Old Kilpatrick - Later History

Later History

The parish system was introduced to Scotland in the 13th century. In about 1227, the church and lands of Kilpatrick were gifted to Paisley Abbey by Maldowen, Earl of Lennox. The parish remained under the supervision of the Abbey until the Reformation in 1560.

At the Dissolution, the Church property fell into the possession of Lord Sempill. Eventually the lands were conferred on Claude Hamilton (a boy of ten), founder of the Abercorn family. His son James Hamilton was created Lord Abercorn on 5 April 1603, then on 10 July 1606 he was made Earl of Abercorn and Lord of Paisley, Hamilton, Mountcastell and Kilpatrick.

Kilpatrick was split into two parishes - Old (Wester or West) and New Kilpatrick (also known as Easter or East) by an Act of Parliament on 16 February 1649. This division is of note because this was a split of both the ecclesiastical and civil parishes and the wealth and stipend of the original parish was shared between the two new parishes. It was more common for new parishes to have "daughter" status, with wealth retained by the central, or cathedral church.

Old Kilpatrick was created a Burgh of barony in 1697. Its population tripled between 1755 and 1821 as the spinning and weaving industries developed. By 1831 the population was 5,800.

Today it is close to the north end of the Erskine Bridge and is served by Kilpatrick railway station on the North Clyde Line.

There are Three public houses that are located within Old Kilpatrick,The Telstar, The Ettrick and the Glen Lusset.

In 2011, the Telstar public house re-opened giving the village a total of three public houses.

There used to be an annual fete but it died out in the 1990s due to poor attendance. Also at the north end of Old Kilpatrick is the local school. Gavinburn Primary School (which was bombed in WW2) where they also have many fetes annually.

The minerals edingtonite and thomsonite were first found at Old Kilpatrick.

In the early 1990s a large housing estate was constructed at the edge of Old Kilpatrick, the one estate was said to double the size of Old Kilpatrick.

The local parish is St. Patrick's RC Church; the current parish priest is Fr. Francis Wilson.