Town in Renfrewshire, Scotland
Barrhead
Barrhead made the toilets, baths and basins that ended up in bathrooms around the world, then turned its old waterworks into a country park.
Key information
- County
- Renfrewshire
- Nation
- Scotland
- Population
- about 17,000 (2011 Census)
- Known for
- Shanks sanitary ware, the Levern Water mills and the Dams to Darnley walks
About Barrhead
The town that kitted out the world's bathrooms
Ask a plumber in almost any corner of the old empire about Barrhead and there's a fair chance the name rings a bell. The town became famous for Shanks, the firm that made baths, basins and lavatories at its Tubal Works. Shanks later joined forces with another famous name to become Armitage Shanks in 1969. Anyone who has ever turned a bathroom upside down to read the maker's name on the ceramic has probably met a bit of Barrhead. It is a very Scottish kind of fame: a quiet town, a hard-working trade, and a brand stamped on something almost everyone uses every day.
Why the Levern Water mattered so much
Barrhead sits in the valley of the Levern Water, and that stream explains almost everything about the place. Fast-running water meant power and clean supplies for industry. Before ceramics took over, the town was a mill community. Cotton, bleaching and printing works lined the valley, and weavers' cottages gave way to rows of tenements as workers poured in. By the nineteenth century Barrhead was an industrial town in miniature, with foundries and works clustered close to the water that fed them.
The railway that arrived in 1848
The line from Glasgow reached Barrhead in 1848, a big moment for a town that wanted to send heavy goods out and bring coal and clay in. The railway helped fix Barrhead's pattern for the next century and a half: a working town with its own identity, but only a short ride from Glasgow. Today that same corridor makes it popular with commuters.
From reservoirs to rambling
To the west and northwest of Barrhead rise the Fereneze Braes, with views over the Clyde valley and towards the Campsie Fells. Below them lie reservoirs and dams created to serve the demands of mills and growing towns. Balgray Reservoir and Ryat Linn Reservoir are part of Dams to Darnley Country Park's walking and cycling area, which turned old industrial water supplies into a place for dog walkers, anglers and families. It is a neat bit of recycling: the water that once worked for industry now works for leisure.
Arthurlie and the local football habit
Barrhead's football club is Arthurlie, founded in 1874, which makes it one of the older clubs in the west of Scotland. It plays at Dunterlie Park. The club has long been rooted in the local community rather than in big-time glamour, and for many Barrhead families a Saturday at the park is as much about meeting neighbours as the result. With Glasgow's giants only a short journey away, supporting a club this close to home takes a particular loyalty.