Blair Drummond

Blair Drummond (sometimes known as Blairdrummond) is a small rural community near Stirling in Scotland, predominately located along the A84 road.

Blair Drummond has a local authority primary school (known as Kincardine in Mentieth Primary School), a church (Church of Scotland denomination), and a community hall which was rebuilt in 2005. Blair Drummond is also the location of Scotland's only safari park (see Blair Drummond Safari Park), and also has a caravan park housed in the old walled garden of Blair Drummond House. An original resident of Blairdrummond House was enlightenment thinker Lord Kames whose wife inherited the house in 1766. [cite book | author=Milne, Hugh M. (ed) | title=Appendix to Boswell's Edinburgh Journals 1767-1768 | publisher=Mercat Press | year=2001|isbn=1841830208|pages=556] Lord Kames began the transformation of the carse area of Blair Drummond; turning it from an often water-laden moss into productive agricultural land. [cite web|publisher=Scottish National Heritage|title =History of Flanders Moss | url =http://outdooraccess-scotland.com/scottish/argyllstirling/history.asp | accessdate = 2008-04-12 ] which brought him an income of almost £2000 per year. [Milne, p556]

Blair Drummond House was entirely rebuilt in 1868-72 by James Campbell Walker and again by James Bow Dunn after a fire in 1921-23 [cite web|publisher=Dictionary of Scottish Architects|title =DSA Building/Design Report | url =http://www.codexgeo.co.uk/dsa/building_full.php?id=M003789 | year = 2006| accessdate = 2008-04-12] and is now a home for adults with learning disabilities run by the Camphill Movement.

Many of the residents of Blair Drummond are farmers, although others commute to Stirling and as far afield as Edinburgh and Glasgow. Blair Drummond is currently in the Stirling council area, although in the past it has been classified as part of Central Scotland region and before that Perthshire. Other communities bordering Blair Drummond are Gargunnock, Thornhill, Balfron and Doune. A community council covers both Thornhill and Blair Drummond, and the 2001 census for the area covered by the Thornhill and Blairdrummond Community Council put the population for the areas at 1,109. [ [http://www.stirling.gov.uk/thornhill___blairdrummond.pdf Thornhill and Blairdrummond Community Council] ]

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