Looking back with Ian Scott on the heads adorning Falkirk's buildings

Over here in Falkirk we have our own collection of heads scattered on buildings throughout the town. They are usually carved from stone and I think most folk stroll past without spotting them.

One of the most prominent forms the keystone of the arched doorway to what is now the Peoples Church in West Bridge Street. The fancy front of the church dates to the late 1800s and the head is that of a bearded man with a crown. I think it represents King David or possibly God the Father. In the old Parish Church, now Trinity, there are two heads holding up the window arch of the Zetland Mausoleum. The artist has shown them with pained expression as if they are pressed down by the weight of the stone above them. They were put there in 1811 which probably makes them the oldest of the Falkirk Heads.

On the front of the former 1880 Christian Institute in Lower Newmarket Street there are three carved heads which I think represent some of the leading figures from the Reformation in Scotland. The middle one is certainly John Knox with his preaching hat and beard – the others might be Andrew Melville or even John Calvin.

Another church with a couple of intriguing heads is the Baptist Church in Weir Street. Just above one of the doors are two distinct faces also from the end of the century. We don’t know who they are but to my eye one of them is the image of Tom Weir the great Scottish broadcaster or maybe Jimmy Greaves the star footballer. Well worth a visit!

More modern faces decorate Aitken’s Bar in Manor Street. Here in bright colour are Tam o’Shanter and Soutar Johnny smiling on the Falkirk punters as they stagger by just like the two cronies did in Burns’ great poem.

There are a couple of slightly worn faces on the front of the Hope Street library under a beautiful wooden carving of Falkirk’s Coat-of-Arms. Then there are two surprising heads high up on the brick wall of the Acoustic Café in Garrison Place. I heard that they had been brought from Glasgow and to me they look like copies of classical heads – they do look familiar but I can’t quite put my finger on it. When they were inserted in the wall I have no idea.

Of course a wee bit out of town, on the arches of the Glen Bridge over the Union Canal, are the famous laughin’ and greetin’ faces that give the bridge its nickname. We are told that the smiling one is the man in charge of building the easier part of the canal to the east and the sour faced man has the tough job of cutting the dark tunnel and inserting 11 complicated locks.

I think most of these heads are simply the fancy of the architect and have not much significance beyond brightening up the buildings but they do transport us back over the years and add just a wee bit extra to the Falkirk story. There may be others that I haven’t spotted - look out for these ones and see if you can spot any more.