Clackmannan
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| Clackmannan District 1975-96 | |
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This article is about the administrative area, for the town see Clackmannan, Clackmannanshire.
From 1975, Clackmannan (from the Gaelic Clach Mhanainn, 'Stone of Manau') was the name of a small town and local government district in the Central region of Scotland, corresponding to the traditional county of Clackmannanshire, which was Scotland's smallest. The town of Clackmannan, in which the 'Stone' - a prehistoric monolith of probable cultic significance in the Iron Age - remains, was the chief settlement of its area from the Middle Ages (if not earlier), until supplanted from the second half of the 18th century by the growing manufacturing town of Alloa, on the north shore of the Firth of Forth. The medieval castle of Clackmannan Tower (Historic Scotland) stands above the town and is a landmark visible for many miles around. Dating from the 14th century, though much altered, the Tower is at present not open to the public, having been rendered dangerous by subsidence due to coal-mining (view from exterior).
The Stone of Manau stands by the market cross and the surviving tower and west gable of the former burgh tollbooth (built late 17th century) in the centre of the old town. Manau or Manaw was the name of the surrounding district in the Dark Ages.
The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 transferred the name to a unitary authority with the same boundaries, but the authority has subsequently re-adopted the traditional name of Clackmannanshire.
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