Barrhead is a town in
East RenfrewshireEast Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. Until 1975 it formed part of the county of Renfrewshire for local government purposes along with the modern council areas of Renfrewshire and Inverclyde...
,
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) southwest of
GlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
on the edge of the
Gleniffer BraesGleniffer Braes is a short range of hills to the south of Paisley, Scotland which form the boundary of Renfrewshire and Ayrshire.-Area:...
. As of the 2001 census its population was 19,813.
Historically, most of what is now Barrhead lay within the parish of
NeilstonNeilston is a village and parish in East Renfrewshire set in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies in the Levern Valley, southwest of Barrhead, south of Paisley, and south-southwest of Renfrew, at the southwestern fringe of the Greater Glasgow conurbation...
, in the
county of RenfrewRenfrewshire or the County of Renfrew is a registration county, the Lieutenancy area of the Lord Lieutenant of Renfrewshire, and one of the counties of Scotland used for local government until 1975. Renfrewshire is located in the West Central Lowlands of Scotland, south of the River Clyde,...
. The name Barrhead comes from the agricultural term
Barr meaning long ploughed furrows for cultivation of crops. The original homestead or hamlet lay at the head of barrs and became known as Barrhead.
In 2007, Readers Digest magazine voted East Renfrewshire the second best place in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
to raise a family. The magazine visited and cited Barrhead in their decision.
History
Barrhead was formed when a series of small textile-producing villages (Barrhead,
Arthurlie- History of Arthurlie :The lands of Arthurlie were held in medieval times by the Stewart family, a branch of the noble Stewarts of Darnley. Later the lands became the property of Allan Pollock, Esq. and remained in his family for several generations before being inherited by Gavin Ralston of...
, Grahamston and Gateside) gradually grew into one another to form one contiguous town. According to local historian James McWhirter, the name "Barrhead" first appeared in 1750.
In 1851 an explosion at the Victoria Pit colliery in nearby
NitshillNitshill is a district on the south side of Glasgow. It is north of South Nitshill, south of Crookston, and southwest of Silverburn and Pollok. Nitshill was originally a coal mining village...
occurred, killing 63 men and boys who worked in the mine, many of whom lived in Barrhead. The victims were buried in a mass grave in the yard at St John's Church on Darnley Road, and although they were later exhumed to other cemeteries, some may still reside at St John's in an unmarked grave.
During the 19th and early 20th century, the town was a major centre for manufacturing, with industries including an iron
foundryA foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...
,
tanneryTanning is the making of leather from the skins of animals which does not easily decompose. Traditionally, tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound from which the tanning process draws its name . Coloring may occur during tanning...
, and the
Armitage ShanksArmitage Shanks is a British manufacturer of bathroom fixtures and plumbing supplies.In 2004 Armitage Shanks had eight factories in the UK, the largest in Armitage, Staffordshire. Armitage Shanks is one of the sponsors of the Loo of the Year Awards....
porcelainware works, as well as Gaskell's carpet factory, employing generations of the town's residents. In the latter 20th century, the decline and closure of nearly all of these industries caused a fall in local population and employment. In recent years, Barrhead has found new life as a popular residential commuter town for nearby
PaisleyPaisley is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland and serves as the administrative centre for the Renfrewshire council area...
and Glasgow.
During
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, a handful of bombs fell on Barrhead from German planes headed towards
ClydebankClydebank is a town in West Dunbartonshire, in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, Clydebank borders Dumbarton, the town with which it was combined to form West Dunbartonshire, as well as the town of Milngavie in East Dunbartonshire, and the Yoker and...
and
YokerYoker is a western district of Glasgow, in Scotland, UK, lying on the northern bank of the Clyde to the east of Clydebank. It is located approximately 5 miles west of the City Centre. From the fourteenth century a ferry has linked Yoker with the burgh of Renfrew on the south bank...
.
Governance
In 1894 Barrhead became a Burgh of Barony, meaning that it had its own town Council. This status was withdrawn in 1975 at the time of the institution of Strathclyde Regional Council and Renfrew District Council. Subsequent reorganisation to a single tier local authority placed Barrhead under the auspices of East Renfrewshire Council. Barrhead is a single council ward, electing 4 members to serve as part of East Renfrewshire Council.
Geography
Barrhead forms part of the
Greater GlasgowGreater Glasgow is an urban settlement in Scotland consisting of all localities which are physically attached to the city of Glasgow, forming with it a single contiguous urban area...
conurbation.
Economy
Major businesses within the town include Barrhead Travel, Kelburn Brewing Company, and JM Murdoch & Son, among others. The town's largest employer remains East Renfrewshire Council and the public sector. In 2002, part of the administration of East Renfrewshire Council relocated from Eastwood Park to Barrhead Main Street.
There is a very limited range of retail goods available within Barrhead, and residents must rely on nearby Paisley and Glasgow for the bulk of their purchases. The town's main supermarket, Tesco, is located outside the town centre.
There is also a lack of dedicated business space for service businesses. To address this, East Renfrewshire Council has committed nearly £100 million to a masterplan which will redevelop and modernise Barrhead's economy between 2007 and 2017. The Glasgow Road corridor is being redeveloped into a dedicated business district which includes Crossmill Business Park, Blackbyres Court, and the former Bowerwalls housing area.
There are four industrial estates: Robertson Street Industrial Estate, Levern Industrial Estate at Cogan Street, Muriel Street, and the Barrhead Cargo Centre and Shanks Industrial Park, located on the former site of the Armitage Shanks factory.
In 2005 local businesses created the Barrhead Business Forum, which liaises with East Renfrewshire Council, Barrhead Community Council, and East Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce.
The administration and collection of
business ratesBusiness rates is the commonly used name of non-domestic rates, a tax on the occupation of non-domestic property. Rates are a property tax with ancient roots that was formerly used to fund local services that was formalised with the Poor Law 1572 and superseded by the Poor Law of 1601...
for Barrhead is undertaken by Renfrewshire Council. The national rate for business rates set by the Scottish Executive for 2007-2008 is 44.1p per pound.
East Renfrewshire
Credit UnionA credit union is a cooperative financial institution that is owned and controlled by its members and operated for the purpose of promoting thrift, providing credit at competitive rates, and providing other financial services to its members...
is based in Barrhead.
The town is part of the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board. The nearest A&E unit is located at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley.
Transport
Barrhead is accessible via Junction 2 (Pollok) or Junction 3 (Darnley) of the
M77 motorwayThe M77 motorway is a motorway in Scotland. It originally began in southern Glasgow at the M8 motorway at Kinning park, and terminates near Kilmarnock at the village of Fenwick. However, changes were made in autumn 2005 segregating a lane on the M8 motorway almost as far as the Kingston Bridge,...
.
Local bus services, including McGills and
ArrivaArriva plc is a multinational public transport company owned by Deutsche Bahn and headquartered in Sunderland, United Kingdom. It has bus, coach, train, tram and waterbus operations in 12 countries across Europe, employs more than 47,500 people and services over 1.5 billion passenger journeys each...
, travel from Barrhead to
GlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
,
PaisleyPaisley is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland and serves as the administrative centre for the Renfrewshire council area...
,
NeilstonNeilston is a village and parish in East Renfrewshire set in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies in the Levern Valley, southwest of Barrhead, south of Paisley, and south-southwest of Renfrew, at the southwestern fringe of the Greater Glasgow conurbation...
, and
Newton MearnsNewton Mearns is a suburban town in East Renfrewshire, Scotland. It lies southwest of Glasgow City Centre on the main road to Ayrshire, above sea level. It has a population of approximately 22,637.The town is part of the Greater Glasgow conurbation...
.
Barrhead railway stationBarrhead railway station is a railway station in the town of Barrhead, East Renfrewshire, Greater Glasgow, Scotland. The station is managed by First ScotRail and is on the Glasgow South Western Line, 12 km south west of .- History :...
, which serves the town, is on the
Glasgow South Western LineThe Glasgow South Western Line is a mainline railway in Scotland that runs from Glasgow to Kilmarnock, and then either via Dumfries, or Stranraer via Ayr, with a branch to East Kilbride.- History :...
. Trains from Barrhead run northeast to
Glasgow CentralGlasgow Central has more than one meaning:*Glasgow Central railway station, a railway station in Glasgow, Scotland*Glasgow Central , a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, from 1885 to 1997 and from 2005 to present...
and south to
KilmarnockKilmarnock is a large burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland, with a population of 44,734. It is the second largest town in Ayrshire. The River Irvine runs through its eastern section, and the Kilmarnock Water passes through it, giving rise to the name 'Bank Street'...
,
StranraerStranraer is a town in the southwest of Scotland. It lies in the west of Dumfries and Galloway and in the county of Wigtownshire.Stranraer lies on the shores of Loch Ryan on the northern side of the isthmus joining the Rhins of Galloway to the mainland...
, and
CarlisleCarlisle railway station, also known as Carlisle Citadel station, is a railway station whichserves the Cumbrian City of Carlisle, England, and is a major station on the West Coast Main Line, lying south of Glasgow Central, and north of London Euston...
.
At the beginning of the 20th century, several railway lines ran through Barrhead to accommodate the town's manufacturing industries: the Glasgow Barrhead and Neilston Direct Railway and the Glasgow and Kilmarnock Joint Railway, which merged to become the
Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint RailwayThe Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway was a railway co-owned by Caledonian Railway and Glasgow and South Western Railway and was an amalgation of two different lines: the Glasgow, Barrhead and Neilston Direct Railway and the Glasgow and Kilmarnock Joint Railway.-Glasgow, Barrhead and...
; the
Glasgow and South Western RailwayThe Glasgow and South Western Railway , one of the pre-grouping railway companies, served a triangular area of south-west Scotland, between Glasgow, Stranraer and Carlisle...
, which built
Barrhead Central railway stationBarrhead Central railway station was a railway station serving the town of Barrhead, Renfrewshire, Scotland. The station was on the Glasgow and South Western Railway's short-lived Barrhead Branch.-History:...
as the terminus of its short-lived Barrhead branch; and the
Caledonian RailwayThe Caledonian Railway was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century and it was absorbed almost a century later into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, in the 1923 railway grouping, by means of the Railways Act 1921...
. Evidence of these lines can still be seen within the town, including two standalone sections of railway viaduct, one near the Tesco store and the other now carrying a footpath between Springhill Road and the Woodside Park in Upper Auchenback (known locally as the Jerries).
Education
Barrhead has six primary schools: Auchenback Primary School (scheduled for closure June 2011 ), Carlibar Primary School, Cross Arthurlie Primary School, Springhill Primary School, St. John's Roman Catholic Primary School and St. Mark's Roman Catholic Primary School. In 2007, St. Mark's received an outstanding report from HM Inspectorate of Education with 11 'excellents' - the most ever recorded by HMIE - making St. Mark's officially the best school in Scotland.
The new Carlibar Primary School, opened in the autumn of 2006 to replace an outdated building, hosts a family centre, a pre-school assessment unit, community and adult learning services, and a state-of-the-art language and communication unit which serves nearly 50 children with
autismAutism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
from across East Renfrewshire.
The town has two secondary schools: St. Luke's High School and Barrhead High. Barrhead High was named a
School of AmbitionThe Schools of Ambition programme was a political education initiative for secondary schools in Scotland run by the Education and Lifelong Learning Directorate....
by the
Scottish ExecutiveThe Scottish Government is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was established in 1999 as the Scottish Executive, from the extant Scottish Office, and the term Scottish Executive remains its legal name under the Scotland Act 1998...
.
A new further education unit, East Renfrewshire College, is planned for the town centre.
Culture
The
Royal Shakespeare CompanyThe Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
has staged full performances in Barrhead five times, most recently "
The Canterbury Tales The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century. The tales are told as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at...
" in 2006, using a mobile performance venue set up in Barrhead Sports Centre.
There are several public houses in Barrhead. These include Cross Stobs, The Kelburn, The Arthurlie Inns, The Fereneze Inn, and The Brig Inn. The Cross Stobs dates back to at least 1695.
Sports
An active
Scottish JuniorThe Scottish Junior Football Association is an affiliated national association of the Scottish Football Association and is the governing body for the Junior grade of football in Scotland. The term "Junior" refers to the level of football played...
football team,
ArthurlieArthurlie Football Club are a Junior Scottish football team based in Barrhead, East Renfrewshire, near Glasgow. They play at Dunterlie Park, on Carlibar Road, adjacent to Barrhead railway station. They currently play in the Stagecoach Super League, Premier Division...
, plays in Barrhead, with a previous club of the same name having played as a senior league side until 1929. The earlier team was renowned for its 4-2 defeat of
CelticCeltic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
in the 1897 Scottish Cup. Arthurlie's Johnny Kelly, went on to play for Celtic and
BarnsleyBarnsley Football Club are a professional English football club based in the town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Nicknamed the Tykes, they were founded in 1887 under the name Barnsley St. Peter's...
and won several caps for Scotland. The team won the Scottish Junior Cup in 1998.
Barrhead Boys Club founded in 1972 was recently renamed as Barrhead Youth Football club and caters for children as young as 6 years old up to 21 and also has adult and veteran teams, with 450 members it is one of the largest clubs in Scotland.
Barrhead is also home to the following bowling clubs: Barrhead, Arthurlie, Shanks, and St John's; and also the Fereneze Golf Club and Barrhead Community Tennis Club.
Barrhead Boxing Club has produced several contenders at Scottish Amateur level.
Churches
Major churches in Barrhead include St John the Evangelist Catholic Church on Aurs Road and the
Church of ScotlandThe Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
parish churches at Bourock, Arthurlie and South & Levern.
There is also a Methodist church and several small evangelical churches.
External links