Greenock (; ; , ) is a
town
A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city.
The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
in
Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west
central Lowlands of
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 ...
. The town is the
administrative centre
An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located.
In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgi ...
of
Inverclyde Council. It is a former
burgh
A burgh ( ) is an Autonomy, autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots language, Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when David I of Scotland, King David I created ...
within the
historic county of
Renfrewshire, and forms part of a contiguous urban area with
Gourock to the west and
Port Glasgow to the east.
The
2011 UK Census showed that Greenock had a population of 44,248, a decrease from the 46,861 recorded in the
2001 UK Census. It lies on the south bank of the Clyde at the "
Tail of the Bank" where 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 ...
deepens into the
Firth of Clyde
The Firth of Clyde, is the estuary of the River Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland. The Firth has some of the deepest coastal waters of the British Isles. The Firth is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre, Kintyre Peninsula. The ...
.
History
Name
Place-name scholar
William J. Watson wrote that "Greenock is well known in Gaelic as , dative of , 'a sunny knoll. The
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 ...
place-name is relatively common, with another Greenock near
Callander in
Menteith (formerly in Perthshire) and yet another at
Muirkirk in
Kyle, now in
East Ayrshire
East Ayrshire (; ) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. It shares borders with Dumfries and Galloway, East Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire. The headquarters of the council are located on London Roa ...
. R. M. Smith in (1921) described the alternative derivation from
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 ...
*, 'gravelly or sandy place', as more appropriate, accurately describing the original foreshore. Johnston (1934) notes that "some Gaels call the seaport , and that a possible derivation may be , meaning 'rough, gravelly'.
The name of the town has had various spellings over time. It was printed in early Acts of Parliament as ''Grinok'', ''Greenhok'', ''Grinock'', ''Greenhoke'', ''Greinnock'', and later as ''Greinok''. Old Presbyterial records used ''Grenok'', a common spelling until it was changed to Greenock around 1700. ''Grenock'' was also used in the 19th century, e.g. in ''
Lloyd's List'' publications.
The spelling ''Greenoak'' was found in two factory accounts dating back to 1717, and a legend developed of a green oak tree at the edge of the Clyde at William Street being used by fishermen to tie up their boats. No reliable source has been found referencing green oaks, however, and so this has been generally dismissed as imaginative Anglophone
folk etymology
Folk etymology – also known as (generative) popular etymology, analogical reformation, (morphological) reanalysis and etymological reinterpretation – is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a mo ...
. Nonetheless the image has frequently been used as an emblem or logo, carved on public buildings, used on banners and badges, and was once emblazoned on the local
Co-operative Society emblem. It reappeared in 1992 as the new shopping centre's name, the Oak Mall, which uses a green tree as its logo. The name is also recalled in a local song ("The Green Oak Tree"). Significantly, no green oak appears on the former burgh
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...
, which features the three chalices of the Shaw Stewarts, a sailing ship in full sail, and two
herring above the motto "God Speed Greenock".
Early history

Hugh de Grenock was created a Scottish
Baron
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...
in 1296, and the seat of the
feudal barony of Greenock was apparently what became
Easter Greenock Castle. Around 1400 his successor Malcolm Galbraith died with no sons, and his estate was divided between his two daughters to become two baronies: the eldest inherited Easter Greenock and married a Crawfurd, while Wester Greenock went to the younger daughter who married Schaw of Sauchie. Around 1540 the adjoining barony of
Finnart was passed to the Schaw family, extending their holdings westward to the boundary of
Gourock, and in 1542 Sir John Schaw founded Wester Greenock castle.
The
Scottish Reformation
The Scottish Reformation was the process whereby Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland broke away from the Catholic Church, and established the Protestant Church of Scotland. It forms part of the wider European 16th-century Protestant Reformation.
Fr ...
of 1560 closed the chapels in the parish, and as the parish church was some distant at
Inverkip over a difficult route which was impassable in winter, in 1589 John Schaw obtained a charter from
King James VI to build a kirk for the "poor people upon his lands who were all fishers and of a reasonable number". Later known as the Old Kirk or the
Old West Kirk, it was constructed on the west bank of the West Burn estuary and is reputed to have been the first
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
church built in Scotland after the Reformation.
The Schaw, later
Shaw and
Shaw-Stewart, family retained a leading role in Greenock over the following centuries. In 1670, Sir John Shaw obtained a charter from
King Charles II, combining the lands of
Finnart and the barony of Wester Greenock, to create the barony of Greenock.
Fishing villages, harbours and shipbuilding

The coast of Greenock formed a broad bay with three smaller indentations: the Bay of Quick was known as a safe anchorage as far back as 1164. To its east, a sandy bay ran eastwards from the Old Kirk and the West Burn as far as Wester Greenock castle. The fishing village of Greenock developed along this bay, and around 1635 Sir John Schaw had a jetty built into the bay which became known as Sir John's Bay. In that year he obtained a Charter raising Greenock to a Burgh of Barony with rights to a weekly market. Further east, Saint Laurence Bay curved round past the Crawfurd Barony of Easter Greenock to Garvel (or Gravel) Point. When a pier (or dyke) was built making the bay an important harbour, the fishing village of Cartsdyke gained the alternative name of Craufurdsdyke. In 1642 it was made into the Burgh of Barony of Crawfurdsdyke, and part of the ill-fated
Darien Scheme set out from this pier in 1697. Its town was named Cartsburn.
The fishing trade grew prosperous, with barrels of salted
herring exported widely, and shipping trade developed. As seagoing ships could not go further up 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 ...
, the
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 ...
merchants including the
Tobacco Lords wanted harbour access but were in disputes with Greenock over harbour dues and warehouses. They tried to buy the Garvel estate for a harbour when Easter Greenock lands were put up for sale to meet debts, but were outbid by Sir John Schaw who then got a Crown Charter of 1670 uniting Easter and Wester Greenock into the Burgh Barony of Greenock. A separate
Barony of Cartsburn was created, the first baron being Thomas Craufurd. In 1668 the City of Glasgow got the lease of of land upriver close to
Newark Castle, and construction promptly started on
Newport Glasgow harbour which by 1710 had the principal Clyde
custom house
A custom house or customs house was traditionally a building housing the offices for a jurisdictional government whose officials oversaw the functions associated with importing and exporting goods into and out of a country, such as collecting ...
.
In 1696 and 1700 Schaw and residents of the town made unsuccessful bids to the Scottish Parliament for grants for a Greenock harbour, then when the
Act of Union 1707 opened up involvement in colonial trade, they raised their own funds. The work was completed in 1710, with
quays extended out into Sir John's Bay to enclose the harbour. In 1711 the shipbuilding industry was founded when
Scotts leased ground between the harbour and the West Burn to build fishing boats. Greenock rapidly became a major port and shipbuilding centre, and though tobacco imported from the colonies was taken to Glasgow by pack horse, the more bulky imports of sugar were processed locally. From 1774 the dredging of the River Clyde increasingly allowed ships to take merchandise directly to Glasgow, but merchants continued to use Greenock harbour.
The
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
temporarily interrupted trade, and the gun battery of Fort Beauclerc near the West Burn was extended to guard against the threat of
privateers, but the emphasis shifted to wider markets including imports of
rum and sugar from the
Caribbean
The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
, wines from Spain, and fish from North America. A
whaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...
business operated for about 40 years. Greenock "was mainly a trading port for goods such as sugar and cotton, but also dispatched ships to West Africa
to take people to be enslaved" in Britain's American colonies. In 1868, in what became a ''
cause celebre'', seven young Greenock males
stowed away on a cargo ship bound for
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
. Treated with what was, even for the times, exceptional brutality, they were forcibly disembarked in
Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...
; by the time they were returned to Scotland, three of them had died. The Captain and mate of the cargo ship were tried in a blaze of publicity at the
High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh and served short prison terms.
Custom House and steamboats
In 1714 Greenock became a
custom house
A custom house or customs house was traditionally a building housing the offices for a jurisdictional government whose officials oversaw the functions associated with importing and exporting goods into and out of a country, such as collecting ...
port as a branch of
Port Glasgow, and for a period this operated from rooms leased in Greenock. Receipts rose rapidly with the expansion of colonial trade, and in 1778 the custom house moved to newly-built premises at the West Quay of the harbour.
By 1791 a new pier was constructed at the East Quay. In 1812 Europe's first steamboat service was introduced by with frequent sailings between Glasgow, Greenock and
Helensburgh
Helensburgh ( ; ) is a town on the north side of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, situated at the mouth of the Gareloch. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it became part of Argyll and Bute following local government reorganisation in 1996.
Histo ...
, and as trade built up the pier became known as Steamboat Quay.
The custom house needed larger premises and in May 1817 the foundation stone was laid at Steamboat Quay for a Custom House building designed by
William Burn, which was completed in 1818. Its gracious
neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture, sometimes referred to as Classical Revival architecture, is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy, France and Germany. It became one of t ...
features a Grecian
Doric portico looking out over the quay,
which would eventually be renamed Custom House Quay.
In 1828 the Custom House was praised as "a grand National Structure" in "the highest style of elegance". By then there were scheduled steamboat sailings to
Belfast
Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
,
Derry
Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...
, Liverpool,
Inverness,
Campbeltown, the
Hebrides
The Hebrides ( ; , ; ) are the largest archipelago in the United Kingdom, off the west coast of the Scotland, Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Ou ...
and "all the principal places in the Highlands".
The Custom House underwent extensive refurbishment which was completed in 1989 and, until closure of the building in 2010, housed a customs and
excise museum which was open to the public. In June 2008
HM Revenue and Customs
His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (commonly HM Revenue and Customs, or HMRC, and formerly Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) is a department of the UK government responsible for the collection of taxes, the payment of some forms of stat ...
(HMRC) announced that the building would close in 2011 as part of a rationalisation project with any jobs being transferred to offices in
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 ...
, and despite a campaign to oppose these plans, the building closed in August 2010.
Riverside Inverclyde arranged further refurbishment works, and in 2013 announced that space had already been let to companies including PG Paper Company Ltd and
Toshiba
is a Japanese multinational electronics company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, elevators and escalators, electronic components, semiconductors ...
which had planning permission to form meeting rooms and an executive office in the building.
Greenock Telegraph estimated that £4.1 million has been spent over five-year period for the renovation works.
Industry and railways

Greenock became a centre of industry, with water power being used to process imported goods. In 1827
Loch Thom was constructed as a reservoir with ''The Cut''
aqueduct, bringing water to two lines of falls for water mills to power a paper mill, cotton and woollen mills, sugar refineries and shipbuilding
Greenock Central railway station at Cathcart Street opened in 1841, for the first time providing a fast route from Glasgow to the coast linking up with
Clyde steamer services. The provision of this new line meant there was no need to take the steamer all the way down river from Glasgow. In 1869 the
Caledonian Railway was bypassed by the rival
Greenock and Ayrshire Railway which opened a station on the waterfront at its
Albert Harbour station (later renamed Princes Pier), served by a tunnel under Greenock's west end. To regain custom, the Caledonian Railway extended (what is now known as the
Inverclyde Line) the
Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway west to Gourock; this line was built to run inland through deep cuttings and tunnels, with a tunnel under the whole length of Newton Street crossing under the other railway tunnel to emerge near
Fort Matilda railway station. Spoil from the cuttings and tunnels was used to build an embankment out from the shore to a long timber wharf at
Gourock railway station, providing space for railway sidings. The railway bought Wester Greenock castle and its extension, the Mansion House, and demolished them before constructing the tunnel immediately west of Greenock Central station, running under the castle grounds which now form Well Park.
Greenock's increasing importance and wealth was manifested in the construction of the
Greenock Municipal Buildings, whose Victoria Tower, completed in 1886, stands tall.
The
War of 1812 reawakened fears of American raids against Britain's ports. Earlier gun batteries had been dismantled and in 1813 ground was granted for a battery at Whitefarland Point.
Fort Matilda was completed in 1818 and was sporadically modified over the century. The land to the west of this was common ground for inhabitants of the town, but in 1907 the
Admiralty compulsorily purchased part of this land for a torpedo factory. The remaining space was handed over to Greenock Corporation in 1914 as a public park.
The ''Clyde Torpedo Factory'' opened in 1910, with 700 workers transferred from the
Royal Arsenal,
Woolwich. The site was tasked with designing and testing of
torpedoes
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...
, the testing taking place in
Loch Long
Loch Long is a body of water in the council area of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The sea loch extends from the Firth of Clyde at its southwestern end, to the Arrochar Alps at the head of the loch. It measures approximately in length, with a wi ...
. During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
the site switched entirely to manufacturing torpedoes. The original gun battery site was occupied by the ''Navy Buildings'', the main offices, just to the east of the torpedo factory buildings.
Following WW2, in 1947, the site became fully committed to R&D as the Torpedo Experimental Establishment (TEE). TEE was closed in 1959, when all torpedo research, development and design were concentrated at the newly formed Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment (AUWE), Portland.
A church which became known as the
Old West Kirk had been established in Greenock in 1591 under the patronage of John Schaw, the first built in Scotland since the
Reformation
The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...
. It was extended over the years, at an early stage the Schaw aisle provided pews for the Laird of the Barony, built as a gallery to the east of the nave of the church. Opposite it, above the front entrance, is the Crawfurdsburn or Choir Gallery. At the south end of the nave, the Sailor's Loft gallery was built in 1698 and features a 19th-century model frigate, which replaced earlier models. At the north end, the Farmer's Gallery is above the main seating area. A tower was added in the mid 19th century.
In 1926, to make way for expansion of the
Harland & Wolff shipyard (the present-day location of Container Way), the Old West Kirk was relocated to a new site on the Esplanade where it still stands. The shipbuilders provided the Pirrie Hall to the south of the site: this was opened in February 1925, just after the old church closed for work to commence, and was used during the works to accommodate services, enabling the congregation to see progress on the rebuilt kirk. It then came into use as the church hall.
The church is notable for
stained glass
Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...
by artists such as
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti ( ; ), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator, and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brother ...
and Sir
Edward Burne-Jones. The Church has a website.
Second World War

Greenock suffered badly during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and its anchorage at the
Tail of the Bank became the base for the
Home Fleet as well as the main assembly point for
Atlantic convoys. On 30 April 1940 the French
Vauquelin class destroyer ''
Maillé Brézé'' blew up off Greenock with heavy loss of life following an accident involving two of her own torpedoes. Although this disaster occurred before the
Free French Naval Forces were established, many people tend to regard the
Cross of Lorraine on
Lyle Hill as a memorial to the loss of the ''Maillé Brézé'' as well as to the later losses of the
Free French Naval Forces which sailed from the town. On the nights of 6 May and 7 May 1941 around 300
Luftwaffe
The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
aircraft attacked the town in the
Greenock Blitz.
On 10 October 1940,
RAF Greenock was created as a maintenance base for RAF flying boats. The base was hit on 7 May 1941 during the Greenock Blitz.
A large building housing a drapery business constructed on Cowan's property at the corner of the Municipal Buildings was badly damaged and was demolished, leaving the blank brick corner area still known as "Cowan's Corner". This was later landscaped and used as a garden. The neighbouring Municipal Buildings was also severely damaged during the bombings, which soon led to the loss of a Southern Tower, and two pediments situated on top of the South Façade of the buildings.
Post–war years
Greenock thrived in the post-war years but as the heavy industries declined in the 1970s and 1980s unemployment became a major problem, and it has only been in the last ten years with reinvestment and the redevelopment of large sections of the town that the local economy has started to revive. Tourism has appeared as an unexpected bonus with the development of the Clydeport
container port as Ocean Terminal, a
passenger terminal for
cruise ship
Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...
s touring the Atlantic. Students who do not travel further afield for study often attend the Greenock campus of West College (formerly known as
James Watt College of Further and Higher Education).
Greenock reached its population peak in 1921 (81,123) and was once the sixth largest town in Scotland.
Governance

Until 1974, Greenock was a
parliamentary burgh in its own right. It was merged with Port Glasgow to form
Greenock and Port Glasgow constituency. In 1997, it became
Greenock and Inverclyde. After the redistribution of Scottish seats, it was merged into an enlarged ''
Inverclyde'' constituency – the first time in political history that Greenock has not been named in a parliamentary seat. ''
Greenock and Inverclyde'' remains a
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...
constituency.
Greenock is the administrative centre of
Inverclyde Council, the local authority responsible for the wider
Inverclyde area in which Greenock is located. The council is based in the
Greenock Municipal Buildings.
Climate
Greenock's climate is
temperate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...
maritime having mainly cool summers and mild winters. The coastal location means that the heat capacity of seawater helps keep winter temperatures higher than locations just a few miles inland.
Although there has been recent debate
the moderating influence of the
North Atlantic Drift, a warm oceanic current that is the eastern extension of the
Gulf Stream
The Gulf Stream is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the United States, then veers east near 36°N latitude (North Carolin ...
, means that Greenock's average temperature is approximately one degree Celsius greater than eastern Scottish coastal towns on the same latitude (55.94 degrees north); whilst in winter, Greenock is considerably warmer than continental locations at the same latitude, such as Moscow.
Anecdotally Greenock has a reputation for receiving higher than average rainfall (the song ''The Green Oak Tree'' comments on this). Whilst the rainfall is indeed higher than the average recorded at Scottish weather stations, the greatest rainfall in Scotland occurs on the west (ocean) facing mountain slopes of
Lochaber, near
Fort William in the
Highlands.
Greenock's latitude means long hours of
daylight
Daylight is the combination of all direct and indirect sunlight during the daytime. This includes direct sunlight, diffuse sky radiation, and (often) both of these reflected by Earth and terrestrial objects, like landforms and buildings. Sunlig ...
in
midsummer
Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer, taking place on or near the date of the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere; the longest Daytime, day of the year. The name "midsummer" mainly refers to summer solstice festivals of Eu ...
with the opposite true in
midwinter. On the summer solstice, usually observed on the 21 June, the sun rises at 04:31 and sets at 22:07. On the winter solstice, usually 21 December, the sun rises at 08:46 and sets at 15:44.
Education

The Highlanders academy was built in 1837, partly by subscription, and partly by grant from government, on a site given by the late Sir Michael Shaw Stewart.
Greenock has the following primary schools as of 2023:
* Ardgowan Primary School, on Newton Street
* Lady Alice Primary School, on Gateside Avenue
* St Josephs R C Primary School, on Wren Road
* St Mary's Catholic Primary School, on Patrick Street
* St Patricks Primary School, on Cornhaddock Street
* Whinhill Primary School, on Peat Road
* Aileymill Primary School, on Norfolk Road
* St Andrew's Primary School, on Chester Road
* All Saints Primary School, on Blairmore Road
* King's Oak Primary School, on East Crawford Street
Greenock has the following high schools as of 2023:
*
Notre Dame High School, on Dunlop Street
*
Inverclyde Academy, on Cumberland Road
*
Clydeview Academy, on Burnside Road
Greenock has another educational establishment:
* Lomond View Academy
Greenock used to have a private school, the Cedars School of Excellence. However, it closed down in September 2024 after 25 years of running, due to rising costs.
Health
The
Greenock Infirmary, later the Royal Infirmary, was established in 1809, when a building was erected at an expense of £1815, on a site of land given by Sir John Shaw Stewart.
Today, the town is served by the
Inverclyde Royal Hospital which is located in Greenock serving the population of
Inverclyde,
Largs, the
Isle of Bute and the
Cowal Peninsula. The hospital was commissioned to replace the
Greenock Royal Infirmary, the Eye Infirmary, Gateside Hospital, Duncan Macpherson Hospital and Broadstone Jubilee Hospital.
Construction work started at the end of August 1970 and the hospital was completed in 1979.
[
In 2004 Inverclyde Royal Hospital faced proposals for a major downsizing with the loss of the accident and emergency department and the acute surgical ward in an effort to save costs. Many people criticised the plans complaining that the Inverclyde Royal Hospital was being seen as nothing more than a large health centre. In February 2007, after undertaking a review, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde proposed retaining the accident and emergency department and core inpatient services, including the trauma and emergency medical departments at Inverclyde Royal Hospital and submitted this proposal to the Scottish Government for approval.]
Langhill Clinic situated behind Inverclyde Royal Hospital is now the main psychiatric hospital with an IPCU unit and Day hospital alongside the main psychiatric ward.
Economy
Economic history
Historically, the town relied on shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...
, sugar refining and wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...
manufacturing for employment, but none of these industries are today part of Greenock's economy. More recently the town relied heavily on electronics
Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other Electric charge, electrically charged particles. It is a subfield ...
manufacture. However, this has given way mostly to: call centre
A call centre ( Commonwealth spelling) or call center ( American spelling; see spelling differences) is a managed capability that can be centralised or remote that is used for receiving or transmitting a large volume of enquiries by telephone ...
business, insurance, banking and shipping export.
The Fleming and Reid merino wool mill employed 500 people – mostly women and produced wool garments spun and woven at the mill. This mill was at the corner of Drumfrochar Road and Mill Road.
As of October 2012 Greenock has an unemployment rate of 5.3%, above the Scottish average of 3.9% (figure is for the Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...
constituency
An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...
and includes Gourock, Inverkip, Port Glasgow and Wemyss Bay).
Shipbuilding
In the early 17th century, the first pier
A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of water and usually juts out from its shore, typically supported by piling, piles or column, pillars, and provides above-water access to offshore areas. Frequent pier uses include fishing, b ...
was built in Greenock. Shipbuilding was already an important employer by this time. The first proper harbour
A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be Mooring, moored. The t ...
was constructed in 1710 and the first well-known shipbuilders, Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, was established the following year. It gained numerous contracts with the Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
from 1806, building ships such as .
In 1967 Scott's was merged with Lithgows (founded 1874, later the largest privately owned yard in the world) the same year becoming Scott Lithgow, which was later nationalised as part of British Shipbuilders in 1977. From 1800 to 1980 many thousands of people worked to design, build and repair ships. The reduction in shipbuilding in the 1970s and 1980s meant that none of these companies are still trading.
Greenock Shipbuilders included: Scotts, Browns, William Lithgows, Fergusons, Head the Boat Builder (lifeboats). Other marine engineering related companies included engine-makers – Kincaids, Scotts, Rankin and Blackmore (which included the Eagle Foundry) – ship repair (Lamonts) and Hasties for steering gear. Yacht builders included Adams and McLean (at Cardwell Bay). Other yards included Cartsburn, Cartsdyke, and Klondyke – all of which closed during the 1970s and 1980s due to competition from South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
and Japan.
Part of the site of the ''Scott's'' yard, is now an EE call centre, and the Kingston Yard was redeveloped for housing. Shipbuilding is now continued at Ferguson Marine Engineering in nearby Port Glasgow, after Ferguson Shipbuilders was taken over by Jim McColl and began modernisation.
Ship repair work continues at the Garvel Drydock in Greenock's Great Harbour.
The Inchgreen Drydock was opened in 1964 as one of the largest in the world at 305 m long and 48 m wide. It was used to re-fit the , and to fit-out the '' QE2''. In 1966 it came under the nationalised Clydeport, which was privatised in 1982 and in 2003 was sold to Peel Ports of The Peel Group. They subsequently operated the drydock as part of their Cammell Laird
Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...
shipbuilding subsidiary. Peel Ports put the drydock on the market for a lease in 2014, and Jim McColl opened discussions on leasing the dock to expand Fergusons' shipbuilding, but nothing came of the negotiations. On 1 May 2017, Clydeport stated that the drydock cranes are to be demolished. In November 2021 it was announced that the dock had been leased to Atlas Decommissioning as a site for breaking up marine vessels.
Shipping
Freight traffic is handled at the container cranes of Greenock's ''Ocean Terminal'', at ''Prince's Pier'' which was constructed for the Glasgow and South Western Railway. The same terminal is a regular port of call for cruise liners visiting the west of Scotland.
Greenock was a regular port of call for Cunard Line and Canadian Pacific in the 1950s and 1960s. Ships on the Montreal to Liverpool transit would anchor at the Tail of the Bank off Greenock in the Firth of Clyde and steam paddlewheel ferries would service the liners. Cunard operated: the RMS Ivernia (1954), RMS Saxonia (1955), RMS Carinthia (1956) and RMS Sylvania (1957). These four ships were built at John Brown & Company shipyards, typically 22,000 tons, twin screw, 600 passengers. CP operated the Empress of Britain (1956), Empress of Canada and Empress of England.
Greenock's Great Harbour is one of the three main ports providing marine services support to the Royal Navy, in dual site operation with Faslane at HMNB Clyde on the Gare Loch. 240 staff of the former Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service were transferred to Serco Denholm under a 15-year £1bn PFI contract awarded in December 2007. This facility means that "Admiralty" boats and tugs are a common sight on the Clyde.
Greenock's attractive esplanade provides a gently curving riverside walk just over a mile (1.6 km) long extending to the west from ''Ocean Terminal'' to the ''Royal West of Scotland Amateur Boat Club'' sailing, kayaking and rowing facilities, which originated as a rowing club built against the east wall of Fort Matilda in 1866, and was granted its present title in 1885. The present clubhouse dates from 1878, and was subsequently extended.
Fort Matilda was adapted for various purposes, eventually becoming the ''Navy Buildings'' which housed a main Her Majesty's Coastguard centre until it closed in December 2012, as well as a Royal Naval Reserve
The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original ...
establishment, . The buildings have now been demolished, as a site for blocks of flats off Eldon Street.
Sugar
Sugar refining began in Greenock in 1765. John Walker began a sugar refinery in Greenock in 1850 followed by the prominent local cooper and shipowner Abram Lyle who, with four partners, purchased the ''Glebe Sugar Refinery'' in 1865. Another 12 refineries were active at one point. The most successful of these was Tate & Lyle. It was formed from a merger in 1921 between Abram Lyle, who had expanded into Plaistow, and Henry Tate, who had set up a sugar refinery in Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
and had expanded into London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
.
The James Watt Dock, opened in 1886, provided shipping and shipbuilding facilities including a large warehouse (known as the Sugar Shed) which was used for both imported raw sugar, and refined sugar ready for delivery. By the end of the 19th century, around 400 ships a year were transporting sugar from Caribbean holdings to Greenock for processing. There were 14 sugar refineries, including The Westburn, Walkers, The Glebe, Lochore and Ferguson and Dempster, plus a sugar beet factory on Ingleston Street. Tobacco from the Americas also arrived here.
When Tate and Lyle finally closed its Greenock refinery in 1997 it brought to an end the town's 150-year-old connections with sugar manufacture. A newly built sugar warehouse continued shipping operations at Greenock's ''Ocean Terminal''. The former sugar warehouse at the James Watt Dock was by then scheduled as a category A listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
as a fine example of early industrial architecture, with an unusual feature of a colonnade of cast iron columns forming a sheltered unloading area next to the quay
A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...
side. This building has since lain empty, with various schemes being proposed for conversion and restoration. The photographs show the building still intact in February 2006, but a fire on the evening of 12 June 2006 caused severe damage to much of the building before being brought under control in the early hours of 13 June. The local council confirmed that parts of the building will have to be taken down to ensure public safety, but promised an investigation and emphasised the importance of this world heritage building.
In 2007, approval was given to proposals for a major regeneration project. As of 2018, the building and adjacent area of the dock accommodated a marina.
Electronics
Since IBM
International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
arrived in the town in 1951, electronics and light manufacturing have, until recently, been the mainstay of local employment. Texas Instruments (and before that National Semiconductor) ran a silicon wafer manufacturing plant in the town from 1970 until 2019, when the plant was transferred to Diodes Incorporated.
However, with manufacturing moving to Eastern Europe and Asia, work has shifted to the service sector, especially call centres. EE and IBM both have major call centre operations in Greenock, while the Royal Bank of Scotland Mortgage Centre processes Mortgage applications from throughout the UK & Ireland.
IBM closed their entire factory in Greenock which is in the process of being demolished. Sanmina, another electronics company, took over much of the IBM installation but moved 370 jobs to Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
in 2006. The Sanmina plant, which consisted of the former IBM AMDC (Automated Materials Distribution Centre) and Modules buildings 1 to 5, has since ceased operation and was demolished in 2009. The Spango Valley site was rebranded as "Valley Park" in late 2009. Lenovo has also re-located away from Greenock, and the plant is now at 10% of the 1999/2000 capacity. As of 2020 the site of IBM in Spango Valley had been completely demolished.
Trade and commerce
Greenock's main shopping thoroughfare was Hamilton Street, which connected West Blackhall Street in the west to Clyde Square in the east. In 1975, it disappeared along with several other central streets, as the area was pedestrianised as Hamilton Way. In 1992, it was covered and enclosed as an 85-unit centre by Covell and Matthews for then-clients Ossory Road Estates as ''The Oak Mall'' (in administration as of 21 November 2013). Since then, it has faced a major decline, and has been supplanted as Inverclyde's main shopping area by the retail park in Port Glasgow. Among the current occupants of the Oak Mall include: Argos, Boots, New Look, Primark, as well as other clothing stores, restaurants, cafes and discount stores.
In 1936, a Marks and Spencer store was opened. The original building became part of the Oak Mall, which was simply built during the first phase of pedestrianisation, where it remained until the store closed down, and moved to a new unit in Port Glasgow. In its place, is a collection of separate small markets, under the unit name of Bluebell Walk. Popular retail chain Woolworths used to operate in a unit in the Oak Mall until it fell into administration. It was replaced by a Wilkinsons store, which soon saw the same fate as its predecessor. It is now a Poundland.
The Oak Mall has had several issues for many years, such as flooding caused by leaks from the ageing and deterioration of the A78 flyover that is above the Oak Mall. As of major redevelopment projects taking place in Greenock, the eastern side of the Oak Mall, as well as the A78 flyover, and Hector McNeil House will be demolished in the beginning of 2025 after many years of plans and discussions.
On 24 November 1970, Tesco
Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...
opened their first Scottish store in Greenock, on Westburn Street. It later operated under Bejam, which was bought by Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
, who currently operates in the same location. Tesco has also operated in 3 other stores in Greenock: The store on West Stewart Street was the replacement after the first store closed. The other stores operated on Inverkip Street and Dalrymple Street. The latter is currently the only Tesco store, which also has a filling station on-site.
Other major supermarket chains, such as Aldi, Lidl and Morrisons also have a presence in the town. A small retail estate containing stores and restaurants is opposite the ''Waterfront'' swimming pool and leisure centre. Elsewhere, small groups of shops in most of the areas of the town provide for everyday essentials.
Transport
Greenock is Scotland's best served town in terms of railway stations. It boasts eight: Bogston, Cartsdyke, Greenock Central, Greenock West, Fort Matilda, Whinhill, Drumfrochar and Branchton. A ninth station, located at the former IBM complex, is currently mothballed pending redevelopment of the site. Only Glasgow has a much greater number of stations and Edinburgh possesses only two more. Greenock has a railway tunnel at in length. Located directly under Newton Street in the town, the tunnel allowed for the extension of the railway to Gourock.
A new £20m ocean terminal was opened in August 2023, which will see more than 100 cruise ships yearly. The terminal has already seen many major ships, such as the new Cunard ship MS Queen Anne as part of its maiden voyage. In March 2024, Princess Anne visited Greenock on a royal engagement, as part of the 60th anniversary of the MV Hebridean Princess, who was at the time docked nearby. The ocean terminal was part of the visit, where Princess Anne received a tour of the terminal, and learned more about the area, and its history.
Greenock is served by a number of local bus routes covering the majority of Greenock, Gourock and Port Glasgow. Long-distance services travel regularly to Glasgow, Largs and Dunoon. The majority of routes are run by McGill's Bus Services. The Largs to Glasgow corridor is served by two services, the 901, 906, which provide a bus along this route every 15 minutes for most of the day. The 531 service also offers travel from Greenock to Glasgow, serving the Slaemuir area of Port Glasgow before connecting with the X7 Service and continuing through Bridge of Weir, Houston and Linwood, then joining the motorway to Braehead before heading into Glasgow City Centre.
Greenock is located at the end of the A8 road/ M8 motorway which begins in Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
. It is also the northern terminus of Euroroute E05 which heads south through England, France and Spain, ending at the Spanish port and container terminal of Algeciras.
Culture
Greenock is home to the world's first Burns Club, The Mother Club, which was founded in 1801 by merchants born in Ayrshire
Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...
, some of whom had personally known Robert Burns. They held the world's first Burns Supper on what they believed was his birthday on 29 January 1802, but the following year; discovered from the Ayr parish records that the correct date was actually 25 January 1759.
The Victorian landscape artist John Atkinson Grimshaw depicted a somewhat idealised Greenock in several of his paintings.
The Watt Institution (McLean Museum) is the largest museum in the Inverclyde area. Among the museums collection are exhibitions on James Watt, fine arts, exhibits about the history of shipbuilding on the Clyde, and a collection of Ancient Egyptian
Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...
artefacts.
The Beacon Arts Centre opened in 2013 in a new building at Greenock's Custom House Quay. It provides a 500-seat theatre that hosts a regular programme of plays, concerts, musical events, comedians and other events and a Studio Theatre, as well as a multifunction Gallery Suite providing rehearsal and meeting rooms which combine for event or performance space, with views over the Clyde. On the ground floor a café & bar also haas wide views. The Beacon is owned by the Greenock Arts Guild, and replaced the former ''Arts Guild Theatre''.
Along the Custom House Quay is The Wyllieum, a museum commemorating George Wyllie, a Scottish artist who in his later life resided in Inverclyde. The museum opened in April 2024.
Greenock hosted the National Mòd in 1904 and 1925.[List of Mod's places]
for each year on Sabhal Mòr Ostaig
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig (; ) is a public higher education college situated in the Sleat peninsula in the south of the Isle of Skye, Scotland with an associate campus at Bowmore on the island of Islay. Sabhal Mòr is an independent Academic Part ...
website
In television
The 1974 BBC Scotland adaptation of the '' Para Handy'' novels, entitled '' The Vital Spark'', was filmed in Greenock. In 2012, Greenock became the setting for the BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
television drama '' Waterloo Road'', after the series was relocated from Rochdale, Greater Manchester. The series was shot at Greenock Academy, a former secondary school in the west of the town. The British TV series '' Annika'' uses the Beacon Arts Centre as the homicide unit's base.
In film
Greenock has featured as the backdrop to several films: the television films '' Just a Boys' Game'' (1979), '' Down Where the Buffalo Go'' (1988) and '' Down Among the Big Boys'' (1993) and the cinema films '' Sweet Sixteen'' (2002), '' Dear Frankie'' (2004) and ''Badla'' (2019). An early Danny Boyle film ''Leaving'' (1988) was shot here. In '' Rob Roy'', which is set in the mid-eighteenth century, Greenock is referred to as "the port to new world".
In literature
Greenock is one of the settings for Alan Sharp's 1965 novel ''A Green Tree in Gedde''. It is fictionalised as 'Gantock' by Robin Jenkins in his 1979 novel ''Fergus Lamont'' (The Gantocks are a rocky shoal in the Firth of Clyde
The Firth of Clyde, is the estuary of the River Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland. The Firth has some of the deepest coastal waters of the British Isles. The Firth is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre, Kintyre Peninsula. The ...
nearby, just off Dunoon). Alasdair Gray's 1984 novel '' 1982, Janine'' is set in a Greenock hotel room. Matthew Fitt's cyberpunk novel '' But'n'Ben A-Go-Go'' features a submerged Greenock after the effects of global warming
Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...
. Greenock has featured in the poetry of W.S. Graham (evoking his childhood) and Douglas Dunn.
Greenock features in Charles Nodier's 1832 romantic fairy-tale nove
''La fée aux miettes''
as the original home and final destination of the eponymous "Crumb Fairy," who, at the beginning of the story is trapped in France. I
''Promenade from Dieppe to the Mountains of Scotland''
his account of a 50-day journey to Scotland in 1821, Nodier described Greenock as “one of the ornaments of Renfrewshire” ("la charmante ville de Greenok ic un des ornements de Renfrew").
The novel ''The Greenock Murders'' by Kieran James (2021) is set in Greenock, especially the Cartsdyke area of town around Grosvenor Road, and the pubs of Gourock including the Kempock bar and Monteith's (now closed).
Media
The town has a daily evening newspaper, ''The Greenock Telegraph'', dating from 1857.
Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC Scotland and STV Central. Television signals are received from the Black Hill TV transmitter or one of the local relay transmitters (Rosneath and Ravenscraig ). An internet-based TV station – Inverclyde TV – is run by Creative Industries students at Greenock's West College Scotland.
Inverclyde FM on line is a community Internet radio
Internet radio, also known as online radio, web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio and IP radio, is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not ...
station run by volunteers.
The town is also served by nation-wide radio stations, BBC Radio Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish national radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 N ...
, Clyde 1, Greatest Hits Radio Glasgow & The West, Heart Scotland, and Capital Scotland.
Notable people
The most famous Greenockian is the engineer James Watt. He is remembered in several placenames in the town, in the library instituted in his memory, and by the original Watt Memorial School (later College) building on the site of his birthplace in William Street, which incorporates a commemorative statue. The Finnart Campus of the local college was until 2014 known as the James Watt College. Wetherspoons
J D Wetherspoon (branded variously as Wetherspoon or Wetherspoons, and colloquially known as Spoons) is a British pub company operating in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The company was founded in 1979 by Tim ...
opened the James Watt pub after the building was converted from its previous use as the General Post Office.
The Lady Octavia park and sports centre are named after Lady Octavia Grosvenor, wife of the local MP Sir Michael Shaw-Stewart, who died in 1921.
John Cummings, born in Greenock in 1944, was a Scottish footballer, who played for six teams over ten years in both the United Kingdom and United States.
John McGeoch, one of the most influential rock guitarists of the last decades, was born in Greenock in 1955; he spent his childhood with his family in the city before moving in his teens. '' Mojo'' magazine listed McGeoch as one of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".
Other Greenockians include the composers Hamish MacCunn and William Wallace, violinist Henri Temianka, mathematician William Spence, poets Denis Devlin, W. S. Graham and Jean Adam, merchant Matthew Algie, actors Richard Wilson, David Ashton, Martin Compston and Stella Gonet, artists William Scott and Alison Watt, playwrights Bill Bryden, Neil Paterson and Peter McDougall, comedian Charles 'Chic' Murray, opera singer Hugh Enes Blackmore, broadcaster Jimmy Mack, American football
American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...
player Lawrence Tynes, children's theatre performer Ruairidh Forde, PGA Pro golfer Colin Robinson, Antarctic explorer Henry Robertson 'Birdie' Bowers and portrait painter Leonard Boden.
Two Greenockians, Alexander Bruce and Theophilus S. Marshall, were involved in the drafting of the laws for Australian Rules Football.
* Charles McQueen (1836–1906), engineer and gold-dredger.
* John Davidson (1857-1909), dramatist and poet, lived and worked at Greenock from 1862 to 1889.
* Dr Donald McIntyre (1891–1954) was born and raised in Greenock.
*The novelist and children's writer Mary Alice Faid was born in Greenock in 1897.
*Robert Wilson, the grandfather of Uncle Sam ( Samuel Wilson) was born in Greenock.
* Stephen Purdon (born 1983), an actor who appeared on '' River City'', was born in Greenock.
*Rosé
A rosé () is a type of wine that incorporates some of the wine color, color from the grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as a red wine. It may be the oldest known type of wine, as it is the most straightforward to make with the Macerati ...
, a contestant on ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', was born in Greenock.
* Angela Egan, The 2021 winner of '' Dancing on Ice'' was born in Greenock, and after learning to skate in Paisley, became one of the first coaches at Greenock's Waterfront Ice Rink when it opened.
* M.R.D. Meek, mystery novelist, was from Greenock
* Ken MacLeod, science fiction novelist, was educated at Greenock High School.
** Al Stewart, singer
People with other connections
Pirate William Kidd claimed on death row that he was born in Greenock, but subsequent evidence has shown that he was born either in Belfast
Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
or Dundee
Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...
.
Robert Burns' lover Mary Campbell (Highland Mary) and her father sailed from Campbeltown to visit her brother in Greenock early in October 1786. Her brother fell ill with typhus, which she caught while nursing him. She died of typhus on 20 or 21 October 1786, and was buried in the Old West Kirk graveyard. In 1842 increasing interest in their romance led to a monument being erected by public subscription to mark the grave. In 1920 when the church site was needed to expand Harland and Wolff's shipyard, the monument was moved to its present site in Greenock Cemetery, with her remains being transferred to a casket and re-interred with due ceremony. The church itself was moved and rebuilt in its current location at the west end of the Esplanade in 1926.
The novelist John Galt, who founded Guelph
Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...
, Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
in 1827, lived in the town and based some of his work, most notably '' Annals of the Parish'' (1821), on Greenock and surrounding towns. He is buried in the Inverkip Street Cemetery. The mother of American comedian and writer Jay Leno, Catherine Muir, was born in Greenock and emigrated to the US as a child. The American actress Julianne Moore
Julie Anne Smith (born December 3, 1960), known professionally as Julianne Moore, is an American actress and children's author. Prolific in film since the early 1990s, she is known for her portrayals of emotionally troubled women in independent ...
is the daughter of the late Anne Love, a former psychiatric social worker who emigrated from Greenock. The Rev William C. Hewitt (minister at Westburn Parish Church in Greenock), Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 2009–2010, is the first serving minister at a church in Greenock to be appointed. Reverend Elizabeth Kinniburgh, born in Greencock in 1929, was one of the first women to become ordained as a minister for the 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 ...
in 1970.
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the Libyan intelligence officer convicted of the Lockerbie Bombing, was incarcerated at Greenock Prison from 2005 until his release on 20 August 2009.
Sports
Greenock Morton are the local senior football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
team who currently play in the Scottish Championship
The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...
. Founded in 1874 as Morton F.C., they play their home matches at Cappielow. At lower levels of the game, Greenock Juniors F.C. play in the West of Scotland Football League.
Greenock hosts a rugby union
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
team, Greenock Wanderers RFC, founded in 1873. It is one of the oldest clubs in Scotland.
Greenock also has 2 successful athletics clubs
Inverclyde AC
an
Glenpark Harriers
It is also the hometown of the Greenock Cricket Club and Greenock Golf Club.
In 1972, the town was also the host of the first official international women's football match played in Britain. The game, between Scotland and England, resulted in a 3-2 win for England.
Leisure facilities in Greenock are primarily provided by Inverclyde Leisure. There are several sports facilities in the town and surrounding area managed by Inverclyde Leisure:
* Waterfront Leisure Complex
* Greenock Sports Centre
* Lady Octavia Sports Centre
* Boglestone Community Centre and Fitness Gym
* Ravenscraig Sports Centre
* Battery Park Pavilion
* Gourock Fitness Gym
* Gourock Outdoor Swimming Pool
* Birkmyre Park Fitness Gym (Kilmacolm)
In 2009, plans were proposed to build a new multi-purpose facility at Rankin Park. In 2021, more plans were proposed that would build indoor tennis courts, along with other facilities. However, due to rising costs, it is uncertain whether it will go ahead, or be scrapped.
Notes
References
* ( Inverclyde Council website)
*
*
* ( Inverclyde Council website @ Inverclyde Libraries, McLean Museum and Inverclyde Archives)
* Watson, W. J. ''The History of the Celtic Place-Names of Scotland'' (Edinburgh, 1926)
*
Plan of the Town of Greenock from actual survey. – Maps of Scotland
1825, National Library of Scotland website)
Further reading
* Snoddy, TG (1937) ''Round About Greenock''
* Weir, D (1827, r. 2004) ''History of the Town of Greenock''
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
Towns in Inverclyde
Large burghs
Ports and harbours of Scotland
River Clyde
Firth of Clyde
Populated coastal places in Scotland
Parishes in Renfrewshire