A very small village on the eastern edge of Clackmannanshire which has had a busy industrial past.
In 1777 the Kilbagie Distillery was opened by James Stein, son of John Stein of Kennetpans Distillery fame. A corn mill had been established on the farm at Kilbagie in 1720, but distilling proved to be more profitable. 3000 tuns of whisky were produced annually at it's peak, making it possibly the largest such undertaking of it's time. The buildings covered about seven acres of ground, and there was both a canal and a waggonway leading down from the distillery to the harbour at Kennetpans on the Forth. Whisky was produced at Kilbagie until 1851, after which the Kilbagie Chemical Manure Company used the site to produce chemical fertilizer until the late 1860s.
In 1875 J A Weir commenced the production of fine papers using esparto grass pulp in 1875, and by 1896 had formed the limited company, J & A Weir Ltd. Kilbagie began supplying rival paper company, Gestetner, in the early 1920's. In 1965 Gestetner bought J & A Weir Ltd and began modernising the mill. After operating under the name of Gestetner from 1969, the business was bought by the Pratt Group of Melbourne, Australia, and traded under the name of Weir Paper Products Ltd until its acquisition by Inveresk plc in 1995.
Inversk PLC announced the closure of Kilbagie in 2001.
Most of the original (though now demolished) paper mill buildings were constructed from red brick, but some rubble-built remnants of the distillery survived in the northeast part of the main block. An effluent plant was constructed to the south in 1995, which remains.
The industrial site is now used for waste management.
Kilbagie once had its own railway station and railway goods yard. These have both been removed.
Other than its industrial use, Kilbagie has some notable dwellings, such as the former Kilbagie railway station station house (to the east of the waste management site on the A977), Kilbagie mill house, formerly the paper mill personnel department office, is situated to the south of the walled gardens of Kilbagie House, formerly the management office, to the north of the waste site. There is one more dwelling to the west of Kilbagie House, called North Carse House.
The first effective farm threshing machine in Scotland was built at Kilbagie in 1777 by engineer George Meikle, the son of the celebrated inventor, Andrew Meikle.
References:
Inveresk PLC
Statistical Account of Scotland - Clackmannan Parish
Railscot