Abbey through time | Descriptive Gazetteer entries

Administrative unit

Abbey

Scottish Parish

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Gazetteer entries for Abbey

Our Descriptive Gazetteer contains this text about the unit:

Abbey, a parish of NE Renfrewshire, including part of the town of Paisley while completely surrounding the burgh parishes, and itself called sometimes Abbey Paisley. It also contains the town of Johnstone, the Dovecothall portion of Barrhead, and the villages of Elderslie, Thorn, Quarrelton, Inkerman, Hurlet, and Nitshill. It is bounded N by Renfrew parish, NE by Govan in Lanarkshire, E by Eastwood, SE and S by Neilston, W by Lochwinnoch, and NW by Kilbarchan. Very irregular in outline, it has an extreme length from E to W of 7½ miles: its width varies between 3 and 4¾ miles: and its area is 16,179 acres, of which 2¾ are foreshore and 252½ water. The White Cart winds about 5 miles westward, partly along the eastward boundary, and partly through the interior, to Paisley, thence striking 1½ mile northward into Renfrew parish on its way to the Clyde: at Crookston it is joined by the Levern, which from Barrhead traces much of the south-eastern and eastern border. The whole of the north-western border, from Milliken Park to Blackstone House, a distance of 4¾ miles, is marked by the Black Cart: and all three streams are fed by several burns. NW of Paisley is a mineral spring: and to the SW are the Stanely and Rowbank reservoirs, large artificial sheets of water. The northern part of the parish is almost a perfect level, consisting chiefly of reclaimed moss, and near Boghead being only 13 feet above the sea: but southward one passes through ' a rough and undulating country, with masses of grey crag interspersed with whinny knolls,' to Stanely Moor and the Braes of Gleniffer-the scene of Tannahill's songs,-whose highest point within the Abbey bounds is Sergeantlaw (749 feet). Lesser elevations, from N to S, are Mosspark (159 feet), Carriagehill (147), Dikebarhill (168), Windyhill (312), Bent (637), and Hartfield (723). The soil on the arable lands has great diversity of character, being in some places a vegetable mould derived from moss: in others, especially along the streams, a rich alluvial loam. Generally, however, it is shallow, either clayey or sandy, and overlying a substratum of gravel or till, which, naturally retentive of moisture, has been greatly improved by art. The rocks of these low tracts belong to the Carboniferous Limestone series: those of the hills are various kinds of trap. In 1879, 8 collieries and 6 ironstone mines were in operation: and greenstone, sandstone, limestone, aluminous schist, fireclay, and potter's-clay are also extensively worked. The chief antiquity is Crookston Castle, and other ruins are Stanely Castle, Stewarts Raiss Tower, and Blackhall House. Hawkhead (Earl of Glasgow) and Cardonald are ancient mansions; while Johnstone Castle, Ferguslie, Househill, Ralston, Barshaw, and Egypt Park are all of modern erection. Twentythree proprietors hold each an annual value of £500 and upwards, 82 of between £100 and £500, 135 of between £50 and £100, and 263 of between £20 and £50. This parish is in the presbytery of Paisley and synod of Glasgow and Ayr, and it contains the quoad sacra parishes of Elderslie and Johnstone, with almost the whole of Levern. The charge since 1641 has been collegiate: and there are two ministers, the first of whom has an income of £621, and the second of £512. The parish church is that of the ancient abbey, described under Paisley, where, as also under Elderslie, Johnstone, and Barrhead, other places of worship of various denominations will be noticed. The landward schoolboard consists of 9 members: and 9 schools under it, with total accommodation for 2294 children, had (1879) an average attendance of 1558, and grants amounting to £1394, 3s. 6d. Abbey parish has its own poor-law administration, and possesses a poorhouse and a lunatic asylum for itself, with respective accommodation for 555 and 98 inmates. It is traversed by reaches of the Caledonian and of the Glasgow and South-Western railway, and by the Johnstone and Glasgow Canal. Valuation of lands and heritages (1881) £79,885, 12s. 6d. Pop. of quoad sacra parish (1871) 17,489: of landward district, 11,988. Pop. of civil parish (1801) 14,153, (1861) 29,687, (1871) 30,587, (1881) 34,392, of whom 17,470 were within the burgh.—Ord. Sur., sh. 30, 1866.

Abbey, par., NE. Renfrewshire, including part of Paisley, all Johnstone, and several neighbouring vils., 15,924 ac., pop. 34,393; contains collieries and ironstone mines, also pits of firecray and potters' clay.

(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))

These entries from our Descriptive Gazetteer are for places within the unit:

Barshaw, an estate, with a mansion (Jas. Arthur, Esq.), in Abbey parish, Renfrewshire, 1½ mile E of Paisley.

Blackhall, an estate in Abbey parish, Renfrewshire, adjacent to the SE side of Paisley. It gives appellation to Sir Michael Rt. Shaw-Stewart, Bart of Ardgowan House, and was conferred on his ancestor, Sir John Stewart, by King Robert NI. The mansion on it, about 1 mile SE of the centre of Paisley, is a plain, strong, ancient pile, which after 1710 became a farmhouse, and is now deserted, roofless, and of very dismal appearance- Lime works are on the estate. Blackhall, a mansion on the N border of Strachan parish, and an estate partly also in Banchory-Ternan parish, Kincardineshire.

Brabloch, an estate, with a mansion, in Abbey parish, Renfrewshire, in the north-eastern vicinity of Paisley.

Brediland, an estate, with a mansion, in Abbey parish, Renfrewshire, 1½ mile SW of Paisley. A pottery, for the manufacture of coarse earthenware, is on the estate.

Candren, a saline spring in Abbey parish, Renfrewshire, 2½ miles E of Paisley. A pamphlet was written by the late Dr Lyall, strongly recommending its water as an aperient and corrective.

Cardonald, an estate in Abbey parish, Renfrewshire, on the White Cart, 3 miles E of Paisley. It belonged anciently to the Stewart family, and passed to the Lords Blantyre. The mansion on it was large, castellated, and picturesque; underwent transmutation for the occupancy of various tenants; and, about 1855, gave place to a neat new farmstead. A village, called Cardonald Mills, stands a little to the N; comprises a group of cottages and several grain mills; and has a public school, which, with accommodation for 135 children, had (1880) an average attendance of 74, and a grant of £64,1s.

Cochrane, an ancient barony on the W side of Abbey parish, Renfrewshire. It belonged from the 14th century to the family of Cochrane, of whom Sir Wm. Cochrane of Cowdon was ennobled as Baron Cochrane of Dundonald in 1647, as Earl of Dundonald and Lord Cochrane of Paisley and Ochiltree in 1669. By the eighth Earl it was sold about 1760; and the greater part of it now belongs to Houstoun of Johnstone.

Corsemill or Crossmill, a village in Abbey parish, Renfrewshire, on the left bank of the Levern, 1 mile NNE of Barrhead.

Dovesland, a suburb in Abbey parish, Renfrewshire, on the S side of Paisley. It forms part of Charleston district, was mainly built after the year 1830, and has a large population, chiefly weavers.

Elderslie, a village in Abbey parish, Renfrewshire, with a station on the Glasgow and South-Western Rail- way, 2¼ miles W by S of Paisley, under which it has a post office. Consisting principally of two rows of houses along the road from Paisley to Johnstone, and inhabited chiefly by weavers and other operatives, it is notable as the reputed birthplace of Sir William Wallace, who hence is often styled the Knight of Elderslie. The estate on which it stands was granted in the latter half of the 13th century to Sir Malcolm Wallace, who is sup- posed to have been the Scottish hero's father, and with whose descendants it continued till, in 1729, it came to Helen, only child of John Wallace of Elderslie, and wife of Archibald Campbell of Succoth. By her it was sold, in 1769, to the family of Speirs. A plain old house in the village claims to be that in which Sir William Wallace was born; but, though partly of ancient structure, bears unmistakable marks of having been built long after his death; yet, very probably occupies the spot on which the house of Sir Malcolm Wallace stood. A venerable yew tree in its garden, known popularly as 'Wallace's Yew,' must likewise have got its name, not from any real connection with the patriot, but simply from the situation in which it stands. A still more famous oak tree - 'Wallace's Oak' -standing a little distance to the E, was gravely asserted to have afforded shelter, from the pursuit of an English force, to Wallace and 300 of his followers; and continued in tolerable vigour till 1825, when its trunk girthed 21 feet at the base, 13 ¹/6 feet at 5 feet from the ground, and 67 feet in altitude, whilst the branches covered 495 square yards. Time and relic-mongers, however, had reduced it to little more than a blackened torso, when by the gale of Feb. 1856 it was levelled with the dust (pp. 205, 206 of Trans. Highl. and Ag. Soc., 1881). At the village are a quoad sacra church (1840; 800 sittings) and the Wallace public school.—Ord. Sur., sh. 30, 1866.

Elderslie, an estate, with a mansion, in Renfrew parish, Renfrewshire, named after Elderslie in Abbey parish. The mansion, on the left bank of the Clyde, ½ mile E of Renfrew town, was built in 1777-82, and enlarged and improved at subsequent periods. Engirt by a fine park, it presents a handsome frontage to the Clyde, and contains a number of interesting relics associated with the name of Sir William Wallace, and brought from Elderslie village. It owner, Alexander Archibald Speirs, Esq. (b. and suc. 1869), holds 11, 259 acres in the shire, valued at £14,954 per annum.

Hawkhead, an estate, with a mansion, in Abbey parish, Renfrewshire, on the left bank of the White Cart, 2 ¼ miles SE of Paisley. It belonged in the middle of the 15th century to the doughty Sir John Ross, whose son and namesake appears in the parliament roll of 1489-90 as the first Baron Ross of Hawkhead-a title that expired with the fourteenth Lord in 1754. The estate passed first to his eldest sister, Mrs Ross Mackye, and next to a younger sister, Elizabeth, widow of the third Earl of Glasgow. Her son, the fourth Earl, succeeded her in 1791, and in 1815 was created Baron Ross of Hawkhead in the peerage of the United Kingdom. (See Kelburne Castle.) Hawkhead House, originally a large ancient tower, underwent such enlargement in the time of Charles I. as to take the form of a quadrangle. It was visited in 1681 by the Duke of York, afterwards James VII. Repaired and improved in 1782, it is now an irregular pile of antique appearance, with gardens originally formed in the Dutch style, and a finely-wooded park.—Ord. Sur., sh. 30, 1866.

Househill, an estate, with a modern mansion and a village, in the E of Abbey parish, Renfrewshire, on the right bank of Levern Water, 2½ miles NE of Barrhead. It contains an iron-work, a brick-work, coal mines, and an extensive quarry; and was sold in 1871 for £40, 000. The village, called Househill Muir, has Hurlet for its post-town, under Glasgow.—Ord. Sur., sh. 30, 1866.

Inkerman, a village in Abbey parish, Renfrewshire, 2 miles WNW of Paisley. It was founded about 1858 in connection with the working of ironstone mines. Pop. (1871) 723, (1881) 948.

Quarrelton, a collier village in the SW of Abbey parish, Renfrewshire, ½ mile S of Johnstone.

Ralston, an estate in Abbey parish, Renfrewshire, 1¾ mile E of Paisley From an early period down to the beginning of the 18th century it belonged to a family of its own name, originally called Ralphston from their ancestor Ralph; and in 1800, with some exception, it was acquired by William Orr, Esq., who had previously purchased from the Earl of Glasgow a part of the adjacent estate of Ingliston, and who erected there a handsome mansion called Ralston House.—Ord. Sur., sh. 30, 1866.

Cardonald, estate and ry. sta., Abbey par., Renfrewshire, on the White Cart, 3 miles E. of Paisley; belonged anciently to the Stewart family, and passed to the Lords Blantyre; near ry. sta. is the vil. of C. Mills.

(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))

Corsemill, or Crossmill, vil., Abbey par., Renfrewshire, on river Levern, 1 mile NE. of Barrhead.

(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))

Hawkhead House, seat of the Earl of Glasgow, Abbey par., Renfrewshire, on the White Gart, 2 miles SE. of Paisley.

(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))

Quarrelton, collier vil., Abbey par., Renfrewshire, near Johnstone.

(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))

Stanely Castle, ruined seat, Abbey par., Renfrewshire, 2 miles SW. of Paisley.

(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))

Candren, saline spring, Abbey par., Renfrewshire, 2½ miles E. of Paisley.

(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))

Cochrane, ancient barony, Abbey par., Renfrew; formerly the property of the Cochranes, Earls of Dundonald.

(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))

Inkerman, vil., with iron stone mines, Abbey par., Renfrewshire, 1½ mile NW. of Paisley, pop. 948; P.O., T.O.

(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))

Nitshill, vil. with ry. sta., Abbey par., Renfrewshire, on Levern Water, 4½ miles SW. of Glasgow, pop. 1001; has chemical works, and is largely inhabited by colliers and quarrymen.

(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))

Ralston, seat, Abbey par., Renfrewshire, 1½ mile E. of Paisley.

(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))

Lounsdale, place with bleachworks, Abbey par., Renfrewshire, 1½ mile SW. of Paisley.

(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))

Hurlet, vil., with alum and ammonia works, Abbey par., Renfrewshire, on Levern Water, 3 miles SE. of Paisley, pop. 341; P.O.; stands in a rich mineral field.

(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))

Househill Muir, vil. with quarry, &c., Abbey par., Renfrewshire, on Levern Water, 2½ miles NE. of Barrhead.

(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))