Parish of Wiston and Roberton

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: Wiston and Roberton
1834-45: Wiston and Roberton

Wiston and Roberton, a united parish of the Upper Ward of Lanarkshire, in the E containing Lamington station, on the Caledonian railway, and near the left bank of the Clyde, 3 ½ miles SSW of Symington Junction, 10 ¼ S by E of Carstairs Junction, and 37 ¾ SW by S of Edinburgh. Formed in 1772 by the union of the two ancient parishes of Wiston to the N and Roberton to the S, it is bounded NW and N by Carmichael, NE by Symington, E and SE by Lamington, S and SW by Crawfordjohn, and W by Douglas. Its utmost length, from N to S, is 5 ¼ miles; its breadth increases northward from 1 1/8 to 5 1/8 miles; and its area is 13,209.781 acres, of which 70.005 are water. The Clyde flows 5 ¾ miles north - north - eastward along or close to all the Lamington border, and Duneaton Water 1 1/8 mile eastward along all the southern boundary. Other affluents of the Clyde here are Roberton Burn, running through the middle of Roberton, and Garf Water, through the middle of Wiston. Along the Clyde the surface sinks to 690 feet above sea-level; and thence it rises to 1169 at Harten Hill, 1237 at Roberton Law, 1675 at Dungavel Hill, and 2335 at Tinto, which culminates on the meeting-point of Wiston, Carmichael, Covington, and Symington parishes. The rocks are variously eruptive, Silurian, Devonian, and carboniferous. The eruptive rocks occur partly in dikes through the stratified rocks, partly in vast amorphous masses, of great variety of character, in the uplands. Limestone has been largely quarried; but workable coal has been sought for in vain. Much of the soil is very marshy; great part is either black loam or gravelly earth; and the rest is very diversified. According to the Ordnance Survey, 4606 acres are arable, 317 under wood, and 7976 heathy pasture. The township of Roberton was founded by Robert, the brother of Lambin, in the early part, and the township of Wiston by Wice about the middle, of the 12th century. Hardington House, noticed separately, is the -chief residence; and 5 proprietors hold each an annual value of more, 3 of less, than £500. The parish is in the presbytery of Lanark and the synod of Glasgow and Ayr; the living is worth £280. The parish church stands near the left bank of Garf Water, ¼ mile E of Wiston hamlet, 1 1/8 mile NW of Lamington station, and 7 miles SSW of the post-town, Biggar. It is an old building, enlarged after the union of the two parishes, and containing 355 sittings. At Roberton village, 2 ½ miles SSW, is a U.P. church, dating from 1801, and rebuilt in 1873; whilst two public schools, Wiston and Roberton, with respective accommodation for 70 and 50 children, had (1884) an average attendance of 18 and 28, and grants of £27 and £43, 14s. Valuation (1859) £4964, 14s. 11d., (1885) £8656, 18s. Pop. (1801) 757, (1831) 940, (1861) 786, (1871) 680, (1881) 562.—Ord. Sur., shs. 23, 15, 1865-64.

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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