Before the Education Act of 1872 came into force there
were 8 privately financed schools in Tillicoultry.
John Stalker opened a school in Burnside in 1860 and
moved to Ochil Street in 1870. John McTurk had a school in Upper Mill
Street. Peter Dow ran a school in Union Street - once this school closed
the Co-operative Society bought the site and in 1879 erected premises
on it. These premises no longer exist but were at the top left hand
side of Union Street. Miss Cameron and Mr Roxburgh had a school in Frederick
Street. Miss Gordon ran a school in Hamilton Street taking pupils from
3 years at a fee of 6d (2.5p) per week. Miss Ramage had an infant school
in the J & D Paton works for employees' children and also for children
who were employed in the factory themselves.
Rev Archibald Browning came to Tillicoultry in 1818
and combined teaching with his pastoral duties. As numbers in his school
increased and more of his time was taken up with teaching he resigned
from the ministry in 1825. Rev Browning was an excellent teacher and
had around 40 boarders at the school as well as day pupils who travelled
from the surrounding districts to attend his classes. Rev Browning died
in 1858 aged 73.
After the Education Act in 1872 came into operation
The Tillicoultry School Board was established and financed by a county
rate and Government grants and they had ultimate responsibility for
the administration of the school. The new Tillicoultry Public School
opened in 1876 with 600 pupils. The new headmaster was George Watson
and the school under his leadership built up a good reputation and delivered
a sound education system with some pupils even reaching university standard.
In later years while John Wilson was headmaster the school concentrated
on elementary education and able pupils were transferred to Dollar Institution
(later Dollar Academy) in order to reach university standard.
Attendances at the school were usually good averaging
over 90%. However in September and October of each year attendance figures
fell dramatically due to the potato picking season when pupils were
required to supplement family budgets with this seasonal work.
The Fire of 1940
On Wednesday 19th June the Primary school consisting
of 11 classrooms, hall, headmaster's room, staffroom and storerooms
was completely destroyed by fire. The fire was first seen around 9pm
and in a very short space of time despite the efforts of the Alloa Fire
Brigade and the Auxiliary Fire Service the whole building was a blazing
furnace. Everything was lost - records, furniture, books, stationery
and equipment. The new Junior Secondary school escaped intact.
The school re-opened the following Monday with the older
primary classes being accommodated in the Junior Secondary building
and the younger classes moving into church halls throughout the town.
Primary Schooling from the late 1950's was in huts in
the centre of the town next to the West Church. A new Secondary school
was built in Fir Park which eventually was combined with Alva Secondary
school to become Alva Academy. First and Second year pupils attended
school in Tillicoultry and moved to Alva for years 3 - 6. Ultimately
the buildings in Alva were extended and all pupils and staff were housed
in the one area. This allowed the building in Tillicoultry to be converted
into the Tillicoultry Primary School
The huts were finally demolished, some of the land was
used to build the new Tillicoultry Medical Practice and the main buildings
were converted into a Community Centre for the Town.
