Parish of Rutherglen

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: Rutherglen 1834-45: Rutherglen

Rutherglen (popularly Ruglen—old form, Rutheglen), a parish containing a town of the same name in the Lower Ward of Lanarkshire, and near the extreme NW of the county. It is bounded N by the river Clyde, Calton parish, and Shettleston parish, E by the parishes of Cambuslang and Old Monkland, S by the parish of Carmunnock, SW by part of the parish of Cathcart, and W by Govan parish and Renfrewshire. On the N the boundary is traced by the Clyde for 4½ miles, and on the W it is formed by the Polmadie and Malls Mire Burns as far as West House; elsewhere it is practically artificial. The greatest length of the parish, from near Rosebank House on the E to the point where the boundary line quits Malls Mire Burn on the W, is 2⁷/₈ miles; the greatest width, from N to S, is barely 2½ miles; and the area is 2219 918 acres, of which 0.647 acres are foreshore, and 67 '877 are water. The portion along the Clyde is from 30 to 40 feet above sea-level, and the surface rises at the burgh to from 50 to 100 feet, and thereafter Southwards till, near the extreme S, a height of 303 feet is reached. The soil on the low ground is a fertile alluvium, and the whole parish is arable. The surface in the centre is undulating, and on the S there is an ascent towards the Cathkin Hills. Coal and iron are extensively worked. The principal e-states are Shawfield, Farme, Rosebank, Gallowflat, Scotstown, Stonelaw, and Bankhead. The parish is traversed by the main road from Glasgow to Hamilton, which passes eastward from the S side of Glasgow, and a branch road connecting this with the Bridgeton suburb of Glasgow crosses the Clyde by Rutherglen Bridge, which was erected in 1776 at a cost of about £1800, of which the burgesses of Rutherglen contributed more than half. Prior to this the only means of communication had been by a ford, or by going round by Glasgow Bridge. There is now at Farme, farther to the E, a wooden bridge called Dalmarnock Bridge, and there is also a railway bridge between the two. The parish is also traversed by two branches of the Caledonian railway system. Farme, which is separately noticed, is an old royal domain, and belonged thereafter to the Stewarts, the Douglases, and the Hamiltons. A tumulus which stood at Drumlaw was destroyed many years ago, and another at Farme also met with the same fate. In the latter, in 1768, a stone coffin was found. Of a third tumulus at Gallowflat, which was surrounded by a moat, some traces still remain. An ancient cross, 10 feet high and 3½ wide, with a sculptured representation of Christ entering Jerusalem riding on an ass, stood on the top of the 'Cross Hill,' about ½ mile WSW of the burgh, till the latter half of last century. The parish, which was in the time of the early Scottish kings a royal demesne, is in the presbytery of Glasgow and synod of Glasgow and Ayr, and is divided ecclesiastically into Rutherglen and Rutherglen West parishes, the latter being a quoad sacra charge. The living is worth £463 a year. The churches are noticed under the burgh, and there is also a mission station at Eastfield. Under the landward school board the Eastfield public school, with accommodation for 217 pupils, had in 1884 an attendance of 181, and a grant of £135, 16s. Twelve proprietors hold each an annual value of £500 or upwards, 39 hold cach between £500 and £100, 45 hold each between £100 and £50, and 68 hold each between £50 and £20. Landward valuation (1880) £20, 400, 11s. 6d., (1885) £25,414, 17s. 9d. Pop. of parish (1801) 2437, (1831) 5503, (1861) 9335, (1871) 10,766, (1881) 13,801, of whom 6666 were males and 7135 females. Houses (1881) 2799 inhabited, 308 uninhabited, and 10 building. Of the total population 2901 were in the quoad sacra parish of Rutherglen West, and 1368 were in the landward part of the parish.

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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