Johnstone
Encyclopedia
Johnstone is a town in the council area of Renfrewshire
and larger historic county
of the same name
in the west central Lowlands
of Scotland
.
The town lies three miles west of neighbouring Paisley
and twelve miles west of the centre of the city of Glasgow
. Part of the biggest conurbation
in Scotland, Johnstone is at the western edge of the Greater Glasgow Urban Area
.
The town was a planned community
created in the latter half of the 18th century by the local Laird
, George Ludovic Houston who held an estate in the town, the remains of which are known as Johnstone Castle
. Industrial development brought coal mining, thread-making and cotton weaving to Johnstone causing it to grow considerably in size, expanding out in the 1930s with a number of newly build residential areas which addressed the problem of population density in the historic area of the town. Today it supports a small commercial centre and serves as a commuter settlement for Paisley and Glasgow.
which grew up around the house of Easter Cochrane, later known as Johnstone Castle
, seat of the Houston or Houstoun family who gained their name from the nearby village of Houston. In 1782, the Laird
, George Houstoun, commissioned designs for a series of regular residential streets which now form the town centre. At this early stage of development, the town’s population including the local estate and rural hinterland was around 1,500. Two mirroring civic squares were also constructed in the town: Houstoun Square and Ludovic Square, and by 1794 the town had gained its current parish church. Johnstone was raised to the status of a police burgh
with significant local powers, a status which is now defunct.
Industrial development brought both prosperity and poverty to the community. Coal mining
occurred in Johnstone, although its main industry was related to the thread and cotton industries, with mills powered by the Black Cart Water which runs to the north of Johnstone. As the community expanded, slum
conditions formed in part of the town: the population by 1831 had increased to a sizeable 5,600. This was addressed in the 1930s by a significant expansion of the size of Johnstone to include a number of purpose-built residential estates.
Much of Johnstone’s feudal heritage has disappeared. With the death of the last Laird in 1931, Johnstone Castle found some other uses before falling into disrepair and being largely demolished.
In 1950 St. David's Primary School was built along with its sister school Cochrane Castle Primary School. In 2007 the two schools were housed in a new shared building just outside Thomas Shanks Public Park. Embedded within Cochrane Castle is the Cochrane Castle Golf Club, which once held the world record for the longest hole.
Johnstone High School opened on its present site in March 1965, the previous building having burnt down in 1960. Where the old school stood in Ludovic Square there is now a modern health centre.
In 1967 St. Cuthbert's High School was built and established. The school closed at the end of the summer term 2006 along with St. Brendan's High School in Linwood
due to falling rolls and the buildings poor state of repair, they were replaced by a new build St. Benedict's High School, named after the present Pope. The old St. Cuthbert's building has been used to house several schools (including Johnstone High School) while their own premises are being refurbished.
, which is located to 3.5 miles northeast of the town. As well, Prestwick International Airport is a 30-40 minute train journey from Johnstone railway station
.
links to central Scotland.
Other services are provided by many other operators.They are as follows:
, Paisley
and the Ayrshire
coast by the Johnstone railway station
which is located at the east of the town on Thorn Brae. A second unmanned station Milliken Park railway station
lies at the west end of the town, just off the Cochranemill road.
The railway line runs through the cutting of the old Glasgow-Ardrossan canal, although the route of the canal runs under the original bridge, Dick's Bridge, at the bottom of the Thorn Brae, where the canal basin was situated and in winter, the rim of the canal basin sometimes becomes visible.
It may be noted that a second railway line ran through the town serving the villages of Kilbarchan
, Bridge of Weir
, and Kilmacolm
; the line now forms part of the Clyde to Forth cycle route
(National Cycle Route
75). It had a station serving the Northern, more industrial areas of town, Johnstone North railway station
.
Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfrewshire, the others being Inverclyde to the west and East Renfrewshire to the east...
and larger historic county
Counties of Scotland
The counties of Scotland were the principal local government divisions of Scotland until 1975. Scotland's current lieutenancy areas and registration counties are largely based on them. They are often referred to as historic counties....
of the same name
Renfrewshire (historic)
Renfrewshire or the County of Renfrew is a registration county, the Lieutenancy area of the Lord Lieutenant of Renfrewshire, and one of the counties of Scotland used for local government until 1975. Renfrewshire is located in the West Central Lowlands of Scotland, south of the River Clyde,...
in the west central Lowlands
Central Lowlands
The Central Lowlands or Midland Valley is a geologically defined area of relatively low-lying land in southern Scotland. It consists of a rift valley between the Highland Boundary Fault to the north and the Southern Uplands Fault to the south...
of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
The town lies three miles west of neighbouring Paisley
Paisley
Paisley is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland and serves as the administrative centre for the Renfrewshire council area...
and twelve miles west of the centre of the city of Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
. Part of the biggest conurbation
Conurbation
A conurbation is a region comprising a number of cities, large towns, and other urban areas that, through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban and industrially developed area...
in Scotland, Johnstone is at the western edge of the Greater Glasgow Urban Area
Greater Glasgow
Greater Glasgow is an urban settlement in Scotland consisting of all localities which are physically attached to the city of Glasgow, forming with it a single contiguous urban area...
.
The town was a planned community
Planned community
A planned community, or planned city, is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed in a previously undeveloped area. This contrasts with settlements that evolve in a more ad hoc fashion. Land use conflicts are less frequent in planned communities since...
created in the latter half of the 18th century by the local Laird
Laird
A Laird is a member of the gentry and is a heritable title in Scotland. In the non-peerage table of precedence, a Laird ranks below a Baron and above an Esquire.-Etymology:...
, George Ludovic Houston who held an estate in the town, the remains of which are known as Johnstone Castle
Johnstone Castle
Johnstone Castle is a structure and former mansion in the town of Johnstone in Renfrewshire, Scotland.It belonged to the Houstouns of Milliken, who acquired the estate of Easter Cochrane in 1773...
. Industrial development brought coal mining, thread-making and cotton weaving to Johnstone causing it to grow considerably in size, expanding out in the 1930s with a number of newly build residential areas which addressed the problem of population density in the historic area of the town. Today it supports a small commercial centre and serves as a commuter settlement for Paisley and Glasgow.
History
Johnstone was largely a planned communityPlanned community
A planned community, or planned city, is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed in a previously undeveloped area. This contrasts with settlements that evolve in a more ad hoc fashion. Land use conflicts are less frequent in planned communities since...
which grew up around the house of Easter Cochrane, later known as Johnstone Castle
Johnstone Castle
Johnstone Castle is a structure and former mansion in the town of Johnstone in Renfrewshire, Scotland.It belonged to the Houstouns of Milliken, who acquired the estate of Easter Cochrane in 1773...
, seat of the Houston or Houstoun family who gained their name from the nearby village of Houston. In 1782, the Laird
Laird
A Laird is a member of the gentry and is a heritable title in Scotland. In the non-peerage table of precedence, a Laird ranks below a Baron and above an Esquire.-Etymology:...
, George Houstoun, commissioned designs for a series of regular residential streets which now form the town centre. At this early stage of development, the town’s population including the local estate and rural hinterland was around 1,500. Two mirroring civic squares were also constructed in the town: Houstoun Square and Ludovic Square, and by 1794 the town had gained its current parish church. Johnstone was raised to the status of a police burgh
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 Act, 1833...
with significant local powers, a status which is now defunct.
Industrial development brought both prosperity and poverty to the community. Coal mining
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
occurred in Johnstone, although its main industry was related to the thread and cotton industries, with mills powered by the Black Cart Water which runs to the north of Johnstone. As the community expanded, slum
Slum
A slum, as defined by United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the percentage of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the...
conditions formed in part of the town: the population by 1831 had increased to a sizeable 5,600. This was addressed in the 1930s by a significant expansion of the size of Johnstone to include a number of purpose-built residential estates.
Much of Johnstone’s feudal heritage has disappeared. With the death of the last Laird in 1931, Johnstone Castle found some other uses before falling into disrepair and being largely demolished.
Education
Thorn Public School, as it was originally called, opened in 1904 on a site that is now occupied by a housing estate, Thornhill Gardens and was demolished in 1990 and a new Thorn Primary School opened in 1988.In 1950 St. David's Primary School was built along with its sister school Cochrane Castle Primary School. In 2007 the two schools were housed in a new shared building just outside Thomas Shanks Public Park. Embedded within Cochrane Castle is the Cochrane Castle Golf Club, which once held the world record for the longest hole.
Johnstone High School opened on its present site in March 1965, the previous building having burnt down in 1960. Where the old school stood in Ludovic Square there is now a modern health centre.
In 1967 St. Cuthbert's High School was built and established. The school closed at the end of the summer term 2006 along with St. Brendan's High School in Linwood
Linwood
Linwood is a small town in Renfrewshire, Scotland, 14 miles south-west of Glasgow.Linwood is a commuter town, with proximity to Glasgow International Airport and the M8 motorway to Glasgow and Edinburgh...
due to falling rolls and the buildings poor state of repair, they were replaced by a new build St. Benedict's High School, named after the present Pope. The old St. Cuthbert's building has been used to house several schools (including Johnstone High School) while their own premises are being refurbished.
Transport
Air
Johnstone is served by Glasgow International AirportGlasgow International Airport
Glasgow International Airport is an international airport in Scotland, located west of Glasgow city centre, near the towns of Paisley and Renfrew in Renfrewshire...
, which is located to 3.5 miles northeast of the town. As well, Prestwick International Airport is a 30-40 minute train journey from Johnstone railway station
Johnstone railway station
Johnstone railway station is a railway station serving the town of Johnstone, Renfrewshire, Scotland. The station is managed by First ScotRail and is on the Ayrshire Coast Line south west of Glasgow Central.- History :...
.
Road
A dual carriageway, the A737 connects Johnstone to the M8 motorway to provide car transportlinks to central Scotland.
Bus Services
Arriva Scotland West is the main operator in Johnstone.The services it provides are shown- 17/17A: Spateston-Johnstone Centre-Paisley-Glasgow (via Clyde Tunnel and Partick)
- 20: Spateston-Johnstone Centre-Paisley-Gallowhill (via Elderslie and the Royal Alexandria Hospital)
- 30: Spateston-Johnstone Centre-Cochrane Castle
- 36/36E: Kilbarchan-Johnstone Centre-Paisley/Glasgow (Service 36E operates every evening and all day Sunday via Elderslie Scheme)
- 38/38E: Spateston-Cochrane Castle-Paisley/Glasgow (Service 38E operates every evening and all day Sunday via Johnstone Centre)
- 800: Glasgow Airport - Paisley-Johnstone Centre-Beith-Largs (evening services terminate in Johnstone)
Other services are provided by many other operators.They are as follows:
- 1: Johnstone - Johnstone Castle : Key Coaches
- 1: Johnstone - Kilmacolm : Riverside Transport
- 2: Johnstone - Elderslie Scheme : Key Coaches
- 4: Johnstone - Lochwinnoch : Key Coaches
- 6/7: Johnstone - Linwood Cirular : Riverside Transport
- 6: Johnstone - Silverburn : First Glasgow
- X6a: Johnstone - Glasgow : McGill's
- 8: Johnstone - Paisley : Riverside Transport
- 36A: Johnstone - Paisley : Fereneze
- 306: Johnstone - Howwood : Slaemuir Coaches
- 307: Johnstone - Lochwinnoch : Slaemuir Coaches and Avondale
Rail
Johnstone is linked to Glasgow CentralGlasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Paisley
Paisley
Paisley is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland and serves as the administrative centre for the Renfrewshire council area...
and the Ayrshire
Ayrshire
Ayrshire is a registration county, and former administrative county in south-west Scotland, United Kingdom, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine. The town of Troon on the coast has hosted the British Open Golf Championship twice in the...
coast by the Johnstone railway station
Johnstone railway station
Johnstone railway station is a railway station serving the town of Johnstone, Renfrewshire, Scotland. The station is managed by First ScotRail and is on the Ayrshire Coast Line south west of Glasgow Central.- History :...
which is located at the east of the town on Thorn Brae. A second unmanned station Milliken Park railway station
Milliken Park railway station
Milliken Park railway station is a railway station serving the west end of Johnstone and the south west of the village of Kilbarchan in Renfrewshire, Scotland...
lies at the west end of the town, just off the Cochranemill road.
The railway line runs through the cutting of the old Glasgow-Ardrossan canal, although the route of the canal runs under the original bridge, Dick's Bridge, at the bottom of the Thorn Brae, where the canal basin was situated and in winter, the rim of the canal basin sometimes becomes visible.
It may be noted that a second railway line ran through the town serving the villages of Kilbarchan
Kilbarchan
Kilbarchan is a village and civil parish in central Renfrewshire, in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The village's name means "cell of St. Barchan". It is known for its former weaving industry.- History :...
, Bridge of Weir
Bridge of Weir
Bridge of Weir is a village in within the Renfrewshire council area and wider historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland...
, and Kilmacolm
Kilmacolm
Kilmacolm is a village and civil parish in the Inverclyde council area and the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on the northern slope of the Gryffe Valley south-east of Greenock and around west of the city of Glasgow...
; the line now forms part of the Clyde to Forth cycle route
NCR 75
National Cycle Route 75 runs from Edinburgh to Gourock via Glasgow. It is often known as the Clyde to Forth cycle route.-Edinburgh to Bathgate:...
(National Cycle Route
National Cycle Network
The National Cycle Network is a network of cycle routes in the United Kingdom.The National Cycle Network was created by the charity Sustrans , and aided by a £42.5 million National Lottery grant. In 2005 it was used for over 230 million trips.Many routes hope to minimise contact with motor...
75). It had a station serving the Northern, more industrial areas of town, Johnstone North railway station
Johnstone North railway station
Johnstone North railway station was a railway station serving the town of Johnstone, Renfrewshire, Scotland as part of the Dalry and North Johnstone Line on the Glasgow and South Western Railway.-History:The station opened on 1 June 1905...
.
Notable inhabitants
- Tommy BryceTommy BryceTommy Bryce is a Scottish former association football player. Bryce had a playing career spanning 21 seasons from 1980-81 with Scottish Football League clubs Kilmarnock, Stranraer, Queen of the South of Dumfries, Clydebank, Ayr United and Arbroath. Bryce also served as player-manager of Partick...
- professional footballer - Hunter DaviesHunter DaviesEdward Hunter Davies is a prolific British author, journalist and broadcaster, perhaps best known for writing the only authorised biography of The Beatles.- Early life :...
- journalist, author and broadcaster - Renee HoustonRenee HoustonRenée Houston was a Scottish comedy actor and revue artist who appeared in television and film roles.Born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, as Katherina Houston Gibbin, she toured music halls and revue with her sister Billie Houston as the Houston Sisters.In 1926, the sisters made a short musical film,...
- music hall and comedy actress; born in Johnstone in 1902, attended St. Margaret's Primary School in Johnstone - Phyllis LoganPhyllis Logan-Education:Logan was educated at Johnstone High School in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, Scotland. After school, she graduated from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama with the James Bridie Gold Medal in 1977.-Career:...
- actress; attended Johnstone High School in the 1970s - John Pitcairn, Jr.John Pitcairn, Jr.John Pitcairn, Jr. was a Scottish-born American industrialist. With just an elementary school education, Pitcairn rose through the ranks of the Pennsylvania railroad industry, and played a significant role in the creation of the modern oil and natural gas industries...
- Scottish-American industrialist; born in Johnstone, emigrated to the United States, aged five - George ReidGeorge Reid (Australian politician)Sir George Houstoun Reid, GCB, GCMG, KC was an Australian politician, Premier of New South Wales and the fourth Prime Minister of Australia....
- politician, former Prime Minister of AustraliaPrime Minister of AustraliaThe Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful... - Gordon RamsayGordon RamsayGordon James Ramsay, OBE is a Scottish chef, television personality and restaurateur. He has been awarded 13 Michelin stars....
- chef, born in Johnstone - Peter TobinPeter TobinPeter Britton Tobin is a convicted Scottish serial killer and sex offender now serving a sentence of life imprisonment for the murders of three young women....
- serial killer, born in Johnstone in 1946 - Jim LeightonJim LeightonJames "Jim" Leighton MBE is a Scottish former football goalkeeper. Among the clubs he played for are Aberdeen , Manchester United, Arsenal, Dundee and Hibernian.-Club:...
- professional footballer, attended St.Cuthberts Secondary in Johnstone - Annie McGuireAnnie McGuireAnnie McGuire is a Scottish reporter and presenter on BBC Scotland programmes including football phone-in show 'Your Call' and Sportsound. Occasionally links Radio Scotland's New Music Zone and T in the Park coverage and stood in for presenter Vic Galloway. She also wrote occasionally for the...
- BBC Journalist, born in Elderslie, attended St.Cuthberts Secondary in Johnstone - Sir George Houston Reid - 4th Prime Minister of Australia. 18 August 1904 – 5 July 1905 George Reid was Prime Minister for ten months and 17 days. He was our first federal Leader of the Opposition and the federal government’s first High Commissioner to the UK.