Tour Scotland Autumn travel video of a road trip drive, with Scottish music, on ancestry visit to Tillicoultry in Clackmannanshire. One of the Hillfoots Villages on the A91, which runs from Stirling to St. Andrews in Fife, Tillicoultry is situated at the southern base of the Ochil Hills. The town owes its name to the Scottish Gaelic for " hill in the back land " and in 1195 it was recorded as Tulycultri. From the early 1700s Tillicoultry became known for Tillicoultry serge, a cloth manufactured by weaving worsted with linen, though in 1790 it remained a fairly small village. This all changed following the establishment of the first mill in the 1790s, which was rapidly followed by many more. The first mills were water-powered and built close to the burn, but from the 1830s steam powered mills began to be introduced. These spread steadily south west down the Tillicoultry Burn as prime space was used up. The impact on the town was dramatic. A population which stood at 916 in 1801 had increased to 4,686 in 1851. Tillicoultry serge continued to be manufactured in the town, but many other product also emerged from the mills here. These included blankets, plaids, tartans, tweeds and shawls. By 1870 there were 12 mills employing over 2000 people on 230 power looms and 340 hand looms in Tillicoultry. In addition there were some 200 hand loom weavers making shawls and napkins in the town.
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