Howwood

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Howwood
Renfrewshire UK location map.svg
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Howwood
Location within Renfrewshire
Population1,600 (mid-2020 est.) [1]
OS grid reference NS397602
Council area
Lieutenancy area
Country Scotland
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town JOHNSTONE
Postcode district PA9
Dialling code 01505
Police Scotland
Fire Scottish
Ambulance Scottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament
List of places
UK
Scotland
55°48′32″N4°33′29″W / 55.809°N 4.558°W / 55.809; -4.558 Coordinates: 55°48′32″N4°33′29″W / 55.809°N 4.558°W / 55.809; -4.558

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.

Contents

History

Howwood seen from a nearby bike trail Howwood, Renfrewshire.jpg
Howwood seen from a nearby bike trail

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.

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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.

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Johnstone South and Elderslie is one of the twelve electoral wards in Renfrewshire, Scotland. It elects four of its forty-three Councillors using the Single Transferable Vote electoral system.

References

  1. "Mid-2020 Population Estimates for Settlements and Localities in Scotland". National Records of Scotland. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  2. 1 2 The Online Scots Dictionary
  3. List of railway station names in English, Scots and Gaelic – NewsNetScotland Archived 2013-01-22 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Hodges, Holburn Head, Holehouse, Holekettle or Kettle Bridge, Holl, Holland, Hollandbush, Hollows, Hollow-Wood or Howwood, Hollybush, Hollylee, Holm, Holmains, Holme or Holme Rose, Holms Water, Holybush, Holydean Castle, Holy Isle
  5. "Surname Database: Howood Last Name Origin".
  6. Howwood Community Council
  7. 1 2 "Renfrewshire Community Website - Howwood". Archived from the original on 18 March 2009. Retrieved 9 November 2008.
  8. 1 2 "Howwood Village Renfrewshire Scotland Community Website".