Eaglesham (East Renfrewshire)

Lat:55.739 Lon: -4.277

Eaglesham is a village in East Renfrewshire.

Until the 1760s, Eaglesham consisted of a dispersed collection of crofts and farms. From 1769, Alexander Montgomerie, 10th Earl of Eglinton, had the settlement redeveloped as a new planned village.

At the centre of this stands the long central 'A' shaped green, known locally as the Orry. The cotton mill on the Orry was built in 1791. By 1845 it employed about 200 people. Eighty of them were under the age of 16 (59 were 13 or under). The mill was powered by a huge waterwheel, 45 feet in diameter. In 1876 the mill was burned down and never rebuilt.

After suffering a period of decline, Eaglesham was declared Scotland's first Conservation Village in the 1960s. Today it is chiefly a dormitory town for commuters.

Features of the area

• Farm
• Village
• Rural
• Mill

East Renfrewshire Group

East Renfrewshire is one of Scotland’s 32 unitary council areas. Until 1975 it formed part of the county of Renfrewshire. The East Renfrewshire local authority was formed in 1996, covering the same area as what was then Eastwood district, with the addition of Barrhead, which came from Renfrew district.

It borders North Ayrshire, East Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire and the City of Glasgow.

Elsewhere on the BBC

• BBC Glasgow and West Scotland

Elsewhere on the web

• Portal to the Past - East Renfrewshire's Heritage Collection
• RCAHMS: Eaglesham, the Common
• Wikipedia: Eaglesham