Old Kilpatrick (, meaning "Patrick's church"), is a village in

West Dunbartonshire West Dunbartonshire (; , ) is one of the 32 Local government in Scotland, local government council areas of Scotland. The area lies to the north-west of the Glasgow City council area and contains many of Glasgow's commuter towns and villages. ...

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 name ''Old Kilpatrick'' is said to be derived from St. Patrick ostensibly being born here. It has an estimated population of 4,820. It belonged to the parish of Old Kilpatrick which itself was only a few thousand people strong. The

Forth and Clyde Canal The Forth and Clyde Canal is a canal opened in 1790, crossing central Scotland; it provided a route for the seagoing vessels of the day between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde at the narrowest part of the Scottish Lowlands. This allow ...

separates Old Kilpatrick from the north bank of the

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

which is just a few metres beyond it to the south. The village is about west of

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 ...

, on the road west to

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

where some say the river becomes 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 ...

. The Great Western Road runs through the village whose immediate western neighbour, on the road and the canal, is

Bowling Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...

, where the Forth and Clyde Canal meets the river. The modern

A82 road The A82 is a major road in Scotland that runs from Glasgow to Inverness via Fort William, Highland, Fort William. It is one of the principal north-south routes in Scotland and is mostly a trunk road managed by Transport Scotland, who view it a ...

runs to the north, between the village and the foot of the Kilpatrick Hills. In the 19th century it was described as being essentially a single street. It's possible the birthplace of

Saint Patrick Saint Patrick (; or ; ) was a fifth-century Romano-British culture, Romano-British Christian missionary and Archbishop of Armagh, bishop in Gaelic Ireland, Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Irelan ...

was near Old Kilpatrick.

Roman fort

The western end of the

Antonine Wall The Antonine Wall () was a turf fortification on stone foundations, built by the Romans across what is now the Central Belt of Scotland, between the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth. Built some twenty years after Hadrian's Wall to the south ...

is at Old Kilpatrick; the eastern end, 59 km distant, is at Bridgeness, to the east in

Bo'ness Borrowstounness, commonly known as Bo'ness ( ), is a town and former burgh and seaport on the south bank of the Firth of Forth in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Counties of Scotland, Historically part of the county of West Lothian (historic), ...

on the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is a firth in Scotland, an inlet of the North Sea that separates Fife to its north and Lothian to its south. Further inland, it becomes the estuary of the River Forth and several other rivers. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate ...

. The route was surveyed during the 18th century, and traced to the Chapel Hill, where various Roman artefacts were found. Lottery funding has been assigned to producing replica distance markers; the West Dunbartonshire marker is to be placed at Old Kilpatrick. Romanwallinscotl00macduoft raw 0365no3

In 1790, when the

was being constructed, the remains of a bathhouse were discovered. In 1913, the foundations of the fort, which had been conjectured as being in the vicinity, were confirmed. In 1923, during redevelopment of the area, significant archaeology was undertaken which established the size and nature of the Roman Fort. The fort, built around 81 AD, occupied an area of about four acres and was enclosed by an outer defensive wall. If the date is correct, it shows that the fort preceded the Antonine Wall by some sixty years. Internally, buildings discovered included a

praetorium The Latin term ''praetorium'' (also and ) originally identified the tent of a general within a Roman '' castrum'' (encampment), and derived from the title praetor, which identified a Roman magistrate.Smith, William. Dictionary of Greek and Roma ...

(headquarters), barracks and a granary. A video reconstruction of the site has been produced. Sir George Macdonald also wrote about the excavations. Major development precluded further significant excavation, and nothing is visible of the remains today; the remains lie beneath the houses of Gavinburn Gardens to the east, a large commercial building to the west and the A814 road to the north. Finds from Old Kilpatrick include several distance slabs. One distance slab by the Twentieth Legion is known to have been completed before 1684. It depicts

Victory The term victory (from ) originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal duel, combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes a strategic vi ...

with a palm-branch in one hand and a garland in the other. It was found at Ferrydyke on the Clyde's northern bank and records the completion of 4411 feet; the last 3 Roman numerals are the same as the remaining ones on the other damaged distance slab (RIB 2206). The slabs along with many other finds from Old Kilpatrick are now kept at the

Hunterian Museum The Hunterian is a complex of museums located in and operated by the University of Glasgow in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the oldest museum in Scotland. It covers the Hunterian Museum, the Hunterian Art Gallery, the Mackintosh House, the Zoology M ...

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 ...

. For example, 19 coins have been found as well as a beaker. On 3 December 1969 a Roman votive altar was found at Old Kilpatrick. It has been scanned and a video produced. The inscription mentions the First Cohort of Baetasians, previously known to have been at Bar Hill, and also a centurion from The First Legion (Italica).

Medieval artefacts

Old Kilpatrick was one of the original parishes in medieval Scotland. The current (1812) church is built on the site of the 12th century church. One known artefact, a remnant of the previous medieval church, a font is currently on display in the local museum. Unusually in this part of Clydeside two examples of the Govan School of sculpture, dated to the Viking period, have been found. The Old Kilpatrick Cross (in fact the shaft of a cross) discovered in 1886 when the Auchentorlie tomb was opened for the burial of Andrew Buchanan. That cross is now in storage in Glasgow Museums Another stone, locally known as the Sandyford Cross, almost 3 metres in height was believed to be the execution place of a woman tried for witchcraft in the late 17th century. It was used as a bridge across the Dalnottar burn before being taken into the home of Robert Donald at Mountblow. From there it transferred to Glasgow Corporation in the 19th century and from there to the collection at Kelvingrove where it remains in storage

Later history

Old Kilpatrick and Erskine Hospital from Kilpatrick Hills

The parish system was introduced to Scotland in the 13th century. In about 1227, the church and lands of Kilpatrick were given to

Paisley Abbey Paisley Abbey is a parish church of the Church of Scotland on the east bank of the River Cart, White Cart Water in the centre of the town of Paisley, Renfrewshire, about west of Glasgow, in Scotland. Its origins date from the 12th century, base ...

by Maldowen,

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 ...

. The parish remained under the supervision of the Abbey until the Reformation in 1560. At the Dissolution, the Church property fell into the possession of Lord Sempill. Eventually the lands were conferred on Claude Hamilton (a boy of ten), founder of the Abercorn family. His son James Hamilton was created Lord Abercorn on 5 April 1603, then on 10 July 1606 he was made Earl of Abercorn and Lord of Paisley, Hamilton, Mountcastell ''and Kilpatrick''. Kilpatrick was split into two parishes – Old (Wester or West) and

New Kilpatrick New Kilpatrick, (also known as East Kilpatrick or Easter Kilpatrick) is an ecclesiastical Parish and former Civil Parish in Dunbartonshire. It was formed in 1649 from the eastern half of the parish of Kilpatrick (also known as Kirkpatrick), the ...

(also known as Easter or East) by an Act of Parliament on 16 February 1649. This division is unusual because this was a split of both the ecclesiastical and civil parishes and the wealth and stipend of the original parish was shared between the two new parishes. It was more common for new parishes to have "daughter" status, with wealth retained by the central, or cathedral church. Old Kilpatrick was created a

Burgh of barony A burgh of barony was a type of Scottish town (burgh). Burghs of barony were distinct from royal burghs, as the title was granted to a landowner who, as a tenant-in-chief, held his estates directly from the crown. (In some cases, they might also ...

in 1697.Statistical Accounts of Scotland 1834–45 vol 8 p. 23 Its population tripled between 1755 and 1821 as the spinning and weaving industries developed. By 1831 the population was 5,800. From 1906 to 1931, Old Kilpatrick was the site of the Napier and Miller shipyard. River Clyde and Old Kilpatrick from Erskine Bridge - geograph

River Clyde and Old Kilpatrick from Erskine Bridge - geograph

Today, the north end of the Erskine Bridge, which replaced the Erskine Ferry, lands just above the village, and the village is served by Kilpatrick railway station on the North Clyde Line. There are three public houses within Old Kilpatrick; The Twisted Thistle, The Ettrick and the Glen Lusset. The Twisted Thistle was previously known as the Telstar. After the closure of The Telstar, the building was renovated and reopened in 2014 as The Twisted Thistle. There are two annual fêtes which are well attended. Also at the north end of Old Kilpatrick is the local school. Gavinburn Primary School (which was bombed in WW2) where they also have many fêtes annually. The

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): Mi ...

s edingtonite and thomsonite were first found at Old Kilpatrick. In the early 1990s a large housing estate was constructed at the edge of Old Kilpatrick, the one estate was said to double the size of Old Kilpatrick. The ancient graveyard surrounding the old parish church still has surviving gravestones from the 17th century. The current building dates from 1812 and is still in use as the local Church of Scotland parish church, now linked with neighbouring Bowling Parish Church. The local Roman Catholic church is St Patrick's RC Church; the current parish priest is Rev William McGinley. A fire in August 2015 saw the RC congregation temporarily without a place to worship, taking up the kind offer of the nearby Church of Scotland congregation to use their building, a friendly act of ecumenism in part of Scotland traditionally torn by bigotry. There are plans to develop a marine technology hub at the former Royal Navy oil refinery and a wooded community area near the village.

Notable people

Many soldiers from Old Kilpatrick perished during the First World War. * Peter Canero, footballer * Chris Baillie, athlete * Bobby Finan, footballer * Colonel Andrew Geils, one time Commandant (interim Governor) of

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania during the European exploration of Australia, European exploration and colonisation of Australia in the 19th century. The Aboriginal Tasmanians, Aboriginal-inhabited island wa ...

(subsequently

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

) and owner of the nearby estate of Dumbuck is buried in the Parish churchyard along with several other family members * George Harcourt, society portrait painter * Alexander Hart, one of the convicted Scottish Radicals * James Leechman, Scottish advocate and judge * Walter G Leechman, solicitor * Daniel McLaughlin (1884-1970), survivor of the shipwreck Dundonald * Ian Niall, or John McNeillie, author of ''The Wigtown Ploughman,'' was born here * John Hammond Teacher (1869-1930) Professor of Pathology, Glasgow Infirmary *This is one of several locations that it is suggested that Saint Patrick of Ireland was captured at and enslaved in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in the 5th century.

References

External links