Coupar Angus
{{Short description|Town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox UK place
| country = Scotland
| official_name = Coupar Angus
| gaelic_name = Cupar Aonghais
| scots_name =
| static_image_name = Image:Clock Tower in Coupar Angus.jpg
| static_image_caption = Coupar Angus's clock tower
| os_grid_reference = NO222401
| edinburgh_distance_mi = 41
| coordinates = {{coord|56.547|-3.267|display=inline,title}}
| population = {{Scottish locality populations|name|POP=Coupar Angus}}
| population_ref = ({{United Kingdom statistics year|ScotSettlement}}){{Scotland settlement population citation}}
| unitary_scotland = Perth and Kinross
| lieutenancy_scotland = Perth and Kinross
| post_town = BLAIRGOWRIE
| postcode_district = PH13
| postcode_area = PH
| dial_code = 01828
| constituency_westminster = Perth and North Perthshire
| constituency_scottish_parliament = Perthshire North
}}
Coupar Angus ({{IPAc-en|'|k|ʊ|p|ər|audio=Coupar Angus.ogg}}; Gaelic: Cupar Aonghais){{cite web|url=https://www.ainmean-aite.scot/?id=38564|title=Coupar Angus|publisher=Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba|access-date=2024-01-31}} is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It lies on the River Isla in the broad and fertile Valley of Strathmore, {{convert|4|mi|km|0|abbr=off}} south of Blairgowrie. The A94 road from Perth to Forfar runs through the town, and it had a station on the Midland Junction line until 1967.
The town formerly straddled the border between Angus and Perthshire, but it has lain wholly within Perthshire since 1891.{{cite book|title=Boundaries of Counties and Parishes in Scotland|last=Shennan|first=Hay|date=1892|location=Edinburgh|publisher=William Green & Sons|page=202|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_meygAAAAMAAJ/page/n239}} It retains the name "Coupar Angus", however, which serves to distinguish it from Cupar in Fife.{{cite book|last=Mills|first=A. D.|title=A Dictionary of British Place Names|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=2011|isbn=9780191739446|entry=Coupar Angus|entry-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199609086.001.0001/acref-9780199609086-e-3800|entry-url-access=subscription}}
History
File:Town Hall, Coupar Angus - geograph.org.uk - 411905.jpg]]
The six-storey Tolbooth was built in 1762, funded by public subscription.{{cite web|url=https://canmore.org.uk/site/30603/coupar-angus-queen-street-the-steeple|title=Coupar Angus, Queen Street, The Steeple|work=Canmore|access-date=24 July 2018}}
In the Middle Ages the Cistercian Coupar Angus Abbey was one of Scotland's most important monasteries, founded by Malcolm IV (1153–65) in the 1160s. Of the abbey, only architectural fragments, preserved in the 19th-century parish church (which is probably on the site of the monastic church), or built into houses and walls throughout the town, survive, along with part of one of its gatehouses.{{cite web|url=http://www.scottish-places.info/towns/townfirst146.html|title=Coupar Angus|work=Gazetteer for Scotland|access-date=24 July 2018}}
Coupar Angus Town Hall was commissioned to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria and completed in 1887.{{Historic Environment Scotland|num= LB51347|desc= Town Hall Including Boundary Walls, Union Street|access-date=6 July 2022}}
Several Polish units were stationed in and around Coupar Angus during the Second World War.[http://www.polishforcesinbritain.info/PolonicaCouparAngus.htm POLONICA IN SCOTLAND: Coupar Angus]
The Scottish Fold breed of cat originated in or near Coupar Angus.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cat-world.com.au/scottish-fold-breed-profile.html|title=Scottish Fold Profile - History, Appearance & Temperament - Cat World|website=www.cat-world.com.au|date=26 February 2017|language=en-US|access-date=2018-07-07}}
Sport
Coupar Angus is home to the junior football club Coupar Angus F.C. and also Coupar Angus Amateur Football Club.
Buses
Stagecoach East Scotland operate services 57/57A and 59 via Coupar Angus which go to Dundee, Blairgowrie and Perth. The services each run hourly. {{Cite web |title=Blairgowrie Guide 2024 |url=https://tiscon-maps-stagecoachbus.s3.amazonaws.com/Timetables/East%20Scotland/EScotTemp/Perth%20and%20Kinross%20May%2024/Blairgowrie%20Guide%202024.pdf |website=stagecoachbus.com}}
Notable people
- William Nairne Clark (1804–1854), born locally and one of the two protagonists that fought the first recorded duel in Western Australia.{{cite AuDB |first=G.C. |last=Bolton |author-link=G. C. Bolton |title=Clark, William Nairne (1804–1854) |volume= |edition= |year=1966 |id2=clark-william-nairne-1900 |access-date=2 November 2018 }}
- Alan Gilzean (1938-2018), locally-born former professional footballer from the 1960s and 1970s.
- Sir Robert Gillespie Reid (1842–1908), railway contractor.
- James Stirton (1833-1917), locally-born physician and leading expert on mosses and lichen.
- Jock Sutherland (1889-1948), locally-born coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers 1946–1947.
- Major-General Douglas Wimberley (1896-1983), commander of the 51st (Highland) Division in the Second World War.
References
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{{Perth & Kinross Towns & Villages}}
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