Lennoxtown
| Lennoxtown | |
| Stirlingshire | |
|---|---|
 Lennoxtown Dam, with the Campsie Fells behind | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NS625775 |
| Location: | 55°58’26"N, 4°12’22"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 3,773 (2011) |
| Post town: | Glasgow |
| Postcode: | G65, G66 |
| Dialling code: | 01360 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | East Dunbartonshire |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East |
Lennoxtown is a small town in Stirlingshire, founded in the eighteenth century.
This was once a busy industrial town, beginning with calico mills and expanding to other products. Since the mills stopped turning however it has been forced to seek a new role. Lennoxtown had a population of 3,773 at the 2011 census.
History
The focus of the Lennoxtown area used to be the busy Lennox Mill, where tenants of the Woodhead estate brought their corn to be ground. There were several corn mills in Campsie Parish, but this was arguably the most important. Lennox Mill was located in the vicinity of the recently demolished Kali Nail Works.
A significant event in the history of the locality was the establishment of the calico printing works at Lennoxmill during the late 1780s, on a site adjacent to the old corn mill. Calico is a type of cotton cloth, and the printing of cotton cloth was soon established as a major industry in the area, also at Milton of Campsie. It was to provide accommodation for the block makers and other cotton printing workers that the village of Lennoxtown was established, during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Streets of houses were planned and built according to a formal plan. Lennoxtown was at first known as 'Newtown of Campsie',[1] to distinguish it from the Sirktown' or Clachan' of Campsie, at the foot of Campsie Glen.
During the 19th century Lennoxtown grew to be the largest centre of population in Campsie Parish. Another important industry was soon established – a chemical works, founded by Charles Macintosh (creator of the eponymous waterproof clothing) and his associates. At first their principal product was alum, a chemical employed in the textile industry. Alumschist, the basic ingredient in the process, was mined in the area. The works came to be known as the Secret Works, presumably because of the need to keep the industrial processes secret.
During the 1790s many of the Lennoxmill workers supported the political reformer Thomas Muir of Huntershill, and a Reform Society was set up in Campsie in 1792. However, the parish minister, the Rev. James Lapslie, saw to it that there was also some opposition to Muir's ideas in the area. Arising form the ideas of reform, in 1812 a local co-operative society was founded, the Lennoxtown Friendly Victualling Society; one of the earliest of its kind in Britain.
The growing importance of Lennoxtown was underlined by the removal of the parish church from the Clachan to the New Town during the 1820s. Plans for the new church were prepared by the architect David Hamilton, who was also responsible for the nearby Lennox Castle.[2] A Roman Catholic church was erected in 1846 (originally St Paul's, later renamed St Machan's), one of the earliest post-Reformation Roman churches outside the cities and large towns.
The decline of the industries that flourished during the nineteenth century, and also the later nail-making industry (and indeed the famous Victualling Society) has left Lennoxtown in a kind of post-industrial limbo, from which it has been difficult to escape. Slow progress continues to be made.
Lennoxtown Railway
The railway to Lennoxtown was an extension of the Glasgow to Edinburgh line. The first five and a half miles of this line, from Lenzie to Lennoxtown, were built by the Edinburgh and Glasgow railway, under powers obtained in 1845 and it was officially opened on the 5th of July 1848. The railway was initially intended to serve the print fields at Lennoxtown but it eventually allowed passengers and provided this service as far as Aberfoyle. The passenger service was discontinued in the October of 1951, the transportation of goods continuing but only as far as Lennoxtown from 1959. The line closed completely in 1966.[3] Lennoxtown Station won first prize for being the best kept railway station in Scotland in 1897 and then for 7 years in succession from 1922 to 1928 and again in 1930 and 1931.
Town Hall
In the 1860s a town hall at Lennoxtown was built, now called the Campsie Memorial Hall; construction began in 1866 and was funded by subscription. Two years later, the hall was opened. Altogether, it cost £1,340.[4] In the 1950s the District Council took over the hall in order for the building to be renovated.[5]
In 2010 the council announced plans to close the Campsie Memorial Hall due to lack of funding. After a local initiative, the hall was taken over by volunteers from Lennoxtown in late 2012 and has been thriving since.
Lennoxtown training centre
Glasgow Celtic FC have a 50-acre training ground was built on the grounds of Lennox Castle, opened in October 2007. The facility has three natural grass, UEFA match-size pitches and one full-size, all weather, artificial pitch which is floodlit. There is undersoil heating, a state-of-the-art gym, a sauna and steam room and changing facilities.[6]
Local football teams, such as the Campsie Boys Club, train there once a week. Celtic liaise with the local schools (St. Machans and Lennoxtown Primary School) to allow occasional use of their training facilities. There are educational facilities for the young Celtic Academy footballers at the ground and arrangements for them to attend St Ninians High School in Kirkintilloch. The school football team use the training ground facilities.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Lennoxtown) |
References
- ↑ "Overview of Lennoxtown". Gazetteer for Scotland. http://www.scottish-places.info/towns/townfirst448.html. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
- ↑ "Overview of Lennox Castle". Gazetteer for Scotland. http://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst8266.html. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
- ↑ "Railway". Welcometolennoxtown.co.uk. http://www.welcometolennoxtown.co.uk/railway.htm. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
- ↑ "Town Hall". Welcome to Lennoxtown. http://www.welcometolennoxtown.co.uk/town_hall.htm. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
- ↑ "Town Hall". Welcometolennoxtown.co.uk. http://www.welcometolennoxtown.co.uk/town_hall.htm. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
- ↑ "Celtic Unveil World Class Training Center - The Offside - Celtic blog". Celtic.theoffside.com. http://celtic.theoffside.com/celtic/celtic-unveils-world-class-training-center.html. Retrieved 2013-11-17.