Partick (,

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

: ''Partaig'') 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 ...

on the north bank of the

River Clyde The River Clyde (, ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the second longest in Scotland after the River Tay. It runs through the city of Glasgow. Th ...

, just across from

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 ...

. To the west lies

Whiteinch Whiteinch () is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated directly north of the River Clyde, between the Partick and Scotstoun areas of the city. Whiteinch was at one stage part of the burgh of Partick, until that burgh's absorp ...

, to the east Yorkhill and

Kelvingrove Park Kelvingrove Park is a public park located on the River Kelvin in the West End of the city of Glasgow, Scotland, containing the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. History Kelvingrove Park was originally created as the West End Park in 1852, a ...

(across the

River Kelvin The River Kelvin () is a tributary of the River Clyde in northern and northeastern Glasgow, Scotland. It rises on the moor south east of the village of Banton, Scotland, Banton, east of Kilsyth. At almost long, it initially flows south to D ...

), and to the north Broomhill, Hyndland,

Dowanhill Dowanhill is an affluent area in the West End of Glasgow, Scotland. An upper middle-class residential district, the area generally contains a mixture of terraced townhouses with private communal gardens, detached villas with private grounds an ...

Hillhead Hillhead (, ) is an area of Glasgow, Scotland. Situated north of Kelvingrove Park and to the south of the River Kelvin, Hillhead is at the heart of Glasgow's fashionable West End, with Byres Road forming the western border of the area, the ...

, areas which form part of the

West End of Glasgow Glasgow is the most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in west central Scotland. It is the third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom and the 27th-most-populous city in Europe, and comprises 23 wards w ...

. Partick was a

Police burgh A police burgh was a Scottish burgh which had adopted a "police system" for governing the town. They existed from 1833 to 1975. The 1833 act The first police burghs were created under the Burgh Police (Scotland) Act 1833 ( 3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 46 ...

from 1852 until 1912 when it was incorporated into the city.Second City of The Empire: 1830s to 1914
from theglasgowstory.com. Retrieved 22 December 2011. Partick is the area of the city most connected with the

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Africa * Highlands, Johannesburg, South Africa * Highlands, Harare, Zimbab ...

, and several Gaelic agencies, such as the Gaelic Books Council (

: ''Comhairle nan Leabhraichean'') are located in the area.Comhairle nan Leabhraichean
(Books Council). Retrieved 22 December 2011. (Scottish Gaelic) Some ATMs in the area display Gaelic.

Etymology

The modern name derives from the ancient

Cumbric Cumbric is an extinct Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup spoken during the Early Middle Ages in the ''Hen Ogledd'' or "Old North", in Northern England and the southern Scottish Lowlands. It was closely related to Old Welsh and the ot ...

''Peartoc'' (as in the modern Welsh word ''perth'', meaning "bush or thicket"). This was adopted into

as ''Peart(h)aig'', giving modern Gaelic ''Pearraig'' or ''Partaig'' (the latter is used on signs at Partick railway station). Older anglicised forms include ''Perdyc'' and ''Perthick''.

History

Although Partick remained a village until the middle of the 18th century, it is an ancient place. The Kings of

Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Welsh language, Welsh; in Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic, meaning 'strath

alley An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, footpath, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road (back lane), or a path, w ...

of the River Clyde') was one of nine former Local government in Scotland, local government Regions and districts of Scotland, regions of Scotland cre ...

had a residence there, and in 1136

David I David I may refer to: * David I, Caucasian Albanian Catholicos c. 399 * David I of Armenia, Catholicos of Armenia (728–741) * David I Kuropalates of Georgia (died 881) * David I Anhoghin, king of Lori (ruled 989–1048) * David I of Scotland ...

(1124–1153) granted the lands of ''Perdyc'' to the see of Glasgow. The Bishops of Glasgow had a country seat in Partick. It was later the site of

Partick Castle Partick Castle was located in Partick, now a Western suburb of Glasgow. It was built in 1611 for the Glasgow benefactor George Hutcheson and situated on the west bank of the River Kelvin. Description Writing in the early eighteenth century, Hami ...

, a country home of

George Hutcheson George Hutcheson (died 1639), of Lambhill, Lanarkshire, was joint-founder with his younger brother Thomas Hutcheson, of Hutchesons' Hospital, Glasgow, which continues to live on today as the independent Hutchesons' Grammar School Life George Hut ...

(demolished 1836). The burgh, which had its headquarters at

Partick Burgh Hall Partick Burgh Hall is a municipal facility in Burgh Hall Street, Partick, Scotland. The hall, which was the headquarters of Partick Burgh Council in the early 20th century, is a Category B listed building. History The building was commissioned ...

, was annexed by Glasgow in 1912.

Areas

It is historically divided into three social areas; south of Dumbarton Road, north of Dumbarton Road and the Partick Hill grand villas. Being within the sphere of influence of the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

and neighbouring Glasgow's salubrious "West End" it has a high student population. Traditional industries for the area were shipbuilding and the huge Meadowside Granary (recently demolished to make way for the new

Glasgow Harbour Glasgow Harbour is a private sector urban regeneration scheme at Partick in the West End of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is not the history and development of the wider and internationally famous Glasgow Harbour from Glasgow Green to Clyde ...

residential development) employed many residents also. The main street in Partick, Dumbarton Road, has a number of services for residents to use.

Community

is a venue (much like a

community centre A community centre, community center, or community hall is a public location where members of a community gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may be open for the whole community or for a sp ...

) located within Partick. It regularly holds community events and is owned and managed by Culture & Sport Glasgow (part of Glasgow City Council). The hall was originally built in 1872 and has multiple rooms. The hall is staffed in order to accommodate events and to handle security. Private events are also held in the hall. Partick Community Council is an organization which exists in the area to deal with issues within the community. It is the oldest community group in Partick and consists of around twenty elected members. The boundary of this council runs from Byres Road to Crow Road and from the River Clyde to Highburgh Road. The council is funded by Glasgow City Council by way of an annual grant.What do we do?
from Partick Community Council. Retrieved 9 February 2012 Examples of activities of the Community Council include: *

Neighbourhood Watch A neighborhood watch or neighbourhood watch (see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also called a crime watch or neighbourhood crime watch, is an organized group of civilians devoted to crime a ...

coordination. *

Lobbying Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agency, regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by va ...

of Glasgow City Council * Promoting cleanliness and security in the area

Sport

Partick is home to the

West of Scotland Cricket Club The West of Scotland Cricket Club is a cricket club based in Glasgow, Scotland. The club's home ground is Hamilton Crescent, located in the Partick area of Glasgow's West End. West of Scotland, traditionally, are one of the working class cric ...

Hamilton Crescent Hamilton Crescent is a cricket ground in the Partick area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the home of the West of Scotland Cricket Club. It was previously also used for association football and hosted the first international football match in ...

ground, which was the site of the first ever international football match (between

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 ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

) on 30 November 1872.

Partick Thistle Football Club Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick sinc ...

were formed in the area in 1876, but left to play in the

Maryhill Maryhill () is an area in the north-west of Glasgow in Scotland. A former independent burgh and the heart of an eponymous local authority ward, its territory is bisected by Maryhill Road, part of the A81 road which runs for a distance of ro ...

area of Glasgow in 1909.

Partick Partick (, Scottish Gaelic: ''Partaig'') is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch, to the east Yorkhill and Kelvingrove Park (across the River Kelvin), and to the north Broo ...

F.C. were also active in the 1870s and 1880s.

Transport

Partick station Partick () is combined National Rail and Glasgow Subway station in the Partick area of Glasgow, Scotland. Along with the adjacent Bus station, bus station, it forms one of the main transport interchange, transport hubs in Glasgow. As of 2022, ...

is a trunk station serving as an interchange between the local rail, Glasgow Subway and local

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

systems. It replaced the former Partickhill railway station in 1979. There were previously three other stations in the area, Partick Central railway station (renamed Kelvin Hall station in 1959), Merkland Street and Partick West railway station. The Partick interchange was redeveloped in 2012 due to its immense potential as a top-class interchange not only between Rail, Bus and Subway but also as the main interchange station between the Argyle and North Clyde rail lines.

Religion

There is an old

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

burial ground, the 'Quakers Graveyard', situated at the bottom of Keith Street. Now a visitors' attraction the graveyard was given over to the city of Glasgow. It was last used in 1857. Purdon Street, which runs parallel with Keith Street, was named after John Purdon, a prominent Quaker who lived in Partick in the 17th century. His wife is buried in the graveyard. The local

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

congregation is served by Partick South Parish Church and Partick Trinity Church. Partick's

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

community is served by St Peter's church situated in Hyndland Street. St Simon's church, located in Bridge Street, was built in 1858 and is the third oldest Catholic church in Glasgow. An arson attack in 2021 left it a ruin with only the external walls remaining. The arsonist, Ryan Haggerty, was sentenced for five years and three months in October 2022.

Partick Film Festival

Partick Film Festival takes place in unique venues across Partick, including Partick Library, The Annexe and the Kelvin Hall. The festival hosts film screenings, masterclasses and talks by Film & TV professionals. on ''glasgowtimes.com''. Retrieved 21 May 2025.

Notable people

* Charles Morton Aikman * Thomas Octavius Callender * Liz Cameron, Lord Provost of Glasgow * Stuart Christie *

Billy Connolly Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, musician, television presenter, artist and retired stand-up comedian. He is sometimes known by the Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One"). Known for his idiosyncratic and of ...

, lived on White Street and Stewartville Street during his childhood and attended St Peter's Boys School. * Martin Dougan, television presenter * Jane Gemmill, temperance activist * Rachel Hamilton * Helen Holm, golfer * Jimmy Lawrence, footballer *

Fred McDermid Frederick McDermid (9 February 1924 – 23 August 2011) was a Scottish Liberal Party politician. Born in Partick, McDermid studied at Hyndland School before completing an apprenticeship as a quantity surveyor. During World War II, he volu ...

, politician * Garry McDowall, footballer * Pat McGinlay, footballer * Tosh McKinlay, footballer * Joseph Andrew Mclean, producer *

Bud Neill William "Bud" Neill (5 November 1911–28 August 1970) was a Scotland, Scottish cartoonist who drew cartoon strips for a number of Glasgow-based newspapers between the 1940s and 1960s. Following his death, his work has attained cult status w ...

, cartoonist

References

External links

*
Partick Castle Article, Glasgow Evening Times.

Partick: Glasgow's Girnal
at ''Pat's Guide to Glasgow West End'' {{Authority control Burghs Areas of Glasgow