THE first Parish School in Alloa can be traced back to round 1645. Teachers listed include Ebenezer Bell in 1778 then Archibald White in 1790.

William Brody came in 1807 and William Duncan Bruce in 1846.

From 1633 the salary of the schoolmaster was fixed at 100 merks Scots.

In 1686 the local heritors increased the salary voluntarily so that it met the requirements of an act passed in 1696.

When Mr Mitchell was appointed in 1708 he was paid 250 merks Scots per year as stated in the stent roll.

He was known as the reader, a common name for a teacher in those days.

The main contributor to his salary was John Erskine, 6th Earl of Mar who paid £45 13 shillings and four pence.

The town of Alloa and the Kirk session of Alloa also contributed, with the town paying £48, and the Kirk £31.

In 1786 the fees charged to parents included two shillings and sixpence for writing, arithmetic cost three shillings, Latin was four shillings and sixpence, and French or mathematics was set at 7 shillings and sixpence per quarter.

By 1803 some of the courses available had doubled in price.

In 1790 the salary for teachers was raised to £29 9 shillings, with £16 in lieu of a house and garden.

By 1861 the salary was a maximum of £70 with an allowance of £20 for the house and garden.

By this time the teacher was being called Doctor.

The old Parish School was built in 1798 on the site of the Burgh School and the assembly room was added in 1810 giving the building a second storey.

In 1873 it was handed over to the school board after their first election.

The school was then enlarged but there was only accommodation for 1148 scholars while the total number of spaces required was 1476.

Construction began on the Burgh School at Bedford Place in 1875 and opened its doors in September 1876, even though it was not completed.

It was designed by local architects John Melvin & Son and cost between £5000 and £6000 to build. Two years later the headmaster Dr Bruce retired and was succeeded by John Ferguson.

The Burgh School was expanded in 1910 with further alterations in the 1950s or 1960s, and later became St Mungo’s Infant Department.

It now serves as the headquarters of Clackmannanshire Schools Support Services for secondary education.

The baronial style school was Category C listed by Historic Environment Scotland on June 12, 1972.