Johnstone town map - Ronald P A Smith Street Plans

Find your way around Johnstone and surrounding villages

FIRST THINGS FIRST! The best way of finding your way around Johnstone, Linwood and surrounding villages is to purchase a copy of Ronald P A Smith's Johnstone/Linwood Street Plan which is available from local community libraries, together with a selection of newsagents, bookshops and petrol filling stations. This map is now in its second edition, having first been published in 2000. At the large scale of 6 inches to 1 mile (1:10,000), it is the most detailed town map of its kind available; the only one with comprehensive indexes and locations of antiquities and places of interest; leisure facilities; schools and colleges; places of worship; health and welfare facilities; and other information including the locations of industrial estates, emergency services, etc.

The Johnstone/Linwood Street Plan also includes coverage of Brookfield, Elderslie, Howwood, Kilbarchan and Lochwinnoch. To order by post direct from the publisher, please click on the 'Map Ordering' button on the left.

BURGH OF JOHNSTONE

The town of Johnstone (2001 population - 16,468) was founded in association with mill development in or around 1781 when it was planned out by George Houstoun, the laird of the surrounding lands. It became a burgh in 1857, but opposition to the extra costs and responsibilities of burgh status led to a serious riot in 1861 which had to be quelled by troops.

George Houstoun's grid iron street layout is still one of the town's main characteristics, along with the two large open squares of Houstoun Square (above left) and Ludovic Square (below right).

Immediately to the east of Johnstone is the village of Elderslie (2001 population - 5,180), the birthplace of Sir William Wallace, the well-known Scottish patriot. The village features an impressive memorial in his honour.

Antiquities and Places of Interest

Johnstone High Parish Kirk - Taking pride of place in Ludovic Square (photograph on right), this octagonal church with its slender spire was built in 1792-94, only ten years after the founding of the town. Ludovic Square was recently landscaped to a particularly high standard, the greenery being in contrast to the harder, more urban character of Houstoun Square.

Old Mills - Also remaining from the very early days of the town are two six-storey cast-iron framed mills by the Black Cart Water - Johnstone Mill (dating from 1782) at the end of the High Street and Cartside Mill, a mile to the west along the Kilbarchan Road.

Johnstone Castle - Standing within one of the housing estates south of Beith Road, the tower portrayed on the left is the sole remaining part of Johnstone Castle. This castle dated originally from around 1600, but was substantially altered in 1771 and 1812. In 1848, Chopin was a temporary resident. Most of the structure was demolished around 1960, and, in more recent times, there has been talk of the remaining tower being made into a local museum.

Tourist Information - The nearest tourist information centre can be found in Gilmour Street, Paisley.

Kilbarchan

Kilbarchan is an attractive dormitory village (2001 population - 3,622), a short distance to the north-west of Johnstone. Although rather spoiled in part by property demolitions occasioned by the demands of roads engineers, it nevertheless retains an old world charm resulting from the preservation of many of its old handloom weavers' cottages and of several landmark buildings.

Kilbarchan Steeple - Dominating the village skyline, the steeple building (photograph on right) was built in 1755 as a combined school and meal market (its present-day use is as public halls).

Old Parish Church - Now used as a church hall by the adjacent Kilbarchan West Parish Church, the interesting buildings of the Old Parish Church date from 1724 and form part of a particularly picturesque corner of the village.

Weaver's Cottage - Perhaps Kilbarchan's best-known historical building is the Weaver's Cottage at the Cross, restored and managed by the National Trust for Scotland. The cottage has interesting lintel inscriptions and displayed inside are a two-century-old working loom and various weavers' tools and belongings.

Lochwinnoch

Another attractive Renfrewshire village (population - 2,570), situated on the banks of the River Calder which once powered its grain and cotton mills. The front gable of its ancient church, known as 'Auld Simon', still stands at the east end of the High Street; its early 19th century replacement complements the formal open space of Harvey Square (photograph on left). Also at Lochwinnoch are a village museum and the water sports facilities at Castle Semple Loch (see photograph and information below).

Linwood

The large village of Linwood (population in 2001 - 9,058) has no particular architectural or historical pretentions. In the main, it consists of housing estates built by the Scottish Special Housing Association to house the workers at the ill-fated Rootes car plant, the site of which is now occupied by the Phoenix Retail and Business Park. These housing estates give a good living environment for thousands, but the community's main local shopping centre is far from attractive and much in need of regeneration.

In contrast, the pleasant village of Brookfield (population less than 1,000) stands about a mile to the west of Linwood on the way to Bridge of Weir. The remaining village on the Johnstone/Linwood Street Plan is Howwood, an expanding community of 1,502 inhabitants in 2001, between Johnstone and Lochwinnoch.

Main Recreational Facilities

Castle Semple Loch - Here at Lochwinnoch (pictured above), on the shore of Castle Semple Loch, are sailing facilities and a visitor centre provided as part of the Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park.

Indoor Sports Facilities - Johnstone and Elderslie each have a swimming pool, while Linwood is the location of a major sports complex.

Golf Courses - There are three golf courses in the area covered by the Johnstone/Linwood Street Plan, those of the Cochrane Castle, Elderslie and Lochwinnoch Golf Clubs. In addition, there is a golf range (the Castle Golf Range) at Johnstone.

All of the above attractions are shown on R P A Smith's Johnstone/Linwood Street Plan, plus comprehensive listing and locations of:
* Additional antiquities and places of interest
* Further parks, leisure and recreational facilities
* Schools; places of worship
* Hospitals, health centres and other welfare facilities
* Other categories such as Council offices and industrial estates
Much more than can reasonably be shown on this or any other web site!

R P A Smith's range of Street Plans covers the following towns around Johnstone and Linwood:

PAISLEY
BARRHEAD
Neilston
Uplawmoor
GIFFNOCK
CLARKSTON
NEWTON MEARNS
Thornliebank
Busby
Waterfoot
Eaglesham
RENFREW
ERSKINE
HOUSTON
Bishopton
Bridge of Weir
GREENOCK
GOUROCK
PORT GLASGOW
LARGS
ARDROSSAN
SALTCOATS
STEVENSTON
IRVINE
Kilwinning
Dalry
Beith
Kilbirnie
KILMARNOCK
Kilmaurs
Stewarton
Dunlop

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