Historic Callander
Callander lies on the Highland Boundary Fault - where Scotland 'tore' from west to east and where the Highlands to the north begin with Ben Ledi - Callander's own mountain. Millions of years ago the area around Callander was covered by a thick deposit of sand and pebbles which became the famous 'pudding stone' which forms the local stone used to build the older houses in the town. The glaciers of the many ice-ages carved our the long glens from loch Doine, Loch Voil and Lubnaig and finally 'bulldozed' the glacial debris down just south of Callander to form the terminal glacial moraine in a sweeping horseshoe shape from the golfcourse, behind Auchenlaich farm and the gravel pits, past the A84 and down by the river Teith. The glacial 'Esker' the Victorians took to be a Roman camp is the bed of a river which flowed under the glacier.
The early occupants of the Callander area have left lots of evidence of their passing. There are 3 hill forts - the most prominent west of Callander at Dunmor hill. There is also the ancient 'Auchenlaich long barrow', one of their burial places, and more recently archaeologists have unearthed the remains of a circular hut near to Claish Farm south of the river.
After that came the Romans, who before leaving, built the Roman Marching Camp on the west side of the river between Callander and Kilmahog. The Victorian railway engineers later built the Callander -Oban railway line right through the middle of the remains of the camp earthworks.
Callander appears to have been an important religous centre. Beside the river is St Kessogs mound, 'Tom na Chessaig' where legent tells us St Kessog preached in the open air. Kilmahog was the 'Cell of St Chug' and just a little way north at the Leny Pass is the little Chapel of St Bride.
In the area around Callander, there were many clans, the most prominent of these being the Clan Buchanan, whose ancient burial ground lies beside the confluence of the two rivers northwest of the town, and whose cheiftain occupied Leny House between Callander and Kilmahog. To the north in the highlands were the Stewarts, the McLarens and the MacGregors - the latter the most famous of these due to Sir Walter Scotts narrative describing the exploits of Rob Roy MacGregor.
The oldest part of Callander lay beside the river at Bridge Street, but after the 1745 Jacobite rising, the Commissioners for the Forfeited Estates created a new 'Callander Town' and made the beginnings of the broad Main Street which now forms the backbone of Callander. Around 1770 the first bridge was built over the river Teith and Bridgend became part of the town.
At the end of the seven years war in 1763 a Soldiers’ Settlement was established in Callander in an area which is now part of the Golf Course.. Also, families from the nearby Highland Glens settled in the town and its environs and the variety of trades and occupations increased, including: spinning and weaving, merchandising, shoemaking and tailoring, farm labouring and others to satisfy the needs of the growing town.
In 1791 the population of Callander was around 1000, with a total of about 2000 in the parish.
With the 19th century we see the arrival of the Callander to Oban railway line. This brought the first tourist to the area and popularised the Trossachs which were further promoted with the publication of Scott's 'Lady of the Lake'. An engineer who helped plan the railway line saw the potential of the town and bought the land now known as 'Leny Feus'. On this land he built a number of large stone villas which were bought by affluent businessmen - largely from Glasgow - for the purpose of providing their families with a holiday retreat in the midst of this magnificent scenery. Leny Fues is still considered to be the 'affluent' end of town. The railway line was closed by an avalaunch at GlenOgle just before it was due to be closed by the 'beeching Axe' in the 60s.
In 1962 Callander's fame grew further with the BBC TV series 'Doctor Finlay's Casebook. The good doctor's house, 'Tannochbrae' is now a local guest house which proudly boasts momentos of the series.
Callander was always considered to be part of Perthshire, and was administered by Perth and Kinross County Council. In 1975, and much to the (continuing) despair of local people, the administration of Callander was handed over to Stirling local authority in whose control we remain.
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