Houston and Killellan is a civil parish in the county and council area of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It contains the villages of Houston 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 area, the most local level of local government in Scotland. 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, Erskine and Kilbarchan. It also forms an ecclesiastical parish in the Church of Scotland. The parish Killellan or Killallan is subject to a number of different spellings.

Origins

The ecclesiastical parish 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 civil parish 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

Houston is the main settlement of the parish and a substantial village. 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, the remains of the church lie around four miles (6 km) from the centre of Houston on the High Road to Kilmacolm 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 Church of Scotland 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. 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 and rural area to the north-east of Houston. The surrounding country contains Barochan House, a former tower house dating back to the 16th century, and Barochan Hill which was the site of a Roman 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, 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 Renfrewshire council area. For the 2007 local authority elections in Scotland, Houston was entered into a new four-councillor ward, Ward 9, alongside Crosslee and the town of Linwood
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 Brookfield may refer to: Australia *Brookfield, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane *Brookfield, Victoria Canada * Brookfield, Manitoba, on Manitoba Highway 11 *Brookfield, Newfoundland and Labrador *Brookfield, Nova Scotia *Brookfield, Ontario ...

outside of the parish. It closed in 1983 and the line now forms part of National Cycle Route 75. 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 ROF Bishopton during the Second World War. At various points, it was operated as a private railway station for the staff of these facilities. It was closed in 1959.

Notes

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