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This cache is part of a series of geocaches called Park Life. Caches are placed within our urban parks, community gardens or country parks. For more details and statistics on how you can expand the Park Life series please visit the Park Life webpage.
🌲*** Kinningars Park *** 🌲
Kinningars Park sits in what was once the village of Bridgeness, but Bridgeness like Kinneil, Carriden and Muirhouses is effectively swallowed by the sprawl of Bo'ness along the coastline of the Firth of Forth here. Considerable wealth passed through these villages in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries via industry and trade. A number of substantial estates were created locally during that era, and at this location, the estate of Grange House was one of those. The estate had many of the features of such dwellings that you would expect, including a dovecote (see description below), formal gardens and a tree-lined drive. The grounds must also have been used for breeding rabbits (for food) and this is now echoed in the name of Kinningars Park - 'cuningars' being an old Scots word for rabbit warren (from 'coney' - rabbit - in Middle English and earlier still a latin equivalent). Indeed this area appears as Cunningrie in the 1685 records and as Kinninger of Grange in 1705 records. The 19th Century map below shows that the line of the roads and woodlands hasn't changed too much in the last century.
1897 Map of Grange House Grounds/Kinningars
The large estate gradually gave way to various forms of industry and coal mining permanently changed the landscape, causing subsidance. The area was eventually gifted to the people of Bo'ness by the Cadell family, long associated with land ownership in this area. The park retains some evidence of its historical significance in the The Bridgeness Slab and The Kinningars Dovecote.
Bridgeness Slab
The Bridgeness Slab is a Roman distance slab created around 142 AD marking a portion of the Antonine Wall built by the Roman Legion stationed here. It’s regarded as the most detailed and best preserved of the several Scottish distance slabs along the wall. The sandstone table was found near here in 1868 on a promontory close to Harbour Road. The original is in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, while a replica sits at one of the entrances to Kinningars Park. There are information boards at the Slab to explain more of its history. The Slab is marked as a reference waypoint for this cache.
Kinningars Dovecote
This is a late 17th century/early 18th century large lectern type rectangular plan dovecot, converted in the early 19th Century to form housing for a winding engine for the adjacent mining shaft. It has large round-arched openings to the North and South, and a slender round-arched opening to the West. Inisde there are 415 brick nest boxes resting on stone slabs to serve its original function as the dovecote for the Old Grange House, seat of the Cadell family.
The Dovecote/Winding House - The Capped Mine Shaft (round structure) also shown
Terrain
The area of the park the cache is situated in is quite visible from a few different angles, so you are going to have to use your stealthy skills to prevent being muggled. However it's a perfect spot to be 'just taking a picture' of the dovecote, so that should help. 