IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Kirk Wynd, CLACKMANNAN, FK10 4JF

The old Tollbooth, Merkit Cross and King Robert's Stone can be found in the centre of Clackmannan town. The tower is all that remains of the Tollbooth.

This clock tower has a name reflecting past use as a prison. Also visible are the Mercat Cross and the Mannan Stone from which gives the town's name is derived.

'Clackmannan Tolbooth' built in 1592 located on the main street of the town acted as the county gaol for 200 years.

All 3 subjects in the title of the photograph are Category A listed buildings on Main Street, Clackmannan. Clackmannan Tolbooth: Dating originally from the 1590s with the tower added c.1680, the remains of the sandstone tolbooth consist of the west gable and bell-tower. Clackmannan Market Cross: The stone cross probably dates from the 17th century. It stands on an octagonal stone stepped base which replaced similar steps in 2007. Clackmannan Stone: Also known as the Stone of Mannan, the curious-looking Clackmannan Stone (between the tolbooth and the cross) is probably about 4000 years old. Details of the listing of all 3 buildings can be found in https://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/200406616-clackmannan-main-street-tolbooth-clackmannan#.WdT8pjGWw5s

All three structures are Category A Listed. The remaining Belfry Tower of the Tolbooth was built about 1680. The Act authorising the Tolbooth was passed in June 1592 and it was built at a cost of £284. The bell presented by Sir Lawrence Dundas in 1765 was, until 1939, rung each day at 6pm. The clock was donated in 1865. Ruinous by 1792 it was not abandoned until 1822 and then partly demolished. The market cross shaft is probably earlier, bearing chain marks of prisoners fastened to it, but the original capital bears the Bruce coat of arms donated by Sir Henry Bruce (about 1622-1674) in the mid 17th century. The ball finial was replaced from the Bruce mansion house after it was demolished in 1857, then restored in 1897. The octagonal steps were rebuilt in 1949 and replaced in 2007. Clackmannan is thought to be derived from the Mannan stone that was mounted on the whinstone block in 1833. Clog (stone) and Manau (Celtic sea-god) became Clog Manann and eventually Clackmannan (recorded from 12th century onwards). The stone, dated from the third or second millennium BC by some is pre-Christian and probably stood in Lookabootye Brae until moved to Clackmannan Tower and then mounted here on a stone brought from Abbey Craig. It was broken in pieces at an early date and bound together with iron rods.

The tolbooth was erected in the late 16th century and the belfry tower was added in the following century. By 1792, although its courtroom was still in use, it was described as "a heap of ruins and a nuisance to the public" and partly demolished in 1822. The clock was added to the surviving tower in 1865. Around 1800 the Sheriff Court moved to Alloa and the tolbooth ceased to be a place of public punishment. A plaque on the building describes the unusual punishment meted out to Robert Livingstone from Crook of Devon, who was convicted of stealing three sheep in 1699. He was sentenced, "to be stripped naked of his clothes and scourged by the hand of the hangman through the whole town of Clackmannan with one of the sheep's heads and four feet hanging about his neck, and thereafter to be banished out of the said shire."

A plaque on the adjacent tolbooth explains that the town takes its name from the ancient boulder known as the "clog" of "Mannan", from "Manau" a Celtic sea deity. It was originally located south of the town close to the shore of the River Forth before being removed to Clackmannan Tower. In 1833 the Bruce family had it raised onto the large stone block, dragged from the Abbey Craig at Stirling by a team of 16 horses.