Inchinnan (; ) is a small village in

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Renfrewshire is located in the west central Lowlands. It borders East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire, and lies on the southern ba ...

, Scotland. The village is located on the main A8 road between Renfrew and

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

, just south east of the town of Erskine.

History

The name of Inchinnan village is derived from the Gaelic word 'Innis', which means an island or low-lying land near a river or stream. The other part of the name is taken from Saint Inan, a 9th-century confessor at Irvine. An ornamental cast iron enclosure near the ford protects "St Conval's Chariot" which is supposedly the stone that brought Saint Conval from Ireland to Inchinnan around 590, and a 12th-century church dedicated to Saint Conval was given to the

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...

David I of Scotland David I or Dauíd mac Maíl Choluim (Scottish Gaelic, Modern Gaelic: ''Daibhidh I mac haoilChaluim''; – 24 May 1153) was a 12th century ruler and saint who was David I as Prince of the Cumbrians, Prince of the Cumbrians from 1113 to 112 ...

. Another church called 'Hallows Church' replaced it in 1900. The newer church was then replaced by part of the airfield at Abbotsinch. The latest church (Inchinnan Parish) is in the centre of the village. It contains burial stones possibly dating back to around the 9th century. In the same enclosure as St Conval's Chariot, "Argyll's Stone" was supposedly where the 9th Earl of Argyll rested when he was captured in 1685, before he was executed in Edinburgh on the Maiden. The confluence of the rivers Black Cart and White Cart is situated near Inchinnan. Travelers crossed by a ford and later by ferry. A stone bridge was built to cross the Black Cart and a

bascule bridge A bascule bridge (also referred to as a drawbridge or a lifting bridge) is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. It may be single- o ...

crosses the White Cart. In the 1700s there were quarries within the village. The quarries produced high quality freestone right up until the 1900s. In 1809–1812 stone from the quarries built the nearby Black and White Cart bridges. William Gilmour, farmer of Town of Inchinnan Farm, was the husband of Charlotte Gilmour who stood trial for his murder by arsenical poisoning in 1843.

Landmarks

The

at the border with Renfrew was replaced in 1923 by a

, which was made by Sir William Arrol & Company. It is still capable of opening, as the Doosan Babcock factory at Renfrew requires the capability to move large loads by river. The bridge crosses White Cart Water and onto 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 ...

. Inchinnan hosts an art deco style

category A listed Category, plural categories, may refer to: General uses *Classification, the general act of allocating things to classes/categories Philosophy * Category of being * ''Categories'' (Aristotle) * Category (Kant) * Categories (Peirce) * Category ( ...

building called India of Inchinnan. It is the former office block of India Tyres factory which occupied the site from 1927 until the early 1980s. It has now been renovated into private offices. The company also built two groups of houses to accommodate its workers. These streets were called Allands Avenue and India Drive. Prior to its use as a tyre factory, the site was used by

William Beardmore and Company William Beardmore and Company was a British engineering and shipbuilding Conglomerate (company), conglomerate based in Glasgow and the surrounding Clydeside area. It was active from 1886 to the mid-1930s and at its peak employed about 40,000 peo ...

to build

airships An airship, dirigible balloon or dirigible is a type of aerostat (lighter-than-air) aircraft that can navigate through the air flying under its own power. Aerostats use buoyancy from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding ai ...

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Several airships, the No's R24, R27, R34 and the R36 were built on this site. The company built 52 houses in Inchinnan, at Beardmore Cottages, to house its workers. Inchinnan has a large industrial estate within the town. There are a few manufacturing companies left within the area. Some of the companies associated with Inchinnan past and present include: Reekie Machine Tools, Scot Tubes, Gas Measurement Instruments, Bairdswear, Armour Park, Metecno, Aulds and

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

. M&Co (Mackays) has its head office at Caledonia House in the industrial estate. There is a bus depot in Inchinnan which belonged to Arriva Scotland West and before that Western SMT (later Clydeside Scottish). In December 2011, it was announced that Arriva had agreed to sell the company to the independent operator

McGill's Bus Services McGill's Bus Services is a bus operator based in Greenock, Scotland. The company has grown to operate a network of routes covering much of the council areas of Inverclyde, East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire, North Lanarkshire, Glasgow City (counci ...

and all of Arriva Scotland West's operations ceased on Monday 26 March 2012. East of the village beside the A8 road is a spoil tip from a disused

ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be c ...

mine. This hillock is now covered with trees. The mine, known as the Blythswood mine was abandoned by 1875. A palace was situated within the village about 1506. It was built by Matthew, Lord Darnley, second

Earl of Lennox The Earl or Mormaer of Lennox was the ruler of the region of the Lennox in western Scotland. It was first created in the 12th century for David of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon and later held by the Stewart dynasty. Ancient earls The first e ...

. Remains of the building known as ''Palace of Inchinnan'' could be seen up to 1710 but have now since been destroyed. It was situated on the border with Erskine; near to Flures Drive in Erskine. An inventory was made of the contents of the palace and chapel around the year 1570. The chapel goods included; two missals, statues of Jesus as a baby, the Virgin Mary and St Anne, with an ivory statue for the hanging chandelier. Wilhelmina Alexander, famous as

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...

' 'The Bonnie Lass of Ballochmyle', is buried in the Old Inchinnan Cemetery near the Black Cart Water. The site has restricted access and is very overgrown. The Inchinnan Cruising club was established in 1932. It is sited east of the village. The disused Park or Fulton's Quay stands on the River Clyde in the parish of Inchinnan. It was used privately by the owners of Park House.

Education

Inchinnan Primary school is the only school within the village. It is a

non-denominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. The term has been used in the context of various faiths, including Jainism, Baháʼí Faith, Zoro ...

state school A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-f ...

. For secondary education the village falls within the

catchment area A catchment area in human geography, is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...

of Park Mains High School in Erskine. For Roman Catholic denomination education, the nearest primary school is St Anne's in Erskine and Trinity High School in Renfrew is the nearest secondary school. Inchinnan Community Nursery provides pre-school education within the village.

Transport

Inchinnan is served by Glasgow Airport, which is located 2 km south of the village. The village has close links to the nearby M8 motorway, A8 road and the Erskine Bridge. Inchinnan is serviced by

and previously Arriva Scotland West. Services operate to

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 ...

, Paisley, Renfrew,

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric: ''Gwovan''; Scots language, Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of southwest Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the sout ...

, Erskine,

Clydebank Clydebank () is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Milton beyond) to the w ...

and Glasgow Airport.

Geography

Inchinnan is situated in the north east of Renfrewshire. It lies to the south of the

and close to where the River Gryffe meets the River Cart. The village borders a number of nearby settlements, some separated by a rural hinterland.

Gallery

File:IMGP0444 Inshinnan Bridge v1.png, Black Cart Bridge File:Inchinnan Cruising Club - geograph.org.uk - 1159289.jpg, Inchinnan Cruising Club File:Arriva bus depot, Inchinnan - geograph.org.uk - 500843.jpg, Bus Depot File:Park Hall Nursery, Inchinnan - geograph.org.uk - 59835.jpg, Park Hall Nursery File:Main entrance to Rolls-Royce factory, Inchinnan - geograph.org.uk - 501223.jpg, Rolls-Royce Factory File:Town of Inchinnan Farm, Renfrewshire, Scotland.jpg, Town of Inchinnan Farm

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Renfrewshire Erskine, Renfrewshire