Craigends is a residential area in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Houston and Killellan Houston and Killellan is a Civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish in the county and council area of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It contains the villages of Houston, Renfrewshire, Houston and Crosslee, as well as a num ...

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 ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

lying south of 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 ...

and on the banks of the

River Locher A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of its course if it run ...

. Craigends is on the south-eastern edge of the village of

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, bordering the parish's other village,

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, a ...

. As with most of Houston, Craigends is predominantly a

commuter settlement 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 o ...

. Craigends was formerly an estate most notably the seat of the Cunninghames of Craigends, related to the nearby family of the same name who were the

Earls of Glencairn Earl of Glencairn was a title in the Peerage of Scotland. King James III created the title in 1488 by royal charter for Alexander Cunningham, 1st Lord Kilmaurs. He held the earldom just two weeks before he and the king were killed at the Ba ...

, with their seat in

Kilmacolm Kilmacolm () is a village and Civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish in the Inverclyde council area, and the Counties of Scotland, historic county of Renfrewshire (historic), Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on th ...

. Craigends House, a notable example of

Scottish Baronial Scottish baronial or Scots baronial is an architectural style of 19th-century Gothic Revival which revived the forms and ornaments of historical architecture of Scotland in the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. Reminiscent of Scot ...

architecture designed by

David Bryce David Bryce Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE FRIBA Royal Scottish Academy, RSA (3 April 1803 – 7 May 1876) was a Scotland, Scottish architect. Life Bryce was born at 5 South College Street in Edinburgh, the son of David B ...

was demolished in 1971. Ardgryfe House, a category B-listed Renaissance-style stone mansion built in 1867, is on Craigends Road. The

Craigends Yew The Craigends Yew (NS4199566134) is an ancient European layering yew (''Taxus baccata'') growing next to the River Gryffe in what were the grounds of the Craigends Estate, Houston, Renfrewshire, Houston in Renfrewshire, Scotland. Estimates put i ...

is a circa 700 old layering yew tree grove located in the grounds of the old estate next to the

River Gryfe 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 emerg ...

. It is one of the largest of its species in Scotland.

Etymology

The estate's name is of uncertain origin though it is likely that the Craig construct comes from the Scottish Gaelic creagh: "a steep rugged mass of rock projecting upward or outward". Craigends does entail a number of igneous rock outcroppings: notably on the banks of the Gryffe near Crosslee, beneath the Gryffe Bridge, and in the centre of what is now Cunningham Gardens. It is interesting to speculate which (if any) of these features may have impressed on the ancient landscape to inspire the estate's name.

History

On the 4 February 1479 Craigends was granted to William Cuninghame. William was the second son of the Earl of Glencairn and his entitlement created a new branch in the influential Cuninghame family of Ayrshire: the Cuninghames of Craigends. The first mansion house was built around this time by William; it would be the home to his descendants for over 400 years. Members of the family were elected to Parliament for

in 1643 and 1689. John Charles Cuninghame, the 17th and final laird died in 1917. His estate and personal fortune was inherited by his widow, Alison Cuninghame, who maintained the mores of the landed gentry for decades to come. When she died in November 1958 the estate was inherited by a nephew. Not having the means to maintain the estate, however, the estate was left derelict and, after a few years, sold to the housing construction company Taylor Woodrow. The estate and mansion house were left abandoned for many years and fell into extreme dilapidation. In 1971 the mansion house was demolished and by 1973, Taylor Woodrow had started construction on the first of what would be many housing estates within the grounds.

Lodge Craigends

In 1907, John Charles Cunninghame became one of the many benefactors in the establishment of a Masonic Lodge in the area. In addition to a financial donation, he also allowed the Lodge to use his family estate's name. Lodge Craigends No 1042 was established in the nearby town of Linwood and continues to operate there. Craigends Social Club (the social arm of Lodge Craigends) has become a valuable facility which is used by many members of the local community.

Landscape

Craigends straddles two rivers: the Gryffe and the Locher. Situated on rolling land the estate rises gently to its highest point in the southeast. Though now dominated by private houses, roads and pavements some ancient woodland remains - most notably in the west, along the banks of the Gryffe.

References

External links

Craigends House and the Cunningham Family

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070503150422/http://craigends.net/ Craigends of the 20th CenturyBroken Link 10/24/2016)
The Website of Lodge Craigends No 1042
{{authority control Villages in Renfrewshire Strathgryffe