Overview of Menstrie

A Hillfoot village in Clackmannanshire, situated at the western end of the Ochils between Alva and Blairlogie. The Menstrie Burn, which divides Dumyat from Myretoun Hill falls down to meet the River Devon here. 16th-century Menstrie Castle was the birthplace c.1567 of Sir William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling, who founded Nova Scotia in Canada, and General Sir Ralph Abercromby (1734 - 1801) who defeated the French at Aboukir Bay. Formerly a centre for the weaving of blankets and other woollens, the nearby Glenochil Distillery was founded in 1760. Today distilling and the manufacture of yeast products by United Distillers are the main industries.