Garnkirk is a settlement in

North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire ( sco, North Lanrikshire; gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Tuath) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It als ...

, located a mile (1.5 km) southwest of Muirhead. It is located 10 km northeast of

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 popul ...

's city centre and 23 km southwest of Falkirk. Garnkirk is connected via the nearby motorways M8, M73 and M80. This provides access to

Cumbernauld Cumbernauld (; gd, Comar nan Allt, meeting of the streams) is a large town in the historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth most-populous locality in Scotland and the most populated t ...

and

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

. The nearest modern railway stations are in

Gartcosh Gartcosh (Scottish Gaelic: ''Gart Cois'') is a village in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The village lies a few miles east of Glasgow, and about northwest of the town of Coatbridge. According to a 2012 estimate, the population of Gartcosh was 2,13 ...

and Stepps.

History

The etymology of the name is ‘enclosure of the hen’. Several old documents show Garnkirk with various spellings including maps by

Timothy Pont Rev Timothy Pont (c. 1560–c.1627) was a Scottish minister, cartographer and topographer. He was the first to produce a detailed map of Scotland. Pont's maps are among the earliest surviving to show a European country in minute detail, from an ...

, Charles Ross, and

William Roy Major-General William Roy (4 May 17261 July 1790) was a Scottish military engineer, surveyor, and antiquarian. He was an innovator who applied new scientific discoveries and newly emerging technologies to the accurate geodetic mapping of ...

. John Dunlop bought Garnkirk House in 1634. The house stayed in the family for many years. The Dunlops were well known. For example James Dunlop being a wealthy landowner opposed Thomas Muir and the congregation at Cadder over who appointed their minister. The house is now the clubhouse of the Crow Wood Golf Club. "James Dunlop of Garnkirk" was one of the five wealthy supporters of Glasgow's first playhouse in the late 18th century ( a Puritanical spirit suppressing entertainment in the city). One gazetteer, Samuel Lewis, describes coal being hardly worth digging

Auchinloch Auchinloch ( Gaelic: ''Achadh an Locha'') is a village in Scotland, situated within the North Lanarkshire local authority area but very close to the boundary with East Dunbartonshire and sharing the G66 postcode of the town of Kirkintilloch a ...

with some limestone quarrying with a works established at Garnkirk. There was some coal found at Garnkirk. There was a substantial fire clay works at Garnkirk, north of Garnkirk Station, on the

Garnkirk and Glasgow Railway The Garnkirk and Glasgow Railway was an early railway built primarily to carry coal to Glasgow and other markets from the Monkland coalfields, shortening the journey and bypassing the monopolistic charges of the Monkland Canal; passenger traffi ...

. It opened around 1831; their goods were sold around the world. The works manufactured products including vases, flower-pots and crucibles. It shut in 1901. Between 1897 and 1921 Garnkirk was the location of the

Gartloch Gartloch is a residential village in Glasgow, Scotland. Outwith the city's urban area (the closest contiguous district being Easterhouse), it is very close to the boundary with North Lanarkshire, south of Garnkirk and west of Gartcosh. To the sou ...

Distillery that produced grain whisky. It was sold as widely as America and New Zealand.

Garnkirk Burn

The Garnkirk Burn rises to the west of Stepps. It then runs through the Garnkirk Glen and flows north-east to meet the Bothlin Burn. The Bothlin Burn escapes from Bishop Loch, south of

. It is joined by the Garnkirk Burn east of Davidston farm, just north of the M80. The Bothlin is without a doubt the Luggie Water's major contributing stream. Blaeu - Atlas of Scotland 1654 - GLOTTIANA PRÆFECTVRA INFERIOR - Lower Clydesdale Auchinloch

Blaeu - Atlas of Scotland 1654 - GLOTTIANA PRÆFECTVRA INFERIOR - Lower Clydesdale Auchinloch

Muirhead, Chryston and Moodiesburn from the air (geograph 5681671)

References

Populated places in North Lanarkshire {{NorthLanarkshire-geo-stub