Craigends
Encyclopedia
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Craigends is a residential area in the parish of Houston and Killellan
Houston and Killellan
Houston and Killellan is a civil parish in Renfrewshire, Scotland containing the villages of Houston and Crosslee with a number of smaller settlements in its rural hinterland...
in Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfrewshire, the others being Inverclyde to the west and East Renfrewshire to the east...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, UK lying south of the River Gryffe and on the banks of the River Locher. Craigends is on the south-eastern edge of the village of Houston, bordering the parish's other village, Crosslee
Crosslee
Crosslee is a small village lying on the bank of the River Gryffe in the parish of Houston and Killellan, Renfrewshire. It lies around half a mile south of the old village centre of Houston and immediately west of Craigends, although residential development has removed any significant open space...
. As with most of Houston, Craigends is predominantly a commuter settlement.
Craigends was formerly an estate most notably the seat of the Cunninghames of Craigends, related to the nearby family of the same name who were the Earls of Glencairn, with their seat in Kilmacolm
Kilmacolm
Kilmacolm is a village and civil parish in the Inverclyde council area and the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on the northern slope of the Gryffe Valley south-east of Greenock and around west of the city of Glasgow...
. Craigends House, a notable example of Scottish Baronial architecture designed by David Bryce
David Bryce
David Bryce FRSE FRIBA RSA was a Scottish architect. Born in Edinburgh, he was educated at the Royal High School and joined the office of architect William Burn in 1825, aged 22. By 1841, Bryce had risen to be Burn's partner...
was demolished in 1971.
Etymology
The estate's name is of uncertain origin though it is likely that the Craig construct comes from the Scottish Gaelic creagh: "a steep rugged mass of rock projecting upward or outward".Craigends does entail a number of igneous rock outcroppings: notably on the banks of the Gryffe near Crosslee, beneath the Gryffe Bridge, and in the centre of what is now Cunningham Gardens. It is interesting to speculate which (if any) of these features may have impressed on the ancient landscape to inspire the estate's name.
History
On the 4 February 1479 Craigends was granted to William Cuninghame. William was the second son of the Earl of Glencairn and his entitlement created a new branch in the influential Cuninghame family of Ayrshire: the Cuninghames of Craigends. The first mansion house was built around this time by William; it would be the home to his descendants for over 400 years.John Charles Cuninghame, the 17th and final laird died in 1917. His estate and personal fortune was inherited by his widow, Alison Cuninghame, who maintaining the mores of the landed gentry for decades to come. When she died in November 1958 the estate was inherited by a nephew. Not having the means to maintain the estate, however, the estate was left derelict and, after a few years, sold to the housing construction company Taylor Woodrow. The estate and mansion house were left abandoned for many years and fell in to extreme dilapidation. In 1971 the mansion house was demolished and by 1973, Taylor Woodrow had started construction on the first of what would be many housing estates within the grounds.