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Johnstone

Coordinates:55°50′05″N4°30′10″W/ 55.83461°N 4.50272°W/55.83461; -4.50272
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the surname, seeJohnstone (surname).

Johnstone
Town
Houston Square
War memorial
Castle
Parish church
Railway station
From top, left to right:Houstoun Square, Johnstone War Memorial,Johnstone Castle,Johnstone Parish Church,Johnstone railway station
Johnstone is located in Renfrewshire
Johnstone
Johnstone
Location withinRenfrewshire
Population15,930 (2022)[1]
LanguageEnglish,Scots
OS grid referenceNS434628
•Edinburgh52 mi (84 km)
Council area
Lieutenancy area
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townJOHNSTONE
Postcode districtPA5, PA6, PA9, PA10
Dialling code01505
PoliceScotland
FireScottish
AmbulanceScottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament
List of places
UK
Scotland
55°50′05″N4°30′10″W/ 55.83461°N 4.50272°W/55.83461; -4.50272

Johnstone(Scots:Johnstoun,[2]Scottish Gaelic:Baile Iain)[3]is a town in theadministrative areaofRenfrewshireand largerhistoric countyof the same name,in the westcentral LowlandsofScotland.

The town lies 3 miles (5 km) west of neighbouringPaisley,12 miles (19 km) west of the centre of the city ofGlasgowand 12 miles (19 km) north east ofKilwinning.[4]Part of the biggestconurbationin Scotland, Johnstone is at the western edge of theGreater Glasgow Urban Area.

History

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Houstoun Square with bandstand and fountain gifted by theLaird,George Ludovic Houston, in 1891.[4]

Johnstone was largely aplanned communitywhich grew up around the house of Easter Cochrane, later known asJohnstone Castle,seat of the Houston or Houstoun family who gained their name from the nearby village ofHouston.In 1782, theLaird,George Houstoun, commissioned designs for a series of regular residential streets, which now form the town centre. At this early stage of development, the town's population including the local estate and rural hinterland was around 1,500.[4]Two mirroring civic squares were also constructed in the town: Houstoun Square and Ludovic Square,[5]the latter named for theLaird's son, and by 1794 the town had gained its current parish church.[6]Johnstone was raised to the status of apolice burghwith significant local powers, a status which is now defunct. The former court building continues to stand in Collier Street.[6]

Industrial development brought both prosperity and poverty to the community.Coal miningoccurred in Johnstone, although its main industry was related to the thread andcotton industries,with mills powered by theBlack Cart Waterwhich runs to the north of Johnstone.[5]A six-storey cotton mill, one of the largest in Scotland, was built in 1782, and was rescued from failure by Robert Burns of Paisley sometime before 1812. Burns introducedRichard Arkwright's methods for spinning cotton.[7]As the community expanded,slumconditions formed in part of the town: the population by 1831 had increased to a sizeable 5,600.[4]Unfortunately, the owners of Johnstone mill did not make much philanthropic progress among their worker population,[8]and the situation was not addressed until the 1930s by a significant expansion of the size of Johnstone to include a number of purpose-built residential estates.

Much of Johnstone's feudal heritage has disappeared. With the death of the last Laird in 1931,Johnstone Castlefell into disrepair before being largely demolished in 1950. The remaining tower was purchased in 2001 and is now a private residence. On the site of the former grounds now lies two housing estates, Johnstone Castle and Cochrane Castle. Embedded within Cochrane Castle is the Cochrane Castle Golf Club, which once held the world record for the longest hole.[4]

More recently, Johnstone History Museum[9]opened in 2008 – notably becoming the world's first museum located inside a supermarket.[10]

In 2015, the new Town Hall was completed at a cost of £14.5m.[11][12]

The town is home toJohnstone Pipe Bandwho compete in the highest level of pipe band competitions, Grade 1. The band was founded in 1943 and wears the Blue Mackay tartan.[13]

Education

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Johnstone High School

Thorn Public School, as it was originally called, opened in 1904. A new Thorn primary school opened in 1988, with the former building demolished in 1988. The old site is now occupied by a housing estate, although parts of the original walls are still standing. In 1950 St. David's Primary School was built along with its sister school Cochrane Castle Primary School. In 2007 the two schools were housed in a new shared building nearby, 'West Johnstone Shared Campus', just outside Thomas Shanks Public Park, the locations of the original schools (between Dundonald Avenue and Craigview Avenue) remain overgrown 'gap sites' awaiting redevelopment.

Johnstone High School[14]opened on its current site off Beith Road in March 1965, the previous building in Ludovic Square having burnt down in 1960 (there is now a modern health centre on its site). Its redeveloped campus opened in late 2009.[15]

The original St Cuthberts High School was built adjacent to Johnstone High School and shared the same driveway and car parks. The school closed in 1972 and moved to a new site in Hallhill Road, Spateston that year. The original school was demolished and replaced by a housing development to the left of the driveway of Johnstone High School. The school at Spateston closed at the end of the summer term of 2006 along with St Brendan's High School inLinwooddue to falling rolls and the buildings' poor state of repair. These were replaced by a new buildSt Benedict's High Schoolat Linwood (named in honour of StBenedict of Nursia,the patron saint of Europe and of students). The old St Cuthbert's building was used to house several schools while their own premises were being refurbished (including Johnstone High School from 2008 to 2009). It was also subsequently demolished in 2010 and has since been replaced by new housing.[16]

Religion

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The town contains churches of several Christian denominations: threeChurch of Scotland,twoRoman Catholic,oneScottish Episcopal Church,oneEvangelicaland oneBaptist.

Sports

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The town is home to theJohnstone Burghand Thorn Athletic football teams, which currently play in the Premier and Third Divisions of theWest of Scotland Football Leaguerespectively.

Politics

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Aerial view of Johnstone Castle housing estate

The town is split between theJohnstone South and ElderslieandJohnstone North, Kilbarchan, Howwood and Lochwinnochwards for elections toRenfrewshire Council,which elect four councillors each using theSingle Transferable Vote.The2022 Renfrewshire Council electionsaw councillors elected across the two wards being fourLabour Party,threeScottish National Party (SNP)and oneIndependent.

For elections to theScottish Parliament,Johnstone is included in the constituency ofRenfrewshire South,currently held by SNP politicianTom Arthursince 2016.Johnstone is also included in theWest Scotland regionwhich elects sevenadditional members.In theUK Parliamentthe town is contained within the seat ofPaisley and Renfrewshire South,represented by the Labour Party'sJohanna Baxtersince thesince the 2024 general election.

Transport

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Air

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Johnstone is served byGlasgow International Airport,which is located3+1⁄2miles (5.6 km) northeast of the town. Moreover,Prestwick International Airportis a 30-to-40-minute train journey fromJohnstone railway station.

Road

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A dual carriageway, theA737,connects Johnstone to theM8 motorwayto provide car transport links to central Scotland.

Bus services

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McGill's Bus Service Limited operate the majority of local services from their depot in the west end of Johnstone, running the following routes serving the town

  • 1/1A: Johnstone – Kilmacolm
  • 2/2A: Johnstone – Bridge of Weir
  • 20: Johnstone – Paisley (via Cochrane Castle, Johnstone Castle, Elderslie and the Royal Alexandria Hospital)
  • 38: Glasgow – Paisley – Johnstone
  • 904: Largs – Kilbirnie – Beith – Howwood – Johnstone – Paisley

Shuttle Buses, based in Kilwinning, Ayrshire runs the following services:

  • 1: Johnstone – Johnstone Castle
  • 4: Johnstone – Lochwinnoch
  • 5: Johnstone – Spateston

Rail

[edit]
Johnstone railway station

Johnstone is linked toGlasgow Central,Paisleyand theAyrshirecoast by theJohnstone railway stationwhich is located at the east of the town on Thorn Brae. A second unmanned stationMilliken Park railway stationlies at the west end of the town, just off the Cochranemill road. The railway line runs through the cutting of the old Glasgow–Ardrossan Canal, although the route of the canal runs under the original bridge, Dick's Bridge, at the bottom of the Thorn Brae, where the canal basin was situated and in winter, the rim of the canal basin sometimes becomes visible.

It may be noted that a second railway line ran through the town serving the villages ofKilbarchan,Bridge of Weir,andKilmacolm;the line now forms part of theClyde to Forth cycle route(National Cycle Route75). It had a station serving the Northern, more industrial areas of town,Johnstone North railway station.

Notable inhabitants

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See also:Category:People from Johnstone
  • Sir William Arrol– Worked as a boy at the Johnstone mills before becoming the architect ofForth Rail BridgeandTower Bridgein London
  • Adam Brown– professional ice hockey player; born in Johnstone in 1920, active in the NHL 1941–1952
  • Tommy Bryce– professional footballer
  • William Clunas– Scotland and Sunderland footballer; played in the firstEngland v Scotlandmatch atWembley Stadiumin 1924
  • Hunter Davies– journalist, author and broadcaster
  • John Deans– professional footballer
  • Robert Pollock Gillespie– mathematician
  • John Grant (Jock Strap) – vocalist of 1970s punk bandThe Straps,born 1960, grew up in Johnstone Castle
  • Renee Houston– music hall and comedy actress; born in Johnstone in 1902, attended St Margaret's Primary School
  • Jim Leighton– professional footballer, attended St. Cuthbert's Secondary School
  • Phyllis Logan– actress; attended Johnstone High School in the 1970s
  • Annie McGuire– BBC Journalist, born in Elderslie, attended St.Cuthbert's Secondary School
  • Alexander McLachlan– poet, born at the Brig in 1818
  • John Pitcairn, Jr.– Scottish-American industrialist; born in Johnstone, emigrated to the United States aged five
  • Gordon Ramsay– celebrity chef and TV host, born in Johnstone
  • SirGeorge Reid– 4th Prime Minister of Australia (18 August 1904 – 5 July 1905); was Prime Minister for ten months and 17 days, Australia's first federal Leader of the Opposition, federal government's first High Commissioner to the UK
  • Peter Tobin– serial killer, born in Johnstone in 1946
  • Tommy Turner– professional footballer

See also

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References

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  1. ^"Mid-2020 Population Estimates for Settlements and Localities in Scotland".National Records of Scotland.31 March 2022.Retrieved31 March2022.
  2. ^List of railway station names in English, Scots and Gaelic – NewsNetScotlandArchived2013-01-22 at theWayback Machine
  3. ^"Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba ~ Gaelic Place-Names of Scotland".Archived fromthe originalon 4 March 2016.Retrieved30 October2011.
  4. ^abcde(Our History and Heritage) Homepage[permanent dead link]
  5. ^abVisiting Renfrewshire[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ab"University of Edinburgh".Archivedfrom the original on 9 October 2012.Retrieved11 November2010.
  7. ^Anthony Cooke,The Rise and Fall of the Scottish Cotton Industry, 1778–1914(Manchester University Press, 2010), p. 30.
  8. ^Anthony Cooke,The Rise and Fall of the Scottish Cotton Industry, 1778–1914(Manchester University Press, 2010), p. 71-2.
  9. ^Home,Johnstone History Museum
  10. ^"First Museum In A Supermarket Opens At Morrisons In Johnstone | Culture24".culture24.org.uk.Archivedfrom the original on 14 October 2018.Retrieved14 October2018.
  11. ^Johnstone Town Hall,Struer
  12. ^Johnstone town hall is up for top design prize,Daily Record, 14 November 2015
  13. ^"Johnstone Pipe Band".Retrieved15 May2024.
  14. ^Home
  15. ^School Refurbishment, Johnstone High School,Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland
  16. ^Work starts on new homes at former St Cuthbert’s High school site,Renfrewshire24, 25 January 2016
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