Old Photographs Eaglesham East Renfrewshire Scotland

Tour Scotland wee video of old photographs of Eaglesham in East Renfrewshire. Eaglesham is located 10 miles south of Glasgow to the southeast of Newton Mearns, south of Busby and Clarkston, and southwest of East Kilbride. The ancient seat of the Earls of Eglinton; in the 17th century Eaglesham was a small market town; the present village was founded in 1769 by Alexander Montgomerie, 10th Earl of Eglinton; it had at one time handloom weaving and a cotton mill. Eaglesham House or Eaglesham Castle as it was known locally, was built in 1859 by the Gilmour brothers. James and Allan Gilmour had bought the estate of Eaglesham from the Earl of Eglinton in 1844. Allan Gilmour had been a founder and partner in the firm of Pollok and Gilmour, ship owners and timber importers until retiring in 1839. The mansion was designed in the Scots baronial style with a square tower as the dominating feature. In the grounds of the mansion house there were offices, gardens, two lodge houses, parks and plantations. Unfortunately, this grand mansion was badly damaged by fire in 1954 and was not rebuilt. The village is an example of an early Scottish planned village.it takes its name from the French word eglise, or church, earning this as a result of its apparent abundance of places of worship in the past. Polnoon Street in Eaglesham was once known as North Street and borrows its name from Polnoon Estate. Sir John de Montgomerie built a castle at Polnoon with the poind money that he received for the release of Lord Percy following the Battle of Otterburn. There have been several suggestions as to the meaning of the name Eaglesham but the most likely explanation is that Eaglesham means kirkton or church town derived from the Gaelic word eaglais meaning church and the Saxon ham meaning hamlet or village. In 1361, Sir John de Montgomerie of Eaglesham and Eastwood married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Hugh de Eglinton of that Ilk and niece of King Robert II. Sir John obtained the baronies of Eglinton and Ardrossan upon Sir Hugh's death in 1374. Afterwards the Montgomeries made Eglinton Estate their chief residence. In 1388, Sir John de Montgomerie captured Henry, Lord Percy at the Battle of Otterburn. It is traditionally believed that Sir John accepted a ransom for his prisoner who killed the 2nd Earl of Douglas and built Polnoon Castle on a small hillock on what appears to be an earlier motte. Polnoon castle was refurbished for occupation in 1617 but was ruined by 1676 All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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