Newton Mearns ( sco, The Mearns; gd, Baile Ùr na Maoirne ) is a suburban town and the largest settlement 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 of ...
,
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 lies 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
main road to
Ayrshire
Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...
, above sea level. It has a population of approximately 26,993, stretching from Whitecraigs and Kirkhill in the northeast to Maidenhill in the southeast, to Westacres and Greenlaw in the west and Capelrig/Patterton in the northwest.
It is part of the
Greater Glasgow conurbation. Its name derives from being a new town of the Mearns (from
Scottish 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 ...
"a' Mhaoirne" meaning a stewartry).
History
Until the 20th century, the land around Newton Mearns was primarily agricultural. Ownership passed from the
Pollock
Pollock or pollack (pronounced ) is the common name used for either of the two species of North Atlantic marine fish in the genus ''Pollachius''. '' Pollachius pollachius'' is referred to as pollock in North America, Ireland and the United Kingd ...
s (whose name is perpetuated in the nearby Glasgow housing estate of
Pollok
Pollok ( gd, Pollag, lit=a pool, sco, Powk) is a large housing estate on the south-western side of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. The estate was built either side of World War II to house families from the overcrowded inner city. Housing 30,0 ...
) to the
Maxwells of
Caerlaverock
Caerlaverock (; gd, Cille Bhlàthain) is a civil parish in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.
The parish was historically in Dumfriesshire. The area includes:
* Caerlaverock Castle, a 13th-century castle, located south of Dumfries, Scotland
* ...
around 1300. It then passed to the Maxwells of Nether Pollok in 1648 and then the
Stewarts of
Blackhall in 1660. A new
turnpike
Turnpike often refers to:
* A type of gate, another word for a turnstile
* In the United States, a toll road
Turnpike may also refer to:
Roads United Kingdom
* A turnpike road, a principal road maintained by a turnpike trust, a body with powers ...
road from Eastwood Toll, now the main Ayr Road, was constructed in 1832.
By the end of the 18th century quarrying had developed and more importantly numerous textile mills and finishing works became established availing themselves of the numerous rivers and lochs for water supply. The 1893 'Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland' describes it as "pleasantly situated on a rising ground 410 feet above sea-level". It also reveals that it was 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 ...
' which bestowed the right to hold a weekly market and two annual fairs. However, the ''Gazetteer'' also describes the village as being only a "single street on the Glasgow and
Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...
highroad".
From the early 20th century, with the introduction of improved roads and railways to the area, it gradually became a growing commuter suburb 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 ...
. In the 1930s, between speculative and local authority housing ventures, a further 6,000 houses were added to the area and after a lull during the war years, in the 1950s, house building began again in earnest. Unfortunately, the old core village suffered neglect during and after World War II and was all but derelict by the 1960s. It was purchased and turned into a shopping centre which was later to become 'The Avenue at Mearns' in 1990.
Historical buildings in the area include the 15th century
Mearns Castle
Mearns Castle is a 15th-century tower house in Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire, south of Glasgow, Scotland.Lindsay, p. 352 It is a Category A listed building. The castle has been restored and is now part of the Maxwell Mearns Castle Church. It al ...
, Greenbank House owned by the National Trust for Scotland (just inside neighbouring
Clarkston) and the 1813 Mearns Kirk.
Pollok Castle
Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division (GUARD) undertook work on the
Pollok Castle
Pollock Castle, also known as Pollok Castle, was a tower house castle located to the west of modern Newton Mearns in East Renfrewshire, on the opposite side of the M77 motorway from the town. The castle appears on Timothy Pont's map (1583–96), ...
site, and history in 2000.
![House 2010 006](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/House_2010_006.JPG)
The castle appears to be noted by Pont's sixteenth-century map. The castle was demolished and rebuilt as a large stately house 1686 by Sir Robert Pollok. It was completely destroyed by fire in 1882 (after remaining empty for some while) and then rebuilt again shortly after in the Scottish Baronial style. It was finally abandoned in the 1940s and fell into ruin. Some of the ruins were dynamited in the 1970s and a large prefabricated house erected on the castle foundations. The prefabricated house was removed and the site cleared in the early 1990s, and the castle was again rebuilt in 2003, in the Scottish
Adam style
The Adam style (or Adamesque and "Style of the Brothers Adam") is an 18th-century neoclassical style of interior design and architecture, as practised by Scottish architect William Adam and his sons, of whom Robert (1728–1792) and James (17 ...
. Some of the original foundations and castle walls remain.
Governance
At national level, Newton Mearns forms part of the
Eastwood Eastwood may refer to:
Places
;in Australia
*Eastwood, New South Wales
**Eastwood railway station
**Electoral district of Eastwood
*Eastwood, South Australia
;in Canada
* Eastwood, Ontario
*Eastwood, Edmonton, Alberta, a neighborhood
;in the Ph ...
constituency (since renamed to its original name of ''East Renfrewshire''), and historically, it was one of Scotland's safest
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
seats in 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 ...
. From the
1997 general election, when Barrhead and Neilston were added to the constituency, until 2015 the seat was held by
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
. In the
2015 election it was gained represented by the
SNP's
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 ...
, but in
2017 general election it was gained by the Conservative
Paul Masterton
Paul Masterton (born 2 November 1985) is a Scottish Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for East Renfrewshire from 2017 to 2019.
Early life
Masterton was born on 2 November 1985 in Edinburgh. He attended Bucksto ...
. Oswald regained the seat in the
2019 general election.
Newton Mearns forms part of the
Eastwood Eastwood may refer to:
Places
;in Australia
*Eastwood, New South Wales
**Eastwood railway station
**Electoral district of Eastwood
*Eastwood, South Australia
;in Canada
* Eastwood, Ontario
*Eastwood, Edmonton, Alberta, a neighborhood
;in the Ph ...
constituency in the
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...
. The seat was held by
Labour's Ken Macintosh from 1999, when the
parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
reconvened, until 2016. In 2016,
Jackson Carlaw
David Jackson Carlaw (born 12 April 1959) is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2019 to 2020. He previously served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2011 to 2019. He has ...
MSP, won the seat for the
Conservatives
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
.
Following the breakup of
Strathclyde
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 et ...
Regional Council in 1996, Newton Mearns became part of the new
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 of ...
Council area.
On more than one occasion,
Glasgow City Council has applied to the
Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland to have Newton Mearns re-allocated to its control.
Councillors
As a result of the introduction of the
Single Transferable Vote
Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...
system for Scottish local council elections, it was planned that, in time for elections taking place in and after 2007, the town would be divided into two multi-councillor wards: ''Liboside and Newton Mearns North'' and ''Newton Mearns South''. However, due to a number of complaints about the new divisions, the former was renamed ''Neilston, Uplawmoor and Newton Mearns North'', in a move to keep
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 ...
an integral part of the council. The current councillors for the areas are as follows:
Newton Mearns North and Neilston
Newton Mearns South and Eaglesham
Economy
![Ayr Road shops, Newton Mearns - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Ayr_Road_shops%2C_Newton_Mearns_-_geograph.org.uk_-_18303.jpg)
Newton Mearns is primarily a residential area, with most of its inhabitants travelling by car or public transport to
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 ...
for employment and shopping. However, there are a number of small businesses in the area, as well as an indoor
shopping centre
A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof.
The first known collec ...
.
The Avenue Shopping Centre is the main large retail centre in Newton Mearns. It comprises a total of 44 stores, currently including two supermarkets, three banks, nine clothing stores, food shops, restaurants and a library. The line of the main shopping area in the Avenue runs the course of the old Mearns Main Street. There are also shopping units and restaurants at Broom on the Ayr Road, shopping units and restaurants at Broomburn on the Mearns Road, and shopping units and restaurants at Crookfur on Harvie Avenue. The newly constructed Greenlaw Village close to the M77 at Crookfur Road also has two supermarkets, a hotel, smaller shops and a number of restaurants.
Some significant businesses operating within Newton Mearns are Vets 4 Pets, Claro Print, Specsavers, Edinburgh Woolen Mill, Nicol Estate Agents, Pets N Vets.
The 120 homes in the Hugh Fraser Retirement Estate have been fitted with smart technology and sensors, giving residents control of heating, lighting and doorbells using
Amazon Alexa
Amazon Alexa, also known simply as Alexa, is a virtual assistant technology largely based on a Polish speech synthesiser named Ivona, bought by Amazon in 2013. It was first used in the Amazon Echo smart speaker and the Echo Dot, Echo Studio ...
, its first use in an assisted living setting for a Scottish retirement community.
Farming continues to be important to the south of Mearns Cross and stretching to Fenwick and Eaglesham Moors. A major
Bleach
Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color (whitening) from a fabric or fiber or to clean or to remove stains in a process called bleaching. It often refers specifically, to ...
Works and textile finishing centre was constructed at
Netherplace
Netherplace is a hamlet in East Renfrewshire. It is to the west of Newton Mearns, and adjacent to 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 Kilm ...
. The empty building was demolished in 2016 after it was the source of a major fly infestation across Newton Mearns and Clarkston. The site where the building was is visible from the M77 motorway.
Transport
Traffic through the town's A77 or Ayr Road was reduced significantly after 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 ...
extension opened in 1997. Transport links improved further in May 2006 with the opening of the
Glasgow Southern Orbital dual carriageway, and its connection to the M77.
As well as minor and major roads, the town has bus links with the centre 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 ...
,
Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...
, and
Ayr
Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire Subdivisions of Scotland, council area and the historic Shires of Scotlan ...
. The town is served by two local
railway stations
A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing such ...
,
Patterton and
Whitecraigs which run trains to
Glasgow Central station
, symbol_location = gb
, symbol = rail
, image = Main Concourse at Glasgow Central Station.JPG
, caption = The main concourse
, borough = Glasgow, City of Glasgow
, country ...
amongst others.
Education
Mearns has nine
primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
s and four
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
s, including one
independent school
An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...
:
The neighbouring town of Giffnock has the local Roman Catholic high school of
St Ninians High School.
; Primary schools:
* Kirkhill Primary School
* St. Cadoc's RC Primary School
* St Clare's Primary School and Calderwood Lodge Primary School (shared campus)
* Crookfur Primary School
* Mearns Primary School
* Maidenhill Primary School
* Belmont House School (private school)
* Isobel Mair School for children with special needs
; Secondary schools:
*
Eastwood High School
*
Mearns Castle High School
Mearns Castle High School is a secondary school situated on Waterfoot Road in Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire, Scotland roughly seven miles from Glasgow. It was built in 1978, and pupils from Mearns Primary, Eaglesham Primary, Kirkhill Primary ...
* Belmont House School (private school)
* Isobel Mair School for children with special needs
Religion
Newton Mearns has four
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 ...
churches, a
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
church, a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
church, two
synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
s, and a
mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
.
The town is home to around 25% of Scotland's entire
Jewish community
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
.
Leisure
Newton Mearns contains a number of parks, including Broom/Broomburn Park, Mearns/Shawwood Park, Crookfur Park & Parklands Country Club, and the town is adjacent to
Rouken Glen Park
Rouken Glen Park is a public park in East Renfrewshire, to the south-west of Glasgow, Scotland.
History
The lands of Rouken Glen Park originally belonged to the Scottish Crown, and then to the Earl of Eglinton, presented to Hugh Montgomeri ...
with its boating pond, gardens and leisure facilities. There are numerous
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
clubs, a golf academy, a tennis club, bowling club and rugby club. A public swimming pool and leisure centre is located at Eastwood Park in nearby Giffnock, and the swimming pool and sports centre at Eastwood High School is open to the public. Between Mearns and Barrhead lie the former reservoirs and water runs of the Gorbals Water Works, pioneered in the 19th century, before the building of the
Loch Katrine
Loch Katrine (; or ) is a freshwater loch in the Trossachs area of the Scottish Highlands, east of Loch Lomond, within the historic county and registration county of Perthshire and the contemporary district of Stirling. The loch is about lon ...
Water Works. The reservoirs and surrounding parklands now form 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 ...
.
The biggest football club near Newton Mearns is the
Junior
Junior or Juniors may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959
* ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009
* ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010
* ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019
Films
* ''Junior'' (1994 ...
club,
Pollok F.C.
Pollok Football Club is a Scottish football club based in Newlands in the southside of the city of Glasgow. The club competes in the West of Scotland Football League and are one of the biggest football clubs operating in Scottish non-league fo ...
The club's home stadium is situated in
Auldhouse, Glasgow. Newton Mearns also has an
amateur
An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...
football club, Newton Mearns Rovers AFC; Established in 1962, the club competes in the
Caledonian Amateur Football League
The Caledonian Amateur Football League is a football (soccer) league competition for amateur clubs in Scotland. It was formed in 1983 by inviting what were deemed to be top amateur clubs from across central Scotland with good facilities with hig ...
. Newton Mearns has a
Freemason
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
s' lodge, Lodge Newton Mearns No 1706, that meets in the Fairweather Hall on Barrhead Road.
Literature
Newton Mearns was briefly mentioned in John McGrath's play ''Little Red Hen'' (1975, first publ. London: Pluto 1977, p. 34). More recently, the town appeared as the setting for the thriller novel ''Aztec Love Song'' (Weathervane Press 2009, ) by
Marty Ross, a Scottish author best known for his BBC radio plays, who grew up in the town and studied at Mearns Castle High School.
References
External links
*
*
Newton Mearns Business & CommunityLodge Newton Mearns
{{Authority control
Populated places established in 1832
Towns in East Renfrewshire
Greater Glasgow
Jews and Judaism in Scotland