County town: Clackmannan
Clackmannanshire is Scotland's smallest county, its boundaries established in the medieval period around the burgh of Clackmannan and the coalfields at the foot of the Ochil Hills.
Clackmannanshire is Scotland's smallest county, a compact area at the foot of the Ochil Hills where the Devon meets the Forth. Despite its tiny size, it had considerable economic importance from the medieval period onward, with coal mining, wool processing, and brewing. The Ochil Hills, rising steeply behind the county's towns, are popular walking country. Clackmannan Tower, a 14th-century keep associated with the Bruce family, stands above the county town. The town of Alloa, larger and more industrial than Clackmannan, became the county's effective centre, with glass-making and brewing — particularly Alloa's brewing industry — significant from the 18th century.
The Statistical Accounts of Scotland — the Old Statistical Account (1791–99) and the New Statistical Account (1834–45) — provide detailed parish-by-parish descriptions of Clackmannanshire at two moments of transformation. Aubrey draws on these accounts when generating reports for Scottish locations, providing historical context specific to the parish and county.
Scotland's 33 traditional counties, established as sheriffdoms from the 12th century onward, were the administrative framework of the country until the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1975 replaced them with regional councils. They remain the reference framework for historical records, genealogy, and cultural identity.
An Aubrey report for a specific location in Clackmannanshire draws on historical maps, archaeological records, Domesday data, Statistical Account records, and landscape history to tell the full story of any site in the county.
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