Barrhead ( sco, Baurheid, gd, Ceann a' Bharra) is a town in

East Renfrewshire East Renfrewshire ( sco, Aest Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù an Ear) 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 ...

, Scotland, southwest of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

city centre on the edge of the

Gleniffer Braes Gleniffer Braes ("brae" being the Scots language word for the slope or brow of a hill) is a short range of hills and park area to the south of Paisley, Scotland which form the boundary of Renfrewshire and North Ayrshire. Area In the braes, is f ...

. At the 2011 census its population was 17,268.

History

Barrhead was formed when a series of small textile-producing villages (Barrhead, Arthurlie, Grahamston and Gateside) gradually grew into one another to form one continuous town. According to local historian James McWhirter, the name "Barrhead" first appeared in 1750. Glanderston House, to the south, at one time belonged to the Stewart kings of Scotland. In 1851 there was an explosion at the Victoria Pit colliery in nearby

Nitshill Nitshill ( gd, Cnoc nan Cnòthan) is a district on the south side of Glasgow. It is bordered by South Nitshill to the south, Darnley to the east, Crookston and Roughmussel to the north-west, Hurlet to the west and Househillwood and Priesthill ...

, 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 some bodies were later exhumed and reburied in other cemeteries, some may still reside at St John's in an unmarked grave. In 1890, with a rapidly expanding population approaching 10,000, various local residents formed a Barrhead Burgh Formation Committee. The status of

police burgh A police burgh was a Scottish burgh which had adopted a "police system" for governing the town. They existed from 1833 to 1975. The 1833 act The first police burghs were created under the Burgh Police (Scotland) Act 1833 (3 & 4 Wm IV c.46). Thi ...

was granted in 1894 and William Shanks, proprietor of a local company, was elected as the first provost of Barrhead. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the town was a major centre for manufacturing, with industries including an iron

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

, a

tannery Tanning may refer to: *Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather *Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin **Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun **Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dye t ...

, and the

Armitage Shanks Armitage Shanks is a British manufacturer of bathroom fixtures and plumbing supplies, now part of the group Ideal Standard. In 2004, Armitage Shanks had eight factories in the United Kingdom, the largest in Armitage, Staffordshire. Armitage Sh ...

porcelainware works, as well as Gaskell's carpet factory, employing generations of the town's residents. In the later 20th century, the decline and closure of nearly all of these industries caused a fall in local employment and population. In recent years, Barrhead has found new life as a popular residential commuter town for near Paisley and Glasgow. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, a handful of bombs fell on Barrhead from German planes headed towards Clydebank and

Yoker Yoker ( gd, An Eochair) is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, on the northern bank of the Clyde east of Clydebank, west of the city centre. From the fourteenth century, the Renfrew Ferry has linked Yoker with Renfrew on the south bank. Althou ...

Governance

Burgh Court Hall and Burgh Chambers, Main Street, Barrhead (cropped)

In 1894 Barrhead became a

burgh of barony A burgh of barony was a type of Scottish town ( burgh). Burghs of barony were distinct from royal burghs, as the title was granted to a landowner who, as a tenant-in-chief, held his estates directly from the crown. (In some cases, they might also ...

, meaning that it had its own town council. The council was based at Barrhead Burgh Hall. The burgh status was abolished in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 when

Strathclyde Regional Council Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government ...

and

Renfrew District Council Renfrew District ( gd, Sgìre Rinn Friù) was one of nineteen local government districts in the Strathclyde region of Scotland, which existed between 1975 and 1996.East Renfrewshire Council East Renfrewshire ( sco, Aest Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù an Ear) 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 ...

. Barrhead is a single council ward, electing 4 members to serve as part of East Renfrewshire Council. Barrhead is part of the

county constituency In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called " constitue ...

, electing one

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

Kirsten Oswald Kirsten Frances Oswald (born 21 December 1972) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who served as the SNP Deputy Westminster Leader from 2020 to 2022. First elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for East Renfrewshire in 2015, she w ...

of the SNP was elected to represent East Renfrewshire in the

2019 UK General Election The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 12 December 2019. It resulted in the Conservative Party receiving a landslide majority of 80 seats. The Conservatives made a net gain of 48 seats and won 43.6% of the popular vote ...

. In the Scottish Parliament, Barrhead forms part of the Renfrewshire South constituency, represented by Tom Arthur of the SNP. Barrhead is also represented by seven regional MSPs from the West of Scotland electoral region.

Geography

Barrhead forms part of the

Greater Glasgow Greater 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 (or conurbation). It does not relate to municipal government ...

conurbation. Areas within the town include Arthurlie, Auchenback, Gateside and Grahamston. The town is about from the edge of the

urban area (

Hurlet Hurlet (or The Hurlet) is a small semi-rural district and former mining village,Hurlet
at

Parkhouse neighbourhoods), separated by farmland and countryside, much of which is now part of the

Dams to Darnley Country Park Dams to Darnley Country Park is a 1350 acre country park in East Renfrewshire and Glasgow, in Scotland comprising the historic greenspace between the towns of Barrhead and Newton Mearns in East Renfrewshire, and the areas of Darnley, Parkhouse, Gl ...

, encompassing the Balgray and Waulkmill Glen Reservoirs and the course of the Brock Burn.

Economy

Major businesses within the town include Barrhead Travel, Kelburn Brewing Company, and JM Murdoch & Son, among others. The town's largest employer is 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 range of retail goods available within Barrhead, although some residents still rely on Paisley and the nearby

Silverburn Shopping Centre Silverburn (also known as Pollok Town Centre or The Centre) is an out-of-town shopping centre located on Barrhead Road in Pollok, Glasgow, Scotland. The development replaces the Pollok centre with a brand new shopping centre, anchored by Te ...

in Glasgow for the bulk of their purchases. The town has three supermarkets.

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

is located just outside the town centre with Lidl close by, while

Asda Asda Stores Ltd. () (often styled as ASDA) is a British supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Leeds, England. The company was founded in 1949 when the Asquith family merged their retail business with the Associated Dairies company of Yorks ...

opened a store on Main Street in 2014. East Renfrewshire Council committed nearly £100 million to a masterplan to 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 rates Rates are a tax on property in the United Kingdom used to fund local government. Business rates are collected throughout the United Kingdom. Domestic rates are collected in Northern Ireland and were collected in England and Wales before 1990 and i ...

for Barrhead is undertaken by

Renfrewshire Council Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Ren ...

. In October 2016, Barrhead businesses voted in favour of becoming a Business Improvement District (BID), which is a model proving successful for town centres across the UK and beyond. The Barrhead BID is called 'All About Barrhead' and is the third BID in East Renfrewshire, following

Giffnock Giffnock (; sco, Giffnock; gd, Giofnag, ) is a town and the administrative centre of East Renfrewshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies east of Barrhead, east-southeast of Paisley and northwest of East Kilbride, at the south ...

which established in 2013 and Clarkston which is now in its second term, establishing in 2010. The town is part of the

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is an NHS board in West Central Scotland, created from the amalgamation of NHS Greater Glasgow and part of NHS Argyll and Clyde on 1 April 2006. It is the largest health board in both Scotland, and the UK, which c ...

Health Board. The nearest accident and emergency 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 motorway The M77 motorway is a motorway in Scotland. It begins in Glasgow at the M8 motorway at Kinning Park, and terminates near Kilmarnock at Fenwick, becoming the A77 dual carriageway. Changes were made in 2005 segregating a lane on the M8 motor ...

. Local bus services, McGill's Bus Services, travel from Barrhead to

, Paisley,

Neilston Neilston ( sco, Neilstoun, gd, Baile Nèill, ) is a village and parish in East Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is in the Levern Valley, southwest of Barrhead, south of Paisley, and south-southwest of Renfrew, at t ...

, and

Newton Mearns Newton Mearns ( sco, The Mearns; gd, Baile Ùr na Maoirne ) is a suburban town and the largest settlement in East Renfrewshire, Scotland. It lies southwest of Glasgow City Centre on the main road to Ayrshire, above sea level. It has a popu ...

Barrhead railway station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Barrhead-030908.jpg , caption = View from Platforms 2 and 3 at Barrhead railway station, looking towards Kilmarnock , borough = Barrhea ...

, which serves the town, is on the

Glasgow South Western Line The 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 The line was built by several railway compan ...

. Trains from Barrhead run north-east to Glasgow Central and south to Kilmarnock, Stranraer, and Carlisle. 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 Railway The Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway was a railway jointly owned by the Caledonian Railway and the Glasgow and South Western Railway, completed in 1873, and giving the latter a shorter access to its Carlisle main line. A branch to ...

; the

Glasgow & South Western Railway The Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR) was a railway company in Scotland. It served a triangular area of south-west Scotland between Glasgow, Stranraer and Carlisle. It was formed on 28 October 1850 by the merger of two earlier railway ...

, which built Barrhead Central railway station as the terminus of its short-lived Barrhead branch; and the

Caledonian Railway The Caledonian Railway (CR) was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively extended its network and reached Edinburgh an ...

. 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). Barrhead was formerly served by routes 14 and 28 of the once extensive

Glasgow Corporation Tramways Glasgow Corporation Tramways were formerly one of the largest urban tramway systems in Europe. Over 1000 municipally-owned trams served the city of Glasgow, Scotland, with over 100 route miles (160 route kilometres) by 1922. The system closed i ...

system. Trams ran from Barrhead to Glasgow and Paisley. Glasgow tram service 14 was once the longest in Great Britain, running from Milngavie on the far north-western edge of Greater Glasgow, through the city centre and then through Thornliebank, Spiersbridge, Barrhead and Paisley to reach Renfrew Ferry on the south side of the Clyde. Tramway services in Paisley and Barrhead were withdrawn in 1957; the entire system was dismantled by September 1962.

Education

Barrhead has five primary schools: Carlibar Primary School, Cross Arthurlie Primary School, Hillview 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 autism from across East Renfrewshire. The town has two secondary schools: St. Luke's High School and Barrhead High, both in the Auchenback area. In 2018, a £30 million replacement building for Barrhead High was opened. St. Luke's High School was named a School of Ambition by the Scottish Executive.

Culture

The Royal Shakespeare Company has staged full performances in Barrhead five times, most recently " The Canterbury Tales" 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, and The Brig Inn. The Cross Stobs dates back to at least 1695.

Sports

An active Scottish Junior football team, Arthurlie, 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

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

in the 1897 Scottish Cup. Arthurlie's

Johnny Kelly Johnny Kelly (born March 9, 1968) is an American musician, best known as the former drummer of gothic metal band Type O Negative. He is the current drummer for the bands Silvertomb, A Pale Horse Named Death, Kill Devil Hill, Danzig, and Qu ...

went on to play for Celtic and Barnsley and won several caps for Scotland. The team won the

Scottish Junior Cup The Scottish Junior Cup is an annual football competition organised by the Scottish Junior Football Association. The competition has been held every year since the inception of the SJFA in 1886 and, as of the 2022–23 edition, 108 teams compet ...

in 1998.

Alex McLeish Alexander McLeish (born 21 January 1959) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He played as a defender for Aberdeen during their 1980s glory years, making nearly 500 League appearances for the club, and won 77 caps for ...

, Scotland's most capped defender with 77 caps and national team coach, went to school in Barrhead. In the early 20th century, the town produced three brothers,

Alec Logan Alexander Logan (1882 – 10 October 1918) was a Scottish footballer, who played for clubs including Hibernian, Aston Villa, Falkirk (two spells), Bristol City and Kilmarnock. Career Born in Barrhead, Logan began his senior career with local c ...

, James Logan and

Tommy Logan Thomas Logan (17 August 1888 – 21 June 1962) was a Scottish footballer, who played for Falkirk and Chelsea. Record of pre-war Scottish League Players John Litster / Scottish Football Historian magazine, October 2012 Career Born in Barrhead ...

who all played for either Scotland or the

Scottish League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

. Barrhead Boys Club, founded in 1972 and recently renamed as Barrhead Youth Football Club, caters for children as young as 6 years old, up to 21, and also has adult and veteran teams. Barrhead is home to four bowling clubs: Barrhead, Arthurlie, Shanks, and St John's. Founded in 1904, the Fereneze Golf Club is the town's mature moorland 18-hole course boasting spectacular panoramic views over the Clyde Valley. Barrhead Boxing Club has produced several contenders at Scottish Amateur level as well as several professional contenders in recent years, while the town's several Muay Thai clubs have produced some notable championship fighters. A greyhound racing track, was opened on ground off the Aurs Road on Saturday 7 July 1934. The racing was independent (not affiliated to the sports governing body the

National Greyhound Racing Club The National Greyhound Racing Club was an organisation that governed Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom. History The National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) was formed in 1928 and this body would be responsible for regulation, licensing and the ...

) known as a flapping track, which was the nickname given to independent tracks. The track raced over 300 and 325 yards. The date of closure is not known.

Churches

Major churches in Barrhead include St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church on Aurs Road, the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...

parish churches of Bourock and St. Andrew's, both on Main Street, and the United Reformed Church on Arthurlie Street. There is also a Methodist church and several small Evangelical churches. There is also a small Church of God in Barrhead.

In literature

Barrhead Station features in

The Five Red Herrings ''The Five Red Herrings'' (also ''The 5 Red Herrings'') is a 1931 novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, her sixth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. In the United States it was published in the same year under the title ''Suspicious Characters''. Foreword The ...

, a detective novel by

Dorothy L Sayers Dorothy Leigh Sayers (; 13 June 1893 – 17 December 1957) was an English crime writer and poet. She was also a student of classical and modern languages. She is best known for her mysteries, a series of novels and short stories set between th ...

Notable people

References

External links

*
Barrhead News
{{authority control Towns in East Renfrewshire Burghs Populated places established in the 1750s Greater Glasgow