Garnkirk is a settlement in

North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the north-east of the Glasgow City council area and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns, and villages. It also borders East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk (co ...

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

's city centre and 23 km southwest of

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

. Garnkirk is connected via the nearby motorways M8, M73 and M80. This provides access to

Cumbernauld Cumbernauld (; ) is a large town in the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, most-populous locality in Scotl ...

and

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

. The nearest modern railway stations are in

Gartcosh Gartcosh () is a village in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The village lies about east of Glasgow, and about northwest of the town of Coatbridge. According to a 2012 estimate, the population of Gartcosh was 2,130 people. Expansion of the village ...

and

Stepps Stepps (Scottish Gaelic: ''Ceumannan'') is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, near the north-eastern outskirts of Glasgow. According to data gathered by North Lanarkshire Council in 2020, Stepps is estimated to have a population of roughly 7, ...

History

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

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

, Charles Ross, and

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

. John Dunlop bought Garnkirk House in 1634. The house stayed in the family for many years. The Dunlops were well known. For example James Dunlop being a wealthy landowner opposed Thomas Muir and the congregation at

Cadder Cadder (Scottish Gaelic: ''Coille Dobhair'') is a district of the town of Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It is located 7 km north of Glasgow city centre, 0.5 km south of the River Kelvin, and approximately 1.5 km nor ...

over who appointed their minister. The house is now the clubhouse of the Crow Wood Golf Club. "James Dunlop of Garnkirk" was one of the five wealthy supporters of Glasgow's first playhouse in the late 18th century ( a Puritanical spirit suppressing entertainment in the city). One gazetteer, Samuel Lewis, describes coal being hardly worth digging

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

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

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

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

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

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

Garnkirk Burn

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

. It is joined by the Garnkirk Burn east of Davidston farm, just north of the M80. The Bothlin is without a doubt the Luggie Water's major contributing stream.

References

{{North Lanarkshire Settlements Populated places in North Lanarkshire