Paisley, Renfrewshire

For other uses, see Paisley (disambiguation).

Paisley Scottish Gaelic: Pàislig
File:RenfrewshirePaisley.png Paisley's location locally and nationally.
Population
Council area	Renfrewshire
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	PAISLEY
Postcode district	PA1 , PA2 & PA3
Dialling code	0141 & 01505
Police	Scotland
Fire	Scottish
Ambulance	Scottish
Website	paisley.org.uk

Paisley (Template:Lang-gd) is a town and former burgh located in the west central lowlands of Scotland. Approximately eight miles west-south-west of Glasgow. It is the administrative centre of the Renfrewshire council area. Straddling the White Cart Water which merges with the Black Cart Water to form the River Cart to the north of the town the settlement occupies the lowland to the north of the Gleniffer Braes.

Paisley was once reckoned to have been the site of the Roman fortification of Vanduara (or Vandogara) chronicled by Ptolemy. The identification of the site of modern Paisley with this fort is based principally on the similarity of the name of the station to the Brythonic Gwen-dwr ('white water') which was inferred to have been the name at that time of the White Cart Water.

In the 12th century a priory was founded at Paisley around which a settlement soon grew. Within a hundred years of its foundation the priory had achieved the status of an Abbey. The town became famous during the 18th and 19th centuries for the production of cloth, especially cotton with the distinctive Paisley Pattern.

Paisley is the largest town in Scotland, not counting the four largest cities, and therefore the fifth-largest settlement in the country, having a greater population than Inverness or Stirling, which both have city status.

Etymology

Formerly known as Paislay the burgh's name is of uncertain origin; some sources suggest a derivation either from the Brythonic word, pasgill, 'pasture', or more likely, passeleg - 'basilica', (i.e. major church), itself derived from the Greek basilika. However, some Scottish place-name books suggest "Pæssa's wood/clearing", from the Old English personal name Pæssa and leāh - "clearing, wood". Pasilege (1182) and Paslie (1214) are recorded previous spellings of the name.

History

Paisley has monastic origins. A chapel is said to have been established by the 7th century (?) Irish monk, Saint Mirin at a site near a waterfall on the White Cart Water known as the Hamills. Though Paisley lacks contemporary documentation it may have been, along with Glasgow and Govan, a major religious centre of the Kingdom of Strathclyde. A priory was established in 1163 from the Cluniac monastery at Wenlock in Shropshire, England at the behest of Walter Fitzalan (d. 1177) High Steward of Scotland. In 1245 this was raised to the status of an Abbey. The restored Abbey and adjacent 'Place' (palace), constructed out of part of the medieval claustral buildings, survive as a Church of Scotland parish church. One of Scotland's major religious houses, Paisley Abbey was much favoured by the Bruce and Stewart royal families. It is generally accepted that William Wallace the great hero of Scottish independence who inspired the film Braveheart was educated here and King Robert III (1390-1406) was buried in the Abbey. His tomb has not survived, but that of Princess Marjorie Bruce (1296-1316), ancestress of the Stewarts is one of Scotland's few royal monuments to survive the Reformation.

Paisley coalesced under James II's wish that the lands should become a single regality and, as a result, markets, trading and commerce began to flourish. In 1488 the town's status was raised by James IV to Burgh of barony.

Many trades sprang up and the first school was established in 1577 by the Town Council. By the mid-nineteenth century weaving had become the town's principal industry. Paisley is still very well-known for the Paisley Shawl and its distinctive Paisley Pattern which originated around this time.

Through its weaving fraternity, Paisley gained notoriety as being a literate and somewhat radical town, although it could be argued in a fiercely positive direction. By this time there was a real mixture of religious opinions and healthy drink-fuelled debate raged at night amongst the weavers, poets, merchants, masons and others. The poet Robert Tannahill lived in this setting, working as a weaver. The weavers of Paisley were also active in the Radical War of 1820.

Industry

File:Paisley.JPG

Several ties showing the Paisley pattern that made the town famous in the 19th century

Paisley was at one time famous for its weaving industry. For nearly a hundred years until the 1870s shawls of the Paisley pattern were in fashion. Until the Jacquard loom was introduced in the 1820s weaving was a cottage industry. This innovation led to the industrialisation of the process. As a result many weavers lost their livelihoods and left for Canada and Australia. One of these John Hart, a Paisley mill owner settled at Perth,Ontario, where he had a Book Store and Mercantile shop.

Due to its damp, mild climate Paisley was for many years a centre for the manufacture of cotton sewing thread. At the heyday of Paisley thread manufacture in the 1930s there were 28,000 people employed in the huge Anchor and Ferguslie mills of J & P Coats Ltd (Coats Viyella) said to be the largest of their kind in the world at that time. In the 1950s the mills diversified into the production of synthetic threads but with cheap foreign imports and the establishment by Coats of mills in India and Brazil the writing was on the wall for Paisley and production began to diminish rapidly. By the end of the 1980s there was no thread being produced in Paisley. However, both industries have left a permanent mark on the town in the form of the many places with textile related names, for example, Dyer's Wynd, Cotton Street, Thread Street, Shuttle Street, Lawn Street, Silk Street, Mill Street and Incle Street.

The town also supported a number of engineering works some of which relied on the textile industry, others on shipbuilding. With the demise of both these industries in the west of Scotland the engineering works too have all but gone.

In the mid 1970s industry in Paisley went into rapid decline. The preserve manufacturer Robertsons which was founded in Paisley in the 1860s closed its Stevenson St factory and transferred production to Bristol, Manchester and London. This closure was followed by those of the engineering firms of Fullerton, Hodgart and Barclay and Whites Engineering.

In 1981 the area was dealt a massive blow when Peugeot Talbot, formerly Chrysler, announced that their Linwood factory just outside of Paisley would cease production. Almost 5000 workers were laid off. The knock on effect on other businesses in the area was immeasurable and, despite numerous regeneration projects, Linwood has never recovered.

Other businesses to have closed in recent years are CPC Foods Ltd, a subsidiary of Unilever, which produced Hellmann's mayonnaise, Gerber baby foods and Knorr soups, Cadbury's distribution centre and William Grant & Sons the Scotch whisky producer.

Some of the remaining employers in the town are Scotch whisky blenders and bottlers Chivas Brothers now a subsidiary of Pernod Ricard and the pigment manufactory of the Swiss company Ciba Geigy. Both companies employ considerably fewer people than in the past.

Glasgow International Airport which is situated to the north of Paisley is a major centre of employment. Many Paisley people travel outside of the town to work, most notably to Glasgow city centre.

Architecture

In the 1960s the town centre underwent considerable redevelopment resulting in the demolition of the County Buildings in County Square and the adjacent police station and town gaol. These fine Victorian edifices were replaced by the brutalist concrete Gilmour House and the Piazza shopping centre which spans the White Cart Water.

Paisley Abbey

Paisley Abbey was the burial place of many Scottish Kings during the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries.

The west of the building provides an example of original Gothic architecture dating to the 12th century. The east end and tower date to the late 19th and early 20th centuries and are examples of Gothic Revival architecture.

Other notable buildings

The Thomas Coats Memorial Church is an example of Gothic Revival architecture. It dominates the town's skyline with its crown spire more than 60 metres high. Opened in 1894 and designed by Hippolyte Jean Blanc it is the largest Baptist church in Europe. The exterior is made of old red sandstone. Inside, the church is decorated with wood carvings, mosaic floors and marble fonts. The church also contains a 3040 pipe Hill Organ.

The Cathedral Church of Saint Mirin (St Mirin's Cathedral) in Incle St is the seat of the Catholic Bishop of Paisley. The church was completed in 1931 to replace an earlier building, in nearby East Buchanan St, which dated from 1808. The original St Mirin's church was the first Catholic church to be built in Scotland since the Reformation. With the erection of the Diocese of Paisley in 1947 the church was raised to cathedral status.

St Matthew's Church (Church of the Nazarene) is built in the Art Nouveau style. Designed by local architect W D McLennan, a contemporary of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, it was built in 1906.

The Russell Institute was built in 1926.

The “A” listed Anchor Mill (built 1886) was converted, in 2005, into modern apartments. The building is an example of successful redevelopment of old industrial areas.

Paisley Civic Centre designed by Sir Basil Spence and Partners was built in the 1960s to house the Renfrewshire county offices. It was intended to become the civic hub for Paisley but the absence of any shops and non-council premises prevented this from happening. It became the home of the Renfrew sub-region of Strathclyde Regional Council in 1975 and of Renfrewshire Council in 1996. It is listed by the conservation organisation DoCoMoMo as one of the sixty key Scottish monuments of the post-war period.

Education

In 1992, Paisley College of Technology, founded in 1896 as Paisley Central Institution, became the University of Paisley which plans to merge with Bell College in Hamilton to refound as the University of The West of Scotland in 2008. The town also contains Reid Kerr College which provides Further Education. There are four Secondary Schools in Paisley: Paisley Grammar School, Castlehead High School, St Andrew's Academy and Gleniffer High School. The oldest of these is Paisley Grammar which was founded in 1586.

Until the late 1990s there were five more secondary schools no longer in existence having been the casualties of the reduction in pupil numbers - Merksworth High School (to the north west of the town), John Neilson High School and St Mirin's High School (on the west side of the town), St Aelred's High School and Stanely Green High School (both on the south side of the town).

Media

Viewers in Paisley can receive all the UK terrestrial channels and radio listeners can receive all the major UK stations plus a number of local services. The local daily newspaper is the Paisley Daily Express whose offices are located on New Street in the town centre of Paisley. The locally based radio station Q96, has gone off air and has been replaced with 96.3 Rock Radio. Despite being based in Baillieston, Glasgow the terms of the licence state that it must carry Renfrewshire based material.

• Radio Stations (National and Local)
  • Clyde 1
  • XFM Scotland
  • Real Radio
  • 96.3 Rock Radio, available in Paisley, Renfrewshire and Glasgow
  • FPR, On Air Seasonally
  • BBC Radio One
  • BBC Radio Two
  • BBC Radio Three
  • BBC Radio Four
  • BBC Radio Scotland
  • Virgin Radio
  • Smooth Radio
  • Classic FM (UK)
  • TalkSport

• TV Stations (National)
  • BBC Scotland
  • BBC2
  • STV
  • Channel 4
  • Five

• Newspapers (Local)
  • Paisley Daily Express

Sport

St Mirren F.C., the local Paisley Scottish Premier League football team, have been given planning permission to move to a new 8,000 seat stadium from their home on the town's Love Street, to one located on Greenhill Road to help regenerate the deprived Ferguslie Park area. Their last major success was on 16 May 1987 when St Mirren won the Scottish Cup, with thousands crowding the streets to see the team.

In (2006), the team won the Scottish Football League First Division and has returned to the Scottish Premier League. They have a very active youth development system and are part of the social fabric of the town. This was demonstrated when at a Renfrewshire Council planning committee board meeting on the new stadium and supermarket to replace Love Street came to be heard. With the initial recommendation that St. Mirren be denied permission for the supermarket but allowed the stadium, something that threatened the future of the club due to the supermarket being only solution to clear its debts, some 300 buddies stood outside the final meeting of Renfrewshire Council in Cotton Street on a dry Tuesday Morning in support. The club was granted permission at this meeting with a majority vote of 9-5 in favour. Abercorn F.C. were Paisley's other professional team, but fell into decline and subsequent liquidation in 1920.

Paisley is also the base for Scotland's only professional basketball team, the Scottish Rocks and ice hockey team Paisley Pirates, both of whom use the 5,300 seat Braehead Arena for home games. The Rocks are one of the leading basketball teams in the United Kingdom, competing in the elite British Basketball League. The franchise relocated to the Glasgow subburb from Edinburgh in 2002 and have built up a loyal and passionate fanbase in the area since.

Paisley also has two cricket grounds by the name of Kelburne Cricket Club and Ferguslie Cricket Club. Both cricketers Majid Haq and Omer Hussain, Scottish internationalist cricketers have played for both Kelburne and currently play for Ferguslie Cricket Club. In addition, Paisley is home to two rugby clubs. Paisley RFC who play Union and Paisley Hurricanes who play League. Both are currently based at the Anchor Recreational Grounds and run several teams and youth and senior level while also providing coaches to local schools.

Motorcycle speedway was staged at St Mirren Park in 1975 and 1976 when the Paisley Lions raced in the second division of the British Leagues. The Lions were moderately successful but despite the best efforts of their supporters, the venue was lost to speedway.

Shopping

Paisley was once the main retail centre in Renfrewshire. In recent years the variety of shopping has declined with many of the larger retailers relocating to the new (1998) Braehead Shopping Centre which lies within Renfrewshire's boundaries. There are two main shopping centres in Paisley: The Paisley Centre is a three floored centre including a department store, an indoor market and over 50 shopping units including Marks and Spencer, Boots, Superdrug, Vodaphone, Thorntons, The Body Shop and T-Mobile as well as many local outlets. The Piazza is the closest rival to The Paisley Centre, with Paisley's main post office and household names such as Somerfield, New Look, Mackays and The Carphone Warehouse.

Nowadays the once vibrant High St is a sorry mixture of charity shops, pound shops, vacant premises and temporary lets.

Transport

Air

Glasgow International Airport's terminal buildings are located in the north of Paisley at Abbotsinch. The airport authority and the many businesses located in around the airport are a major source of employment for Paisley and towns nearby.

Road

Paisley is connected to the UK motorway network with the M8 running along the northern edge of the town.

Rail

The town is linked by rail to Glasgow city centre as well as Inverclyde and the Ayrshire coast, being served by four stations (Paisley Gilmour Street, Paisley St James, Paisley Canal and Hawkhead). The rail links also connect to Glasgow Prestwick International Airport and ferry routes to Dunoon, the Isle of Arran, Isle of Bute and Ireland.

There are plans in place, and Royal Assent has been given, for a rail link from the Inverclyde Line to Glasgow International Airport, planned for completion in 2009, with services starting in 2010.

Bus

Bus routes connect to other nearby towns and Glasgow city centre. The town benefits from some of the best transport links in the central belt of Scotland.

Areas of Paisley

Castlehead, Paisley, situated to the southwest of the centre of the town, is a wooded area of Victorian villas where many of the town's leading industrialists made their homes in the late 19th century. It is a conservation area.

Oakshaw, situated on a hill to the north of the High St, is a conservation area and home to many fine buildings including the High Kirk, the Coats Observatory and the former John Neilson Institute, now converted into apartments.

Thornly Park is located to the south of the town. The area is classed as a conservation area with many examples of various architecture ranging from mock Tudor to Art Deco. Many of the houses were designed by W D McLennan who also designed several local churches such as Saint Matthews.

The town is surrounded by several large residential areas that were created after the Housing Act of 1946. These include Glenburn (south), Foxbar (south west), Ferguslie Park (north west), Gallowhill (North East) and Hunterhill (South East). Ferguslie Park was named by the Scottish Executive's most deprived area in 2006.

Nearer the centre of the town remains many areas of older housing. The town centre, Williamsburgh and Charleston areas contain many examples of Scottish tenement flats. Three to four storeys tall, with shops on the ground floor and constructed of local blond and red sandstone. These tenement flats have been extensively restored and modernised over the last two decades.

Notable people

The common slang term for a person from Paisley is a Buddie. Some well known Buddies are Jacqui Lait MP, Colin Campbell MSP, Douglas R. Mill, Canon Kenyon Wright, Fred Goodwin – CEO of the Royal Bank of Scotland and Alistair Forsyth the European tour golfer.

Paul McGillion as Dr Carson Beckett

Paul McGillion, born in Paisley on January 5, 1969, is famous for Stargate Atlantis, playing Dr Carson Beckett.

John Byrne the painter and playwright hails from Ferguslie Park and was educated at St Mirin's Academy.

Fulton Mackay, born in Paisley, was famous as Mr Mackay in the TV series Porridge.

Willie Gallacher who lived from 1881 until 1965 was a trade unionist and one of only three Communist Members of Parliament to be elected to the British House of Commons.

John Wilson, the maternal great-grandfather of United States President Ronald Reagan, was born in Paisley in 1812. The former President visited Paisley in 1991 and attended a service at Castlehead Church, where some of his Scottish ancestors were married and are buried.

The prominent Scottish lawyer Ian Hamilton QC who was responsible for repatriating the Stone of Destiny on Christmas day 1950 was born and educated in Paisley.

Journalist and broadcaster Andrew Neil was educated at Paisley Grammar School.

James P. Kinnon, commonly known as Jimmy Kinnon or "Jimmy K.", was born in Paisley in 1911, arrived with his family on Ellis Island, New York, in 1923, and died in California in 1985. Co-founder of Narcotics Anonymous (NA).

John Witherspoon, was born in Gifford, East Lothian but lived for a time in Paisley where he was minister of the Laigh Kirk in New Street (now the Paisley Arts Centre) He left to take up a post at Princeton University in America and became one of the founding fathers of the American Constitution. Witherspoon was a signatory of the American Declaration of Independence and is commemorated by a statue by Alexander Stoddard at Paisley University with a duplicate at Princeton. A street in the town centre close to the university, Witherspoon Street, is named in his honour.

David Tennant, formerly known as David MacDonald, was born in Bathgate but educated in Paisley at Ralston Primary and Paisley Grammar School. He is famous for his roles as Casanova and Doctor Who.

Robert Tannahill (June 3, 1774 - May 17, 1810) was a Scottish poet known as the 'Weaver Poet'.

Paul Telfer, is a native of Paisley who has appeared in several mini series, including the 2005 film Hercules in the title role.

Paolo Nutini, born in Paisley in 1987, is famous for his top 10 charting album, 'These Streets'. His parents Alfredo and Linda own the New Street fish and chip restaurant and takeaway Castelvecchi which is renowned for its fish suppers. Paolo was educated at St John Ogilvie Primary School and at St Andrew's Academy in Dykebar.

Alexander Wilson was born in Paisley, Scotland in 1766. Initially he worked as a weaver and itinerant pedlar. He emigrated to the United States in 1794 where he became a naturalist and pioneer. His nine-volume work American Ornithology, published in 1808-1814, illustrated 268 bird species, including descriptions of 26 new species. He met John James Audubon in 1810 and that meeting probably inspired Audubon to publish his own book on birds. He also influenced many later artists and ornithologists. The final volume of his work was published after his death in 1813. Wilson is considered the Father of American Ornithology and is commemorated by a statue in the grounds of Paisley Abbey.

Gerry Rafferty the musician and songwriter (Stuck in the Middle With You, Baker Street) was born and raised in Paisley and educated at St Mirin's Academy.

Gerard Butler was born in Glasgow, but after spending the first 18 months of his life in Canada, grew up in his mother's home town of Paisley. He has starred in the second Tomb Raider movie, Timeline, Dear Frankie, the film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera (in the lead role), and most notably in 300. He now divides his time between London and Los Angeles.

The noted stage, television and cinema actor Thomas Conti, commonly known as Tom Conti was born in Paisley. His mother had a hairdressing salon in the town's Well Street.

Gordon McRory also known as Mince Fratelli is a Scottish musician more commonly known as the drummer for Scottish indie Band The Fratellis was born in Paisley.

David Hay the former Celtic FC, Chelsea FC and Scotland defender was born in Paisley and educated at St Mirin's Academy.

Jessie Woodrow, grandmother of US President Woodrow Wilson was born in Paisley.

Kenneth McKellar the celebrated Scottish tenor is a native of the town and was educated at the John Neilson Institute.

Archie Gemmill the former Scotland footballer is a native of Paisley where his mother still resides.

Twinned towns and cities

• Stockport, England, since 2006
• Fürth, Bavaria, Germany, since 1969

Paisley in popular culture

The Iain Banks novel, Espedair Street takes its name from, and is partly set in and around the streets of Paisley.

The action of the John Byrne play Cutting a Rug, the second part of his Slab Boys trilogy, takes place at Paisley Town Hall.

See also

• Castlehead, Paisley
• University of Paisley
• Paisley canal disaster
• Paisley (design)
• Paisley Grammar School
• Castlehead High School
• St Mirin's Academy
• St Andrew's Academy

External links

• Official Paisley Site
• Paisley Photo Gallery
• Paisley People newspaper
• The Gazette newspaper

55°50′N 4°26′W