page_title: Larbert
section_title: Buildings and landmarks
hierarchical_section_title: Larbert / Buildings and landmarks
caption_attribution_description: English: Larbert Old Parish Church
context_page_description: Larbert is a small town in the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The town lies in the Forth Valley above the River Carron which flows from the west. Larbert is 3 miles from the shoreline of the Firth of Forth and 2.5 miles northwest of Falkirk, the main town in the area. The village of Stenhousemuir lies directly east of Larbert, with both settlements being contiguous and sharing certain public amenities with one another.
  In medieval times, the Larbert area was heavily forested, but this was cleared and gave rise to much of the agricultural land which surrounds the town. The coming of industry and especially the arrival in the 1840s of the Scottish Central Railway, which passes through the village, provided a base for economic growth. From the late 18th century until the mid-20th century heavy industry, such as boilermaking, casting and manufacturing underpinned the economy of Larbert. The Victorian era also saw the opening of the Stirling District Lunatic Asylum at Bellsdyke and Scottish National Institution for Children on the Stenhouse Estate. This made Larbert central in providing care, both locally and nationally.
context_section_description: Larbert Old Parish Church stands on the western approaches to Larbert, above the River Carron. The church, designed by the Scottish architect David Hamilton, was built in 1820 at a cost of £3,000 using sandstone from a local quarry. The church was built at a time of population growth and increasing prosperity in Larbert and its parish, which necessitated the construction of a more modern place of worship. As Larbert grew during the 19th century, the church again became too small. Major alterations to the building were carried out in the 1880s. An early chapel under the domain of the Abbot of Cambuskenneth is believed to have stood in the vicinity of the present-day church. The church is now under threat of closure as of June 2016
  At the southern tip of the village, the Dorrator Iron Bridge used to span a meander in the River Carron until it was dismantled and replaced with a new bridge adjacent to the surviving pillar on the west side of the river, connecting Larbert with the neighbouring settlement of Camelon. The bridge was constructed in 1893 on the site of a ford, which could rarely be used when the river was in full flow. The bridge is reached via a footpath leading from the bottom of Carronvale Road in Larbert.
  Larbert Bridge was the original crossing over the Carron and was built in the 17th century. A toll was collected in the 18th century, payable to the Earl of Callendar and Linlithgow and levied at " ...four pennies Scots for each cart, two pennies for each loaded horse and twelve pennies Scots for each score of droves of cows that shall pass along the said bridge." A later, more modern crossing built next to Larbert Bridge carries the main A9 road from Larbert to Falkirk. Nearby, a 19th-century viaduct, built outside Larbert, carries the railway into town. The main A9 road passes underneath.
  The Station Hotel, close to Larbert's railway station, has been a central focal point of Larbert for many years. An inn or public house has stood on the spot of the current hotel for as long as the railway has passed through Larbert.
  The Victorian Gothic structures of the Royal Scottish National Hospital (RSNH) and Bellsdyke Hospital existed in a dilapidated state until their eventual and very controversial demolition in 2015, most of the grounds are being used for new housing development.  Carronvale House is an 18th-century category A listed building, now home to the Scottish Headquarters of the Boys' Brigade.
caption: Larbert Old Parish Church, built in 1820, stands above the River Carron on Larbert Cross.
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