an MA in Anglo-Saxon and Viking Studies (Durham). She spent most of her career as a museum curator/director and was Clackmannanshire Council's Museum and Heritage Officer until September 2017. She has been closely involved with Clackmannanshire Heritage Trust since 2000 and became a Trustee in 2017. She now looks after Clackmannanshire Council's Heritage Collection on a voluntary basis. She is a Trustee and Treasurer of Dollar Museum Trust and a committee member of several other heritage groups. She has been Area Coordinator for the Doors Open Days event since 2000 and since 2017 as a volunteer. She is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Search Filters

Keywords

Regions

Open Weekends

Search for Digital Events only

Search for 2024 Theme only

In Person

Clackmannanshire

Alloa Fire Station

Alloa Fire Station currently has three fire appliances, one of which is crewed by twelve retained personnel. There are twenty-five wholetime personnel operating on a five-watch rotational duty system. The modern fire service attends a range of incidents and the fire crews and their supporting equipment from Alloa could be called upon to mobilise to anywhere in Scotland, as well as being involved in all aspects of community safety work. For Doors Open Days 2023 visitors can enjoy a guided tour. Please note, tours may be cancelled/suspended in the event of an emergency call.

View Details

Facilities
WC

In Person

Clackmannanshire

Alloa Historical Estate Walk

Alloa Tower was at the core of an important estate established in c1363, when the Erskine family was granted the land by David II. By the late 17th century there were other buildings around the tower and Alloa had developed nearby. John, 6th Earl of Mar (1675-1732) improved the estate and created an impressive designed landscape and garden. He led the 1715 Jacobite Uprising, however, was attainted for High Treason, forfeited his lands and titles and spent the rest of his life in exile abroad. His family bought back the Alloa estate in 1724 and continued with the industrial developments begun by the 6th Earl. In 1800 a fire destroyed all of the buildings apart from the tower. The Erskine family lived elsewhere until Alloa House was completed nearby in 1838. The Earl of Kellie inherited the estate in 1866 and made many improvements. Alloa House was demolished in the late 1950s. This walk will explore the story of this remarkable historical estate, looking at the features and buildings which have survived in the landscape of today.

View Details

Facilities
Parking

In Person

Clackmannanshire

Alloa Ludgate Church

This church replaced a plain 18th century building and was designed by Peddie & Kinnear in Early French Gothic style. In 1902 Scots late Gothic transepts and a pine and marble sanctuary with an elaborate pulpit were added; this work, several of the stained glass windows and the 1904 pipe organ were paid for by members of the influential Paton family, who owned wool-spinning mills. The interior was partly modernised a few years ago and incorporates memorials and other fittings from the former North Church.

View Details

Facilities
Disabled Access
Disabled WC
WC
Parking

In Person

Clackmannanshire

Alloa St John's Episcopal Church

This fine church was designed by Sir Robert Rowand Anderson in a simple Geometric style, with a separate bell-tower and tall, broach spire. It is one of the most beautifully designed and finished Episcopal churches in Scotland. It was built for Walter Coningsby Erskine, Earl of Mar & Kellie, as a gift to the congregation.

View Details

Facilities
Disabled Access
Disabled WC
WC
Refreshments
Parking

In Person

Clackmannanshire

Alloa St Mungo’s Parish Church

Designed by James Gillespie Graham to replace the old parish church in Kirkgate, this Late Georgian building is a large, ornate, battlemented rectangle with a five-bay north elevation. It has an impressive 207ft high spire, its corners clasped by flying buttresses with crocketed pinnacles. External additions were made in 1966-7 by Leslie Grahame Thomson.

View Details

Facilities
Disabled Access
Disabled WC
WC
Parking

In Person

Clackmannanshire

Alloa The Coach House Theatre

The Alman Dramatic Club was formed in 1939 by a group of women and soon became the largest performing arts group in the county. It developed into an amateur dramatic club and in 1953 the Club was allowed to use the hay loft in the former Coach House of Inglewood. The Hay Loft Theatre opened in 1957 and in 1959 its present name was adopted. Since then the Club has performed works by all the great playwrights, national and international, as well as its own members’ work.

View Details

Facilities
WC
Refreshments
Parking

In Person

Clackmannanshire

Alloa Tower

One of the largest and finest towers of its type in Scotland, it was home to the distinguished Erskine family, Earls of Mar, from the later 14th century until 1800. In 1702 John, 6th Earl of Mar, began to convert it into an elegant modern house and created an ambitious and extensive planned landscape around his home. In 1800 the later mansion was destroyed by fire, though the tower survived, but by the 1980s it was derelict. Alloa Tower Building Preservation Trust restored it to its likely appearance in 1712 and the tower was opened formally by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997.

View Details

Facilities
Disabled WC
WC
Parking

In Person

Clackmannanshire

Alva Ice House

This very impressive ice house was probably built c1810-20 by James Raymond Johnstone of Alva House. It is buried on the slope below the stables. By the mid-19th century most country houses and estates had an ice house, to keep provisions cold and fresh and provide a supply of ice for fruit sherbets and table decorations. This fine and elaborate example was restored as part of the Ochils Landscape Partnership programme.

View Details

Facilities
Parking
Limited Access

In Person

Clackmannanshire

Alva Old Kirkyard and Johnstone Mausoleum

The church of St Serf was rebuilt in 1632 but was demolished after a fire in 1985. It's ‘footprint’ remains, along with early gravestones in the kirkyard. The Erskine family had a burial vault beneath the church.

View Details

Facilities
Parking

In Person

Clackmannanshire

Clackmannan Parish Church

Designed by James Gillespie Graham, this fine building probably replaced the medieval church built on the site in 1249. There have been a number of alterations, but the interior retains many of its original features and impressive stained glass, including the Coronation window, the only one in the county . A plaque by Sir Robert Lorimer commemorates Robert Bruce, Master of Burleigh, who was killed at Le Cateau on 26th August 1914, an early casualty of the First World War. In the kirkyard, some trade gravestones and the large memorial for the Bruce family can be seen.

View Details

Facilities
Disabled Access
Disabled WC
WC
Refreshments
Parking

Download our area leaflet
Clackmannanshire Dod 2023

Clackmannanshire

Regional Coordinator

Clackmannanshire

Alloa Fire Station

Clackmannanshire

Alloa Historical Estate Walk

Clackmannanshire

Alloa Ludgate Church

Clackmannanshire

Alloa St John's Episcopal Church

Clackmannanshire

Alloa St Mungo’s Parish Church

Clackmannanshire

Alloa The Coach House Theatre

Clackmannanshire

Alloa Tower

Clackmannanshire

Alva Ice House

Clackmannanshire

Alva Old Kirkyard and Johnstone Mausoleum

Clackmannanshire

Clackmannan Parish Church

Dates and Times

Address

YOUR SUPPORT HELPS KEEP OUR FESTIVAL FREE FOR EVERYONE!