Howwood (Scots : The Howewuid, [2] Scottish Gaelic : Coille an Dail) [3] is a village in Renfrewshire, Scotland. It is between Johnstone and Lochwinnoch, just off the A737 dual carriageway between the nearby town of Paisley and the Ayrshire border. It is served by Howwood railway station.
Its name is listed in the late 19th century Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland as "Howwood or Hollow-wood". [4] Hollow-Wood is an anglicisation of the Scots language name Howewuid. [2] The Surname Database gives the following etymology for the equivalent surname 'Howood': a topographical name from residence by a muddy wood, deriving from the pre-7th-Century Old English "horh", mud, slime, and "wudu", wood. [5]
Historically part of the civil parish of Lochwinnoch, it now supports its own Community Council. [6]
The chief industry in the village was formerly bleaching and the finishing of cotton cloth and thread, particularly from the mills of Paisley and the other Renfrewshire villages. Two main bleaching works existed at Bowfield and Midtownfield, the former being the last to close in the 1960s. [7]
Overlooking the village on Kenmure Hill is the Temple, a circular folly built around 1760 and whose purpose is unknown. [8] In the hills above Howwood also lie the remains of Elliston Castle, a tower house once home to the Semple family. [7] A battle took place between Government forces and Covenanters at Muirdykes on the 18 June 1685, led by the Cochrane family of Johnstone [8] The Iron Age hillfort of Walls Hill lies on Whittliemuir with the Walls Loch lying to the west of it.
Renfrewshire is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland.
Bridge of Weir is a village within the Renfrewshire council area and wider historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland.
Lochwinnoch is a village in the council area and historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Lying on the banks of Castle Semple Loch and the River Calder, Lochwinnoch is chiefly a residential dormitory village serving nearby urban centres such as Glasgow and Paisley. Its population in 2001 was 2628 and in 2022 was 2769.
Johnstone is a town in the administrative area of Renfrewshire and larger historic county of the same name, in the west central Lowlands of Scotland.
Houston, is a village in the council area of Renfrewshire and the larger historic county of the same name in the west central Lowlands of Scotland.
Bishopton (/bɪʃəptən/) is a village in Renfrewshire, Scotland. It is located around 2 miles (3 km) west of Erskine. Royal Ordnance Factory Bishopton was located on the edge of the village and is now being redeveloped as private housing into a community named Dargavel.
Crookston is a residential suburb on the southwestern edge of the city of Glasgow, Scotland.
Paisley and Renfrewshire South is a constituency of the House of Commons, located in Renfrewshire, Scotland to the southwest of Glasgow. It elects one member of Parliament at least once every five years using the first-past-the-post system of voting.
Howwood railway station is a railway station serving the village of Howwood, Renfrewshire, Scotland. The station is managed by ScotRail and is on the Ayrshire Coast Line, 13 miles (21 km) south west of Glasgow Central.
Lochwinnoch railway station is a railway station serving the village of Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire, Scotland. The station is managed by ScotRail and is on the Ayrshire Coast Line.
The Dalry and North Johnstone Line was a branch of the Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR) in Renfrewshire and Ayrshire, Scotland, connecting the stations in Elderslie and Dalry via a route running parallel to the existing line built by the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway. This provided additional line capacity for Ayrshire Coast and Kilmarnock services. The loop line was used for passenger services until the mid-1960s, when it was closed by the Beeching Axe. The majority of the line's trackbed has since been absorbed into the Sustrans National Cycle Network.
Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park is the collective name for areas of countryside set aside for conservation and recreation on the South Clyde estuary in Scotland.
Caldwell is a mansion and old estate with the remains of a castle nearby. These lands lie close to the Lugton Water and the villages of Uplawmoor in East Renfrewshire and Lugton in East Ayrshire.
Renfrewshire Law Centre, or RLC, was a West Scottish local community-based non-For-Profit law centre that offered services to the people of Renfrewshire and surrounding areas of West Central Scotland, often free of charge.
Renfrewshire South is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament covering parts of the council areas of Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It forms one of ten constituencies in the West Scotland electoral region, which also elects seven additional members to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
The lands of Elliston, previously Elliotston or Eliotstoun or Elliestoun in the Parish of Lochwinnoch were part of the holdings of the Barony of Elliston, later a part of the Castle Semple barony and estates. The ruins of the castle lie a short distance from Howwood in Renfrewshire in a private garden on a minor road between the A737 and the B776. The name may have derived from earlier holders of the lands, however the Sempill family held them since at least 1220. The castle was abandoned circa 1550 when John Sempill, 1st Lord Sempill moved to a new castle at Castleton which he renamed Castle Semple.
Walls Loch is situated at a height of 560 feet, below the Walls Hill Iron Age fort and to the east of Broadfield Hill on the lands of North Castlewalls Farm, Whittliemuir, Howwood, Renfrewshire, Scotland.
Renfrewshire is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, formally established in 1996 to succeed the Renfrew district within the Strathclyde region, both of which were abolished; the headquarters are at Paisley.
Johnstone Harp Football Club was a football club based in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, in Scotland.