The tree-covered hill on the approach to Fowlis Wester is one of the earliest
traces in the area of Neolithic man; a burial mound dating from 3000 BC which
probably contains the remains of many generations of our earliest inhabitants.
The pre-Reformation church at Fowlis Wester deserves special mention and you
can read about it in more detail by clicking
here.
In the village square there is an 8th/9th century stone that although now
badly eroded, still displays carvings of men on horseback and on foot, some
hounds, a large bird (not unlike a capercaillie) and an animal which might
represent a wolf. On one side of the stone was a pillory - a strong iron
chain used to secure kirk defaulters whilst they were pelted with eggs.
The 1961 Census records a population of just 685, less than half of what it
was a hundred years earlier. The closing decades of the 19th century saw the
collapse of hand-loom weaving and brought with it a rapid decline in
the population of the parish. Fowlis Wester and the surrounding area saw its
population drop from 400 to just 50 during this time, with the neighbouring
villages of Castleton, Loanside and Bannochy disappearing completely.
Although the Weaving Society was dissolved in Crieff in 1856 many hand weavers
in Fowlis (and a few of the neighbouring areas) continued to ply the shuttle but,
by the dawn of 1900 the weaving industry had died out completely. The
consequence of a falling population also meant that gradually the many shops
and trades that had thrived in the village (bootmakers, carpenters and so on)
disappeared too.
After World War 2 this area saw a new development in the form of commercial
gardening. The laird of Abercairney converted his spacious gardens and was
soon supplying neighbouring towns and villages with fresh vegetables, fruit
and flowers together with honey from Abercairney apiary.
The Perfect Solution
Last updated November 1999
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