Erskine (, sco, Erskin, gd, Arasgain) is a town in the 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 Re ...

, 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 The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major cit ...

, providing the lowest crossing to the north bank of the river at the

Erskine Bridge The Erskine Bridge is a multi span cable-stayed box girder bridge spanning the River Clyde in west central Scotland. The bridge connects West Dunbartonshire with Renfrewshire and can be used by all types of motor vehicles, cyclists and pedestrian ...

, connecting the town to Old Kilpatrick in

West Dunbartonshire West Dunbartonshire ( sco, Wast Dunbairtonshire; gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann an Iar, ) is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. The area lies to the west of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's commuter to ...

. Erskine is a

commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many ...

at the western extent of the Greater Glasgow conurbation, bordering Bishopton to the west and

Renfrew Renfrew (; sco, Renfrew; gd, Rinn Friù) is a town west of Glasgow in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is the historic county town of Renfrewshire. Called the "Cradle of the Royal Stewarts" for its early link with Scotland's form ...

, Inchinnan, Paisley and Glasgow Airport to the south. Originally a small village settlement, the town has expanded since the 1960s as the site of development as an overspill town, boosting the population to over 15,000. In 2014, it was rated one of the most attractive

postcode A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or numerical digit, digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, includ ...

areas to live in Scotland.

History

Allison Avenue, Bargarran, Erskine - geograph

Archaeological evidence states that agricultural activity took place within the area as far back as 3000 BC and it has been inhabited by humans since 1000 BC. The first recorded mention of Erskine is at the confirmation of the church of Erskine in 1207 by Florentius,

Bishop of Glasgow The Archbishop of Glasgow is an archiepiscopal title that takes its name after the city of Glasgow in Scotland. The position and title were abolished by the Church of Scotland in 1689; and, in the Scottish Episcopal Church, it is now part of th ...

. The land around the town was first part of the estate of Henry de Erskine in the 13th century. Sir John Hamilton of Orbiston held the estate in the 17th century until 1703 when it was acquired by the Lords Blantyre. By 1782 there were twelve houses and a church in Erskine. A new church was then built which is still in use today. An influx of workmen moved to the area during 1836-41 due to the construction of the Inverclyde railway line. In 1900 it passed into the ownership of William Arthur Baird, who inherited it from his grandfather, Charles Stuart, 12th Lord Blantyre. In the late 18th century, the town of Erskine was 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 ...

. During this time, stone

quay A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths ( mooring locatio ...

s were constructed to support the

Erskine Ferry Erskine Ferry sailed across the River Clyde from Erskine to Old Kilpatrick. The ferry was also referred to as ''East Ferry of Erskine'' as there was another ferry to Dumbarton a few miles down river, known as ''West Ferry''. It is reputed to be ...

to Old Kilpatrick and Dunbartonshire. This replaced the river ford which had been in place since

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

times. In light of increased industry and infrastructure in the surrounding area, it gradually became a village in the following century. The small church community grew to having 3,000 residents in 1961, when Renfrewshire County Council unveiled its "New Community" plan for the town's development which involved the Scottish Special Housing Association. The development began in 1971 with the building of both privately owned and rented accommodation which boosted the town's population by around 10,000. Having established itself as a thriving

, the 1990s saw the building of larger and more expensive housing, aimed at more affluent property buyers. Due to apprehension about further expansion of the town, several proposals for further large housing developments have been rejected. This is largely because the town has only one secondary school.

Geography

The town expanded in the 1970s with the construction of

housing association In Ireland and the United Kingdom, housing associations are private, non-profit making organisations that provide low-cost " social housing" for people in need of a home. Any budget surplus is used to maintain existing housing and to help fi ...

stock. Since that decade, considerable private housing developments have continued. As more private houses were built in the 1980s, Erskine started to become an attractive place to live due to location factors and accessibility to main roads and the M8 Motorway. Due to this there was a major boom in property development in the 80s and 90s. Most ex-and existing housing association stock are found in the Bargarran, North Barr and Park Mains areas of the town. Private housing is mostly found in the west part of the town, e.g. Garnieland, Flures Drive, Hawthorn, Parkvale, Parkinch, St. Annes, West Freelands. Many house builders that have been attracted to the area include Miller Homes, Avonside, L & C, Beazer, Cala, Kier and Tay Homes. The town borders a number of nearby settlements, some separated by a rural hinterland.

Economy

The town's Bridgewater complex provides a range of

tertiary sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...

businesses, chiefly retail and leisure facilities. These include a

Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as one in Gibraltar. The company is headq ...

and

Aldi Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when ...

s supermarket, a tanning salon, a dental surgery, a Greggs bakery, a butcher, a fish & chip shop, a Subway store, a Domino's Pizza store, a pub with dining area, a Chinese restaurant, an optician, a chemist, a doctors surgery, hardware store, Ladbrokes bookmakers, a hair salon, an estate agency, a dry-cleaners and key cutting service, a swimming pool, a funeral directors, a bank and a public library. There are also smaller retail areas in the Bargarran, Mains Drive and Park Glade areas, where there are a few shops and restaurants as well as a community centre. On the riverside, there is an office block which is home to a logistic company. There was a former call centre in the small business park until late 2019. The Erskine Bridge Hotel (formerly

Esso Motor Hotel Esso Motor Hotel was a Swedish subsidiary of the American oil company Esso, for running hotels in Europe. History In the 1960s, with the rise of the numbers of travelers by car, the Scandinavian governments asked for dormitories for motorists at ...

) is also situated on the banks of the Clyde. A few hundred yards up river is the Pandamonium Play Centre. There are 2 private golf clubs in Erskine. The Erskine Golf Club, which is located on the border between Erskine and Bishopton. And also the Mar Hall Hotel and Golf Course which is less than away. In addition to a number of local playing fields, the area has two recently constructed sporting facilities: the Erskine Community Sports Centre and the

Astroturf AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Since the early 2000s, AstroTurf has ...

Park Mains High School Park Mains High School is a secondary school in Erskine, Renfrewshire. It is one of the biggest schools in Scotland. As well as taking in students from the town it also enrolls them from the surrounding areas of Bishopton (including the new D ...

Landmarks

Erskine Bridge

The

towers high over the western limit of the town. The bridge is the furthest west crossing point on the river and it soon expands to become the

Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde is the mouth of the River Clyde. It is located on the west coast of Scotland and constitutes the deepest coastal waters in the British Isles (it is 164 metres deep at its deepest). The firth is sheltered from the Atlantic ...

estuary.

Erskine House

Erskine House was constructed between 1828 and 1845. It was designed by Sir Robert Smirke, the architect of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. During the First World War it became the

Princess Louise Princess Louise may refer to: ;People: * Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, 1848–1939, the sixth child and fourth daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom * Princess Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife, 1867–1931, the ...

Scottish Hospital for Limbless Sailors and Soldiers. It is now the 5-star Mar Hall Hotel, recalling the estate's former ownership by the

Earl of Mar There are currently two earldoms of Mar in the Peerage of Scotland, and the title has been created seven times. The first creation of the earldom is currently held by Margaret of Mar, 31st Countess of Mar, who is also clan chief of Clan Mar. T ...

Erskine Hospital

The town is home to the Erskine Hospital, a facility that provides long-term care for veterans of the

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, s ...

and their Spouses, with a drop-in day centre and newly built Transitional Supported Accommodation for younger veterans at the Veterans Village near Bishopton. The charity opened as ''Princess Louise Scottish Hospital for Limbless Sailors and Soldiers'' in 1916 due to the urgent need to treat the thousands of military personnel that lost their limbs in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. It has gone on to offer help to British ex-service people from all wars since World War One. It has grown to become one of the biggest ex-services facility in Scotland. The charity has two units within the Erskine area and also specialist units in Glasgow and Edinburgh. The charity has strong links with the British Royal Family.

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

is the charity's patron. He opened the flagship unit called ''Erskine Home'' in 2000.

Princess Anne Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of ...

has also opened various units for the charity. The charity host various fundraising events throughout the year. They host an annual motorbike meet, a Military themed ball, Christmas fayre and various concerts. The charity accept the help of volunteers from the public and needs to raise £10 million annually to run its services. In February 2021, drug and alcohol addiction clinic Abbeycare Scotland relocated to the 34 bed unit in Meadows Drive no longer used by the Erskine charity.

Boden Boo

There is a woodland area beneath the Erskine bridge with about of informal trails, picnic areas and views of the

. The area is ideal for walking and cycling. The Erskine Beach is also situated here.

Forestry and Land Scotland Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) ( gd, Coilltearachd agus Fearann Alba) is responsible for managing and promoting Scotland's national forest estate: land, predominantly covered in forest, owned by the Scottish Government on behalf of the nation. ...

is responsible for the area.

Bodinbo Island

This is one of seven or more islands that once stood in River Clyde.

Bodinbo Island Bodinbo Island is an islet in the estuarine waters of the River Clyde close to the old ferry slipway at Erskine. Before the dyke or training wall was built the rocky Bodinbo Island was a prominent feature in the river hereabouts and a hazard to s ...

was a hazard to navigation but was cut off from the main river by a training dike in the mid 19th century.

Rashielee Quay and quarries

Much of the whinstone used to build the retaining walls, jetties, quays, etc. in the lower Clyde area came from the Rashielee Quarries and was transported via

Rashielee Quay The old Rashielee Quay or Rashielie Quay (NS471709) was located on the old Lands of North Barr, situated on the south bank of the River Clyde in the Parish of Inchinnan, between Bodinbo Island and Park Quay. It was built to facilitate the loadin ...

. The area has now been landscaped however parts of the quarries are still present however the quay has been infilled.

Park or Fulton's Quay

The old Park Quay basin, River Clyde, Erskine

Usually known as

Park Quay The disused Park Quay or Fulton's Quay (NS 47436 70692) is located on the old Lands of Park, situated on the south bank of the River Clyde in the Parish of Inchinnan, close to Newshot Island and the old Rashielee Quay. A slipway is also part o ...

this disused private quay and jetty stands close to the site of the old Park House estate. It was probably built in between 1789 and 1801 by the Fultons who made their fortune manufacturing silk in Paisley and one of the owners was W.T.Lithgow of the shipbuilding firm. The quay seems to have been last used in the mid 20th century.

Newshot Island

Erskine also boasts the unique natural habitat of Newshot Island Nature Reserve, a

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is domin ...

which juts out into the River Clyde. Contrary to its name, it is now a

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on a ...

, created from silt left over from the widening and deepening of the river in the 1930s, which connected the island to Erskine. The nature reserve acts as a feeding and resting point for a wide array of

migratory birds Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway, between breeding and wintering grounds. Many species of bird migrate. Migration carries high costs in predation and mortality, including from hunting b ...

traveling to and from regions such as North America,

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part ...

and

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali ...

Transport

Erskine is served by Glasgow Airport, which is located 4 km south of the town. Old Greenock Road connects Erskine to the M8 motorway, the Erskine Bridge and Bishopton. The last tip at the northern side of the A726 also connects to the Erskine bridge. This road cuts through the centre of Erskine itself and is also the primary road for traveling into Paisley. Erskine is serviced by

McGill's Bus Services McGill's Bus Services is a bus operator based in Greenock, Scotland.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 popu ...

, Paisley, Renfrew, Inchinnan,

Clydebank Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling and Milton beyond) to the west, and the Yoker and Drumchapel ...

, Glasgow Airport.

Education

The town's

secondary 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 ...

is called

. It is the largest school in Renfrewshire and one of the biggest in Scotland with up to 1,400 students. It is a

non-denominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. Overview The term has been used in the context of various faiths including Jainism, Baháʼí Fait ...

state school State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools ( Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in ...

. For

Roman Catholic 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 let ...

denomination state education, the town falls within the

catchment area In human geography, a catchment area is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...

of Trinity High School in nearby Renfrew. Erskine has five primary schools. All are state schools, with Rashielea, Bargarran and Barsail providing non-denominational education and St John Bosco and St Anne's providing Roman Catholic denomination education.

Notable residents

* John McArthur, union general during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

John Smeaton John Smeaton (8 June 1724 – 28 October 1792) was a British civil engineer responsible for the design of bridges, canals, harbours and lighthouses. He was also a capable mechanical engineer and an eminent physicist. Smeaton was the fi ...

, apprehender of terrorists during the Glasgow Airport attacks * Marcus Campbell, snooker player *

Stevie Jackson Stephen Jackson (born 16 January 1969) is a Scottish musician and songwriter. He plays lead guitar and sings in the Glasgow-based indie band Belle and Sebastian. Career Jackson's early musical influences include Madness, ABBA, Orchestral Man ...

, guitarist for ''

Belle & Sebastian Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released eleven albums. They are often compared with acts such as The Smiths and Nick Drake. The name "Belle and Sebastian" comes ...

'' * Blair Spittal,

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. The club have been m ...

Footballer * Rev Dr Andrew Stewart MD

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(1771-1838) minister of Erskine * Maurice Malpas, former Motherwell and Dundee United Football, also has caps for Scotland

References

External links

National Library of Scotland: Scottish Screen Archive
(Selection of archive films about Erskine) {{authority control Towns in Renfrewshire Greater Glasgow Civil parishes of Scotland