Houston and Killellan is a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the county and council area of

Renfrewshire 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 Renfr ...

in the west

central Lowlands The Central Lowlands, sometimes called the Midland Valley or Central Valley, is a geologically defined area of relatively low-lying land in southern Scotland. It consists of a rift valley between the Highland Boundary Fault to the north and t ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It contains the villages of

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

and

Crosslee Crosslee is a small village lying on the bank of the River Gryffe in the civil parish of Houston and Killellan, Renfrewshire, in Scotland. It lies around half a mile south of the old village centre of Houston and immediately west of Craigends, al ...

, as well as a number of smaller settlements including Barochan and Killellan in its rural hinterland. Under the name Houston, the civil parish's boundaries are similar to that of the modern

community council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. In ...

area, the most local level of

local government in Scotland Local government in Scotland comprises thirty-two local authorities, commonly referred to as councils. Each council provides public services, including education, social care, waste management, libraries and planning. Councils receive the majori ...

. The parish is situated in the

Gryffe Valley Strathgryffe or Gryffe Valley ( gd, Srath Ghriobhaidh) is a strath centred on the River Gryffe in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The River Gryffe passes through the council areas of Inverclyde and Renfrewshire, rising in Kilmacolm and joi ...

, 5 miles (9 km) north of Paisley, covering an area of 11.9 sq. miles (30.9 km²) and bordering the parishes of

Kilmacolm Kilmacolm () is a village and civil parish in the Inverclyde council area, and the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on the northern slope of the Gryffe Valley, southeast of Greenock and aroun ...

Erskine Erskine (, sco, Erskin, gd, Arasgain) is a town in the council area of Renfrewshire, and historic county of the same name, situated in the West Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on the southern bank of the River Clyde, providing the lo ...

and

Kilbarchan Kilbarchan ( gd, Cill Bhearchain) is a village and civil parish in central Renfrewshire, in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The village's name means "cell (chapel) of St. Barchan". It is known for its former weaving industry. History ...

. It also forms an

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish priest ...

in 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 Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

. The parish Killellan or Killallan is subject to a number of different spellings.

Origins

The

of Houston formed a union with the nearby rural parish and hamlet of Killellan in 1771, creating an effectively united parish centred upon one church in Houston. The

was given existence following the Poor Law (Scotland) Act 1845, which led to the creation of parochial boards with the responsibility for administering the

poor law In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...

Settlements

Houston

is the main settlement of the parish and a substantial

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

. It also contains the residential settlement of

Craigends Craigends is a residential area in the civil parish of Houston and Killellan in Renfrewshire, Scotland lying south of the River Gryffe and on the banks of the River Locher. Craigends is on the south-eastern edge of the village of Houston, bor ...

, divided from the rest of the village by the

River Gryffe The River Gryfe (or Gryffe) is a river and tributary of the Black Cart Water, running through the County of Renfrew in the west of Scotland. It gives its name to the surrounding Gryffe Valley, also known as Strathgryfe. Flow The Gryfe emerges ...

to the north

Crosslee

Crosslee is a smaller village to the south-east of Houston.

Killellan

Killellan, whilst formerly a parish in its own right, did not have any single developed settlement. Its built environment consisted of numerous small farms with a few other enterprises such a mill and smithy, with the parish church providing a religious focus for the community. Following the amalgamation of the Houston and Killallen parishes, the parish church - dedicated to

St Fillan Saint Fillan, Filan, Phillan, Fáelán (Old Irish) or Faolán (modern Gaeilge & Gàidhlig) is the name of an eighth century monk from Munster, who having studied at Taghmon Abbey, traveled to Scotland and settled at Strath Fillan. Name The na ...

(Faelan of Cluain Moescna) - fell into ruin. Now a

scheduled ancient monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

, the remains of the church lie around four miles (6 km) from the centre of Houston on the High Road to

at together with some other buildings which remain in use. Previously within the holdings of Elderslie Estates, in 2005 the church was gifted to the Kilallan Kirk Trust, a registered charity. The name of Killellan derives from the

Scots Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

term for 'cell' or 'church' of Fillan as a result of the dedication of its former parish church. Killellan or Killallan is spelled somewhat differently with usage remaining inconsistent. 'Killellan' is used by both the modern

Gazetteer for Scotland The ''Gazetteer for Scotland'' is a gazetteer covering the geography, history and people of Scotland. It was conceived in 1995 by Bruce Gittings of the University of Edinburgh and David Munro of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, and cont ...

, the

and the Community Council, whilst 'Killallen' is favoured in the 18th and 19th century Statistical Accounts, 'Kilallan' in the name of the 2005-created Kilallan Kirk Trust and 'Kilellan' 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 Renfr ...

. The old clootie and holy well of

and St Fillan's Seat are located near the old kirk at Kilallan.

Barochan

Barochan is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

and rural area to the north-east of Houston. The surrounding country contains Barochan House, a former

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...

dating back to the 16th century, and Barochan Hill which was the site of a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

fort and use for light

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

defences during the Second World War. The hamlet surrounds the former Mill of Barochan on the Barochan Burn. Close-by was the original site of the Barochan Cross, a Celtic Christian cross possibly carved in the 8th century. It was moved a short distance in the late 19th century before being taken to

Paisley Abbey Paisley Abbey is a parish church of the Church of Scotland on the east bank of the White Cart Water in the centre of the town of Paisley, Renfrewshire, about west of Glasgow, in Scotland. Its origins date from the 12th century, based on a for ...

for preservation.

Rural hinterland

The rural parts of the parish include a number of farms and small woodlands. The Barochan Moss lies in the east of the parish, and Haddockston House in the north. The Locher Water and the

run through the south of the parish. A tributary of the Gryffe, Houston Burn, runs through the village of Houston.

ROF Bishopton The Royal Ordnance Factory was a WW2 Ministry of Supply Explosive Factory. It is sited adjacent to the village of Bishopton in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The factory was built to manufacture the propellant cordite for the British Army and the Roya ...

, a

Royal Ordnance Factory Royal Ordnance Factories (ROFs) was the collective name of the UK government's munitions factories during and after the Second World War. Until privatisation, in 1987, they were the responsibility of the Ministry of Supply, and later the Ministr ...

surrounding Dargavel House currently operated by

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. ...

, straddles the north-east boundaries of the parish.

Government and politics

Houston and its parish form part of the

council area {{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) A council area is one of the areas defined in Schedule 1 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 and is under the control of one of the local authorities in Scotland created by that Act. ...

. For the 2007 local authority elections in Scotland, Houston was entered into a new four-councillor

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

, Ward 9, alongside Crosslee and the town of

Linwood Linwood may refer to: Places Many of the place names for Linwood come from the presence of linden trees. Australia *Linwood, South Australia *Linnwood, Guildford, 11-35 Byron Road, Guildford, New South Wales Canada * Linwood, Ontario *Linwood, N ...

Ward 9
. With the decline of the importance of civil parishes for local government in Scotland, Houston and Killellan has found itself replaced for this purpose by the Houston Community Council area.

Railways

Houston and Killellan was formerly served by two rural railway stations. Houston railway station (formerly 'Crosslee' and 'Crosslee and Houston') was situated close to the village of Brookfield outside of the parish. It closed in 1983 and the line now forms part of

National Cycle Route 75 National Cycle Route 75 runs from Edinburgh to Gourock via Glasgow. It is often known as the ''Clyde to Forth cycle route''. It then extends via the ferry from Gourock to Dunoon onto the Cowal peninsula to Portavadie from where another ferry co ...

. Houston railway station was opened in 1841, and in 1926 was renamed Georgetown railway station. Originally serving the small hamlet of Georgetown which no longer exists, it went on to connect the

National Filling Factory, Georgetown The National Filling Factory, Georgetown, was a First World War munitions factory situated near Houston in Renfrewshire, Scotland. It is believed that the Ministry of Munitions owned up to 12 filling factories; Georgetown was known as NFF.4. ...

in the First World War and subsequently

during the Second World War. At various points, it was operated as a

private railway station Private railway stations were a logical development of the rapid growth in railway transportation during the 19th century. Whereas financiers looked to place their stations so as to balance the cost of the construction with expected revenue from ...

for the staff of these facilities. It was closed in 1959.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Houston And Killellan Civil parishes of Scotland Geography of Renfrewshire