Rouken Glen Park is a

public park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to r ...

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 ...

, 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 Montgomerie, 1st Earl of Eglinton on the marriage of his son in the year 1530 by James V. It takes its name from the old Rock End Meal Mill in the glen, which dates back to the early 16th century. The remains of the meal mill can be seen at the foot of the waterfall, deep within the foliage and rhododendron bushes high on the slope away from the pathway. Amongst the park's owners were

Walter Crum Walter Crum FRS (1796–1867) was a Scottish chemist and businessman. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1844. Life He was born in Glasgow, the second son of Alexander Crum of Thornliebank, a merchant there, and of Jane, the eldest da ...

Thornliebank Thornliebank ( Scots: ''Thonliebank'', Scottish Gaelic: ''Bruach nan Dealgan'') is a suburban area in East Renfrewshire, in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Part of the Greater Glasgow conurbation, it is located on the Auldhouse Burn about s ...

and Archibald Cameron Corbett, M.P. for

Tradeston Tradeston () is a small district in the Scottish city of Glasgow adjacent to the city centre on the south bank of the River Clyde. Geography Tradeston is bounded by the River Clyde to the north, the Glasgow to Paisley railway line to the so ...

, Glasgow (later Lord Rowallan) who gifted the estate and mansion house to the citizens of Glasgow. It was officially opened on 25 May 1906 and leased in June 1984 to the then Eastwood District Council, whose area was later included by the

Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 (c. 39) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which created the current local government structure of 32 unitary authorities covering the whole of Scotland. It abolished the two-tie ...

into East Renfrewshire in April 1996. Rouken Glen Park won the UK's Best Park as voted by YOU! 2016 Award at the

Fields in Trust Fields in Trust, is a British charity set up in 1925 as the National Playing Fields Association (NPFA), by Brigadier-General Reginald Kentish and the Duke of York, later King George VI, who was the first president, which protects parks and green s ...

awards ceremony on 30 November 2016 – coming top in a public vote from 214 nominated parks across the UK.

Features

The glen has many of the typical features of an

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

urban park, such as a boating pond started in 1923 by

Sir Robert McAlpine Sir Robert McAlpine Limited is a family-owned building and civil engineering company based in Hemel Hempstead, England. It carries out engineering and construction in the infrastructure, heritage, commercial, arena and stadium, healthcare, educa ...

to replace a former

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns slidi ...

pond. Rouken Glen includes a large

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in severa ...

on the Auldhouse Burn surrounded by steep woodland; the waterfall is based on a natural waterfall, doubled in height to form a reservoir to supply the printworks downstream at Thornliebank during the early 19th century. There is a

walled garden A walled garden is a garden enclosed by high walls, especially when this is done for horticultural rather than security purposes, although originally all gardens may have been enclosed for protection from animal or human intruders. In temperate ...

in the grounds of the former manor, Thornliebank House (demolished 1965). Directly to the south of the park is a golf course (part of a

David Lloyd Leisure David Lloyd Leisure is Europe's largest health, fitness and leisure business by revenue, operating 130 clubs across nine countries. History David Lloyd established David Lloyd Leisure in 1982 and opened the first club, aimed at providing a fa ...

club based at

Deaconsbank Deaconsbank is a neighbourhood in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated south of the River Clyde. The main feature of the area, which falls into the ''Greater Pollok'' ward of Glasgow City Council and directly borders the East Renfrewshir ...

, at the southern extremity of which (close to the Neilston branch railway line) is a 16th-century circular

dovecote A dovecote or dovecot , doocot ( Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pige ...

Trivia

The park features in an episode of Scottish comedy series ''

Rab C. Nesbitt ''Rab C. Nesbitt'' is a Scottish comedy series which began in 1988. Produced by BBC Scotland, it stars Gregor Fisher as an alcoholic Glaswegian who seeks unemployment as a lifestyle choice. Rab C. Nesbitt was originally a recurring character ...

'', when Rab gets a job sweeping leaves by the pond. A scene from the film '' Trainspotting'' was also filmed in Rouken Glen, and the pondside cafeteria, 'Boaters', was featured in an episode of the BBC Scotland drama series ''

Sea of Souls ''Sea of Souls'' is a BBC paranormal drama series, recounting the fictional activities of a group of investigators into psychic and other paranormal events. Produced in-house by BBC Scotland and for the final season by Carnival Films, init ...

''.

References

External links

*
Official Rouken Glen website
from East Renfrewshire Council *

{{Authority control Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes Urban public parks Parks in East Renfrewshire Giffnock