Cathcart (; , )
is an area of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

between

Battlefield A battlefield, battleground, or field of battle is the location of a present or historic battle involving ground warfare. It is commonly understood to be limited to the point of contact between opposing forces, though battles may involve troop ...

Mount Florida Mount Florida () is an area in the south-east of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Origins The Glasgow district of Mount Florida originated on the "Lands of Mount Floridon", which were described in detail when offered for sale at auction on 21 ...

, King's Park,

Muirend Muirend is an area on the South side of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated about 4 miles (6.5 km) south of Glasgow city centre. Muirend became extensively urbanised in the 20th century, developing into a commuter suburb. In a 2014 Royal Ma ...

and

Newlands Newlands may refer to: Places Australia * Newlands, Queensland, a locality in the Whitsunday Region * Newlands, Western Australia, a town in the Shire of Donnybrook–Balingup Ireland * Newlands Cross, Dublin, named after the former Newlands ...

. The

White Cart Water The River Cart is a tributary of the River Clyde, Scotland, which it joins from the west roughly midway between the towns of Erskine, Renfrewshire, Erskine and Renfrew and opposite the town of Clydebank. The River Cart itself is very short, bein ...

flows through Cathcart, downstream from Linn Park. 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, inclu ...

areas to live in Scotland.

Etymology

The name ''Cathcart'' derives from the

River Cart The River Cart is a tributary of the River Clyde, Scotland, which it joins from the west roughly midway between the towns of Erskine and Renfrew and opposite the town of Clydebank. The River Cart itself is very short, being formed from the conf ...

. The first part of the name varies in different early sources. The earliest attestation appears in 1158, as ''Kerkert''; here the first element is the

Common Brittonic Common Brittonic (; ; ), also known as British, Common Brythonic, or Proto-Brittonic, is a Celtic language historically spoken in Britain and Brittany from which evolved the later and modern Brittonic languages. It is a form of Insular Cel ...

Pictish Pictish is an extinct Brittonic Celtic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from late antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited number of geog ...

word surviving today in modern Welsh as ("fortification"). Thereafter, however, most or all attestations begin with the word that survives in modern Welsh as ("woodland"). These include ''Katkert'' (c. 1170), ''Catkert'' (between 1177 and 1185), and an attestation in the epithet of one Gilbert of ''Kathkerd'' from between 1203 and 1210. Thus, in its different forms, the name once meant "fortress on the River Cart" and "woodland on the River Cart".

History

The ancient

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 pries ...

was formed around Cathcart Castle, the hereditary seat of the Cathcart family. The castle was built in the 15th-century on a site overlooking the White Cart Water, now part of Linn Park. The remains of the castle were demolished in 1980, having been declared unsafe, leaving only the foundations. Originally part of the Parish of

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric: ''Gwovan''; Scots language, Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of southwest Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the sout ...

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Renfrewshire is located in the west central Lowlands. It borders East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire, and lies on the southern ba ...

, most of the ancient parish was annexed by the county of city of Glasgow in 1912. Cathcart is mainly a residential area, containing a mix of tenements, terraces and villas built from red or blonde sandstone. There are some historic buildings, including the Couper Institute (a public hall and library) and the Snuff Mill. One of

Alexander Thomson Alexander "Greek" Thomson (9 April 1817 – 22 March 1875) was an eminent Scottish architect and architectural theorist who was a pioneer in sustainable building. Although his work was published in the architectural press of his day, it was ...

's most significant buildings,

Holmwood House Holmwood House is the finest and most elaborate residential villa designed by the Scottish architect Alexander "Greek" Thomson. It is also rare in retaining much of its original interior decor, and being open to the public. A Category A liste ...

, is situated in Cathcart, close to the Glasgow city boundary. Local industry includes ClydeUnion Pumps (previously part of

Weir Group The Weir Group plc is a Scottish multinational engineering company headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History The company was established in 1871 as an eng ...

), and

Scottish Power Scottish Power Limited, trading as ScottishPower, is a vertically integrated energy company based in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a subsidiary of Spanish utility firm Iberdrola. ScottishPower is the distribution network operator for Central an ...

. Cathcart is served by Cathcart railway station on the

Cathcart Circle Line The Cathcart Circle Lines form a mostly suburban railway line, railway route linking Glasgow (Central) to Cathcart via a circular line, with branches to Newton (Lanark) railway station, Newton and Neilston railway station, Neilston, on the sout ...

, as well as numerous bus routes. Linn Park, the second largest park in the city, is within the surrounding area. The semi natural woodland, declared a local nature reserve in 2012, has a large path network and river walk.

Churches

Cathcart contains several churches including Cathcart Baptist church, Cathcart United Free church, Cathcart Congregational church and two Church of Scotland churches; Cathcart Old and Cathcart Trinity. The present Cathcart Old building was opened in 1929 and sits across Carmunnock Road from the earlier churchyard which contains the tower from the previous church and a graveyard. Cathcart Trinity was formed in November 2002 from the union of the vacant charges of Cathcart South and New Cathcart. The former New Cathcart Church building was converted into housing in 2006.This converted south side church is back up for sale - and it's had a bit of a makeover
Magdalene Dalziel, Glasgow Live, 22 December 2017 Cathcart's Catholic residents are served by St Gabriel's Church in Merrylee and by Christ the King in King's Park. Three congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses share a Kingdom Hall in Cathcart.

References

External links

*
Cathcart & District Community Council
{{Authority control Former church parishes of Scotland Areas of Glasgow