Gargunnock is located in Carse of Stirling, part of Forth Valley surrounded by fertile agricultural land and accessible countryside. It nestles at the foot of the northern escarpment of the Gargunnock Hills, themselves part of the larger Campsie Fells north of Glasgow.
In the 18th century, changes in agricultural ideas and methods prompted people to move from the land into minor settlements or villages as small farms were amalgamated into more efficient larger ones.
The Industrial Revolution had an adverse effect on home-based employment such as weaving so many moved away in the 19th century. By the 20th century, much of the old housing stock had become sub-standard and many houses were ruinous and abandoned.
The second half of the 20th century, however, brought a general increase in prosperity, car ownership and the availability of grants for the improvement of older properties.
New Council houses were built, old properties were renovated and the local estate-owner began to release plots for individual private houses and later for larger developments. These brought gradual and positive change, allowing the village to expand at an agreeable pace and attract new people.
More than 12,000 years ago, ice that was more than a kilometre thick covered the area, and the weight of it depressed the land below sea level. As it melted and retreated the sea came in and covered the valley (whale bones have been found near the village).
Relieved of its overburden, the land gradually rose again, the sea retreated, forests grew and were cut down and peat accumulated up to 5 metres thick in places in the form of island bogs.
Then along came new ideas in land management designed to improve profitability. Peat removal, better drainage and improved agricultural methods, tools, and eventually machinery all contributed to the creation of surpluses.
These improvements also tended to favour the formation of larger farms at the expense of small ones, which displaced many people from the land into small settlements. In the early 1700s, to accommodate this, Sir James Campbell, made available strips of land (feus) on either side of what is now the Main Street (or King’s Highway”). Many of these people were tradesmen or day labourers servicing the bigger farms.