Port Glasgow town map - R P A Smith Street Plans

Find your way around Port Glasgow

FIRST THINGS FIRST! The best way of finding your way around the Burgh of Port Glasgow is to purchase a copy of Ronald P A Smith's Greenock/Gourock/Port Glasgow Street Plan, available from local bookshops, newsagents and petrol filling stations. This map is the latest in the present series of nearly 100 maps, and is printed in full colour with a distinctive view of Greenock's Free French Memorial on the front cover. At the large scale of 5 inches to 1 mile (1:12,500), it is the most detailed map of its kind available; the only one with comprehensive indexes and locations of visitor attractions and places of interest; leisure facilities; schools; places of worship; health and welfare facilities; and other information including the local footpath network and locations of industrial estates, emergency services, etc.

As well as Greenock, Gourock and Port Glasgow, the street map covers the Inverclyde villages of Kilmacolm, Inverkip and Wemyss Bay. To order by post direct from the publisher, please click on the 'Map Ordering' button on the left.

BURGH OF PORT GLASGOW

Port Glasgow is situated on the banks of the lower reaches of the River Clyde, immediately to the east of Greenock. The older part of the town occupies a very restricted site; over the years is has expanded up and over the cliffs and steep slopes behind to some of the moorland country beyond.

Its history goes back to the mid 17th century as a trading port with France and the low countries. At the small village of Newark, goods were transferred to small boats for passage up the Clyde to Glasgow. In 1667, the town council of Glasgow purchased land for the construction of a harbour and breakwater. This became Glasgow's first deep-water port and is, of course, the origin of the town's name. After 1693, the grid-iron street layout which still forms much of the town centre today, was laid out.

Port Glasgow became a burgh in 1833, but, around this time, the deepening of the Clyde up to Glasgow and the construction of new road and railway links sounded the death knell of the town as a port. However, the shipbuilding industry took over as the main source of employment and prosperity. The Comet, Europe's first commercial steam vessel, was built here in 1812 and the town has been responsible for about a quarter of the total tonnage of ships launched on the Clyde. However, only one shipyard remains and no single large industry has taken the place of shipbuilding.

The town's population rose quite quickly in the 19th century, followed by steady growth to 23,530 in 1959 and a decline to 16,617 in 2001. Many of the town's residents enjoy magnificent views over the Clyde to the Dunbartonshire hills and there are good communications by rail and by motorway to Glasgow and most of the rest of Scotland.

Antiquities and Places of Interest

Comet Replica - Rather marooned in a car park on the edge of the town centre is a very interesting replica of the Comet (see photograph on right). Launched at Port Glasgow in 1812, the original of this sea-going paddle steamer was Europe's first commercial steam ship.

Newark Castle - Once entirely surrounded by shipyards, but now with an open parkland setting to the east, such an interesting old building is perhaps a surprising survivor at this location, and is well worth a visit. The castle dates back to around 1484 and, amongst other things, contains a collection of old prints of local scenes.

Town Buildings - Port Glasgow is fortunate to possess one of Scotland's most impressive municipal buildings, lending classical dignity to the town centre (front view, top left photograph). It dates from 1815, has a 150 foot high steeple, and was designed originally by the architect, David Hamilton. Now that Port Glasgow is no longer an independent burgh, the municipal buildings have recently been fairly sympathetically converted into a public library by the highly regarded Glasgow architects, Page and Park; the resulting 1990s look of the rear of the building is pictured immediately to the left.

R P A Smith's local street map also covers the towns and former burghs of Greenock and Gourock. For further information on these places, please click the relevant buttons on the upper left.

January 2008

R P A Smith's range of Street Plans covers the following towns and villages in Inverclyde and Renfrewshire (so far):

BARRHEAD
Brookfield
Busby
CLARKSTON
Eaglesham
Elderslie
GIFFNOCK
GOUROCK
GREENOCK
Howwood
Inverkip
JOHNSTONE
Kilbarchan
Kilmacolm
LINWOOD
Lochwinnoch
Neilston
NEWTON MEARNS
PAISLEY
PORT GLASGOW
Thornliebank
Uplawmoor
Waterfoot
Wemyss Bay