Ferguslie

Ferguslie is a western suburb of the town of Paisley in Renfrewshire, which was once synonymous with the J. & P. Coats Thread Works. Ferguslie House was built in 1828 and became the home of Thomas Coats (1809-83). The house was demolished in 1920 but Ferguslie Gardens remain. The first mills dated from 1826 built alongside the Glasgow, Paisley and Johnstone Canal but the site rapidly developed during the 19th C. to become a large industrial complex with nine grand brick-built mills and dozens of associated buildings including a dye-works, workshops, canteens and even a 'Half-Timers' School which allowed young girls to work and be educated. The site fell into decline in the 1970s and most of the buildings were demolished. The grandest was the six-storey No.1 Spinning Mill which was built in 1887. Despite its A-listed status and a robust local campaign, this was pulled down in 1992. The area was redeveloped as private housing, comprising flats together with detached and semi-detached homes. The Half-Timers School remains, but is in a ruinous state (2018) while the Counting House (1897), where wages were made up, has been converted into flats. The street names remember the former mill complex; namely Bobbins Gate, Spinners Gardens, Turners Avenue, Weavers Avenue, Coats Drive and Arkwright Way.

To the northwest is the dismal suburb of Ferguslie Park, while to the north is Woodside Cemetery and Paisley Crematorium.

The Ferguslie Peninsula in Antarctica was so-named through the sponsorship of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition of 1902-04 by Sir James Coats (1834 – 1913).


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