Avonbridge
A war memorial along a street with houses and cars
The centre of Avonbridge, with a war memorial in the foreground
Avonbridge is in the south of the Falkirk council area in the Central Belt of the Scottish mainland.
Avonbridge is in the south of the Falkirk council area in the Central Belt of the Scottish mainland.
Avonbridge
Location within the Falkirk council area
Area0.11 sq mi (0.28 km2)
Population660 (mid-2020 est.)[1]
• Density6,000/sq mi (2,300/km2)
OS grid referenceNS911726
• Edinburgh21.5 mi (34.6 km) E
• London340 mi (550 km) SSE
Civil parish
Council area
Lieutenancy area
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townFALKIRK
Postcode districtFK1 2
Dialling code01324
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament
Websitefalkirk.gov.uk

Avonbridge (Scottish Gaelic: Drochaid na h-Aibhne) [2] is a small village which lies within the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The village is 4.8 miles (7.7 km) south-southeast of the town of Falkirk. Avonbridge sits just inside the council boundary line between Falkirk and West Lothian councils.

The village lies at the junction of the B8028 and B825 roads and is a bridging point over the River Avon, hence the name Avonbridge. At the time of the 2011 census, a population of 652 residents was recorded.[3]

History

During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries Avonbridge was home to small scale open cast coal mining.[4] The village also had a brickworks in the mid twentieth century, "Avonbridge Brickworks", but today no longer exists.[4] Nowadays the village is largely residential although Avonbridge is the base of operations for "Stevenson Brothers" a haulage company, whose bright orange heavy goods vehicles transport goods across the United Kingdom.

Toponymy

The name Avonbridge derives from the fact that the village crosses a river. The affix "avon" is often found in the Celtic language which denotes the presence of a river,[5] in this case the River Avon. This is found in Scottish Gaelic as "abhainn/a river,"[5] with genitive "aibhne/of a river." Drochaid na h-Aibhne literally means Bridge of the River.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Mid-2020 Population Estimates for Settlements and Localities in Scotland". National Records of Scotland. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  2. ↑ Drochaid na h-Aibhne www.faclair.com Retrieved 2023-03-05
  3. ↑ Population and Household Estimates 2011 www.falkirk.gov.uk Retrieved 2017-04-13
  4. 1 2 Falkirk Local History Society, Avonbridge. Retrieved 2011-04-13
  5. 1 2 Iain Mac an Tàilleir 2003 Archived September 23, 2011, at the Wayback Machine www.scottish.parliament.uk. Retrieved 2011-05-02
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