A vision of Britain through time
A vision of Britain from 1801 to now.
Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions.
A vision of Britain through time
A vision of Britain from 1801 to now.
Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions.
Eastwood or Pollok, a parish in the E of Renfrewshire. It contains the post-town of Pollokshaws (3 miles SSW of Glasgow) and the village of Thornliebank, with the stations of Pollokshaws, Kennishead, Thornliebank, and Giffnock. It is bounded N by Govan, E by Cathcart, S by Mearns, SW by Neilston, and W by Abbey-Paisley; and at its north-eastern corner approaches very near to the southern suburbs of Glasgow. Its utmost length, from NW to SE, is 4 5/8 miles; its greatest breadth is 3¾ miles; and its area is 5690 acres, of which 93¾ are water. The White Cart winds 4 miles west-north-westward through the interior and along the boundary with Abbey-Paisley; Levern Water runs 2½ miles, partly along that boundary, partly across a narrow western wing; and Auldhouse Burn, another of the White Cart's tributaries, comes in from Mearns, and traverses the interior, itself receiving Brock Burn, which rises close to the south-eastern border. The surface is charmingly diversified with shallow vale and gentle eminence, westward declining to 50 feet above sea-level, whilst rising to 167 near Know head, 170 near Haggbowse, 221 near Giffnock station, and 302 at Upper Darnley. The rocks are chiefly of the Carboniferous formation, and include valuable beds of sandstone, limestone, ironstone, and coal, all of which have been worked. The Giffnock sandstone has a fine grain and a whitish hue; the Eastwood pavement stone is a fine foliated limestone; and the Cowglen coal is of good quality, and occurs in numerous seams, none of the ore than 2½ feet thick. The soil on the banks of the streams is very fertile alluvium; on the higher grounds, is generally a thin earth on a till bottom; and elsewhere, is of various quality. Rather less than half the entire area is in tillage, as much or more is pasture, and some 350 acres are under wood. Extensive factories are at Pollokshaws, Thornliebank, and Greenbank; and the whole parish teams with industry, as if it were immediately suburban to Glasgow. Robert Wodrow (1679-1734), author of a well-known History of the Church of Scotland; Matthew Crawfurd (d. 1700), author of a voluminous unpublished work of the same title; and Stevenson Macgill, D.D. (1765-1840), professor of divinity in the University of Glasgow, were ministers of Eastwood; whilst Walter Stewart of Pardovan, author of the Pardovan Collections, died in the parish, and was interred in the Pollok burial-aisle. Darnley and Pollok, both separately noticed, are estates with much interest attaching to them; and StirlingMaxwell is the chief proprietor, 12 others holding each an annual value of £500 and upwards, 42 of between £100 and £500, 73 of from £50 to £100, and 89 of from £20 to £50. In the presbytery of Paisley and synod of Glasgow and Ayr, this parish is ecclesiastically divided into Eastwood proper and Pollokshaws, the former a living worth £602. The various places of worship and the schools are noticed under Pollokshaws and Thornliebank. Valuation (1860) £32, 503, (1882) £64,598, 1s. 5d. Pop. (1801) 3375, (1831) 6854, (1861) 11,314, (1871) 13, 098, (1881) 13, 915.—Ord. Sur., sh, 30, 1866.
(F.H. Groome, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4); © 2004 Gazetteer for Scotland)
| Linked entities: | |
|---|---|
| Feature Description: | "a parish" (ADL Feature Type: "countries, 4th order divisions") |
| Administrative units: | Eastwood ScoP Renfrewshire ScoCnty |
| Place names: | EASTWOOD | EASTWOOD OR POLLOK | POLLOK |
| Place: | Eastwood |
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