THE lands of Middleton Kerse of Menstrie formed part of the wider Menstrie estate before 1725 when they were bought by Janet Kidstone, widow of Thomas Campbell who had died 19 years previously.

The superiority of the land however remained with the estate owner. Janet was a young widow and took a great deal of interest in managing her own affairs, and those of her children Robert and John.

It was with spare money that she purchased Middleton Kerse from Alexander Abercromby of Tullibody for 700 merks, the equivalent to just over £38 in old money. Yet it appears that neither she nor her sons ever lived there.

On May 4,1729, she bought 'two best mortcloths' for her sons from the nearby Logie Kirk, them having presumably died around that time.

She herself died in 1732 and her estate was inherited by her grandson Robert Campbell, son of Robert.

The property was put up for sale and land disponed to James Gibb, a merchant in Stirling, in 1785 for £1725.

When Middleton Kerse was put up for sale in 1808, it was purchased by John Philip, owner of the Doll Distillery for £5400, who sold it 18 years later for £6200 to London merchant Andrew John Mackenzie.

Mackenzie held the estate for a year then it was bought by James Meiklejohn, an Alloa brewer.

The Meiklejohns built the 'handsome modern villa' along with 'prominent and extensive offices, and a large garden' that stood until the 1960s.

Following Mrs Meiklejohn's death, her husband having predeceased her in 1837, the estate was sold to Alexander McNab, owner of the nearby Glenochil Distillery, in 1871.

On his death it passed to his nephew, also Alexander McNab who, unmarried, died on November 27, 1890. He bequeathed it to his 78-year-old brother James McNab of Goland.

In 1893 James purchased a burial plot at Logie Old Kirkyard where he was laid to rest in 1897.

The house was then inherited by James' eldest son Alexander and both it and the estate remained in McNab hands until 1935 when Ebenezer McNab was the last McNab to occupy it. After his widow Ina died, it was sold once more.

Ronald Whitson bought it in 1936 and lived there until the 1960s when Bett Homes purchased the land on which it stood and demolished it in 1965 to make way for new housing.

There is a window dedicated to Alexander McNab in Logie Church, erected by his brother William, commemorating his more than 40 years as an elder of the kirk.