Parish of Baldernock

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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1791-99: Baldernock
1834-45: Baldernock

Baldernock (Gael. baile-dur-chnoc, ` town of the stream at the knoll '), a hamlet and a parish of SW Stirlingshire. The hamlet stands in the W of the parish, 2¼ miles ENE of Milngavie station, and 7½ miles N of its post-town Glasgow; and comprises the parish church (1795; 406 sittings), a Free church, their manses, a school, and a few scattered cottages. The parish also contains the village of Balmore, 2½ miles ESE. It is bounded N and NE by Campsie, S by Cadder in Lanarkshire, SW and W by New Kilpatrick, and NW by Strathblane; and has an extreme length from N to S of 2¾ miles, a breadth from E to W of from 17/8 to 3½ miles, and an area of 4411¼ acres, of which 88¾ are water. The sluggish Kelvin flows between embankments 3 miles along the southern border, while its affluent, Allander Water, traces the south-western for 1½; and to these two streams three or four burns run southward through the interior of the parish, in whose SW corner are Bardowie Loch (4 x 2¾ furl.) and the best part of Douglaston Loch (4½ x 1 furl.). From the flat Balmore Haughs along the Kelvin the surface rises northward towards the Campsie Hills, having an altitude of 100 feet above sea-level near Torrance Bridge in the SE, of 200 near Longbank in the SW, of 187 at Craighead, 361 near Blairskaith, 313 by the church, 413 at Blochairn, 633 at Craigmaddie Muir on the northern border, and 700 at Blairskaith Muir in the NE. The rocks are carboniferous in the S, eruptive in the N; and coal, ironstone, pyrites, fireclay, lime, and alum have all at times been worked. Of soils there is a great and strongly-marked diversity, from the rich alluvium of Balmore Haughs to the clay incumbent upon till of the middle slopes, and the light sharp soil of the upland moors beyond; about 4000 acres are in tillage, 240 under wood. Antiquities are a famous cromlech called Auld Wives' Lift, some round or oblong cairns on Blochairn farm, the Hamiltons' ruined castle by Bardowie Loch, and remains of a moated tower in the park of Craigmaddie House near the north - western angle of the parish. The barony around this tower was held from 1238 and earlier by the Galbraiths, and in the latter half of the 14th century came through an heiress to John de Hamilton, a scion of the Cadzow line, and founder of that of Baldernock and Bardowie. Modern mansions are Bardowie, North Bardowie, and Glenorchard; and the property is divided among 3 landowners holding each an annual value of £500 and upwards, 11 of from £100 to £500,7 of from £50 to £100, and 6 of from £20 to £50. Baldernock is in the presbytery of Dumbarton and synod of Glasgow and Ayr; its minister's income is £213. The public school, with accommodation for 125 children, had (1879) an average attendance of 60, and a grant of £66,15s. Valuation (1881) £6609,11s. 5d. Pop. (1801) 796, (1841) 972, (1871) 616, (1881) 569.—Ord. Sur., sh. 30,1866.

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer

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