EAST KILBRIDE

'East Kilbride' ('''Cille Bhrìghde an Ear''' in Scottish Gaelic) is a the largest town in Scotland according to GRO Scotland's 2004 estimates. It is Scotland's fith largest settlement by population size, larger than Paisley with 72,970 and it is the largest of the country's new towns.
East Kilbride is located on high ground, about 15km (9 miles) south of Glasgow, and 8km (5 miles) west of Hamilton. The Rotten Calder (River) flows north towards the Clyde on the east side of East Kilbride. It is one of the five scottish new towns which are Cumbernauld, East Kilbride, Glenrothes, Livingston and Irvine

Contents

Background & History

East Kilbride, New Town

Town Centre & Shopping

Parks & Sports

Transport

Residential Precincts of East Kilbride

Famous Residents

Local Government District

East Kilbride Constituencies

Twin towns

References

Primary Sources

External links

Further interest

New Towns

Background & History

The earliest evidence of habitation in the area dates back to ancient graves found near the Kype Water to the south of the district. Roman coins and footwear have also been found in the area.
East Kilbride takes its name from an Irish saint, St Bride (or Brigit) who founded a monastery for nuns and monks in Kildare, Ireland in the 6th century. Irish monks introduced her cult to Scotland. ''Kil'', from the Gaelic ''cill'', means church or burial place.
The area of East Kilbride is home to a river valley which, apart from the Avon Gorge, is unique in the way it was formed. A river usually starts off narrow, fast-flowing, with steep cliffs, and in the hills. This is the youth of the river. Later once the river reaches flat land it begins to widen and meander and flow slower. This is the river's middle age. Calderglen is interesting in that it flows fast, has steep cliffs and is fairly narrow (youth stage) but also meanders. The Rotten Calder therefore has its river youth after its middle age, as the river source is on flatter land and is meandering and slow flowing.
Calderglen was in the past celebrated as a picturesque wooded valley. It was the home of a noble family known as the Maxwells of Calderwood who resided in Calderwood Castle. The remnants of Calderwood Castle were demolished in 1955.
The original parish church was located on the site of a pre-Christian sacred well, which is possibly the origin of the association with St. Brigit, since the well was dedicated to the Celtic goddess whose traditions the reverence of St. Brigit has continued. Over the centuries the church has been destroyed and rebuilt several times. As a result its current location deviates from its original site by about 50m. The original site, and site of the sacred well, ironically lies under a property that was until recently an off-sales/liquor store.
The presence of the oystercatcher bird in the coat of arms arises because this bird was considered sacred to both St. Brigit and her pre-Christian antecedent.

East Kilbride, New Town

East Kilbride grew from a small village of around 900 inhabitants to become a large burgh in 1930. After the Second World War Glasgow was suffering from chronic shortages of housing, which were partially due to bomb damage from the war. Prior to the war, the city was suffering from overcrowding and poor housing conditions, particularly in areas such as the Gorbals. As a direct result the Clyde Valley Regional Plan 1946 allocated sites where satellite new towns were to be constructed to help alleviate the problem through an overspill agreement. Glasgow would also undertake the development of its peripheral housing estates. East Kilbride was the first new town to be designated in 1947 (Cowling 1997).
East Kilbride was to set the standards for Scotland's later new towns. These were Glenrothes, Cumbernauld, Livingston and Irvine (Cowling 1997).
The development, promotion and management of the town were undertaken by the East Kilbride Development Corporation (EKDC), a quango appointed by the Secretary of State for Scotland (Cowling 1997).
East Kilbride is often jokingly referred to by Glaswegians as "Polo Mint City", owing to the high concentration of roundabouts in its road system. The town has been subdivided into residential precincts, each with its own local shops, primary schools and community facilities. The housing precincts surround the town centre which is bound by a ringroad. Industrial estates are concentrated at sites to the north, west and south, on the outskirts of the town.
The town is twinned with the city of Ballerup in Denmark.

Town Centre & Shopping

The town is occupied by a large shopping centre comprising 6 linked malls, developed in phases. The malls are known by local residents as "The Town Centre". This holds the title of largest indoor shopping centre in Scotland and 10th largest in Europe .
One of the most significant buildings of the early phase of development was Dollan Baths leisure complex (opened 1968) which has Grade A listed status.
The six malls are The Plaza (development started in 1972), Princes Mall (1984), Olympia (1988), Southgate (1989), Princes Square (1997) and Centre West (2003). The shopping centre has come under recent criticism for losing major retail chains in light of rising rental prices. This coupled with the Centre West expansion and decreasing shopper numbers has allowed swathes of properties within the centre to remain closed for months at a time, notably on the first floor of Centre West and the Plaza.
A £400m redevelopment of East Kilbride town centre has been given the go-ahead by South Lanarkshire Council.
The plan would demolish some existing buildings to create a new civic centre, a state-of-the-art health centre, a library and shopping facilities ^{[1] [2]}.
It would also see a "landmark" arts and culture complex with a 1,000-seat theatre, a 500-seat conference centre, a museum and a new town square.
Parking spaces in the town centre would increase from 3,000 to 8,700 spaces. The first stage of the plan could start in 2006, with completion of the major elements in 2012/2013. It is hoped the project - the various phases of which will require full planning permission - will create up to 3,000 temporary jobs over the 10-year construction programme and 2,000 permanent jobs.
The new civic and health facilities would be created at the site currently occupied by Plaza Tower, which would be demolished, with the theatre and arts facilities being created at the adjoining Olympia Centre.
The current civic centre and the adjoining Hunter Health Centre would be demolished to make way for the first phase of development, which would include a major food retail store.

Parks & Sports

East Kilbride Thistle F.C. are the town's main football club. (It is the largest town in Scotland without a senior football team.)
East Kilbride RFC, are based at Calderglen Country Park. East Kilbride Lawn Tennis Club is one of the oldest tennis club in Scotland. East Kilbride Pirates play in the British American Football League.
Athletics in the town is covered by 3 athletics clubs. Whitemoss, East Kilbride and Calderglen. Both Whitemoss and East kilbride are based at the John Wright Sports centre.

Transport

East Kilbride is connected to Glasgow by bus and rail. East Kilbride Bus Station, at the town centre, was recently rebuilt and provides modern facilities. However East Kilbride train station is poorly situated in the Village, with the opportunity to combine the rail and bus stations missed a few years ago due to shortsightedness.The train service linking the town with Glasgow would also have to be deemed poor with a journey time for non express services in the region of 45 minutes.Trains depart to Glasgow Central railway station every half hour. The town is also served by Hairmyres train station.
East Kilbride's primary bus operator is First Glasgow which provides regular services to Glasgow, Motherwell and Airdrie, and the surrounding area. Stagecoach West Scotland provide a half-hourly to hourly service to Ayr, McKindless provide an hourly service to Wishaw, Carluke and Lanark, and smaller bus operators provide links to other destinations such as Strathaven and Newarthill.

Residential Precincts of East Kilbride

Famous Residents

Former/current residents include musicians Roddy Frame (Aztec Camera), the Reid brothers (The Jesus and Mary Chain), footballer Ally McCoist, television presenter Lorraine Kelly, actor John Hannah, actress Blythe Duff (Taggart) and actress Dee Hepburn (Gregory's Girl).
East Kilbride was also the hometown of 18th century pioneering medical brothers William Hunter and John Hunter; their birthplace is now the Hunter House Museum in Maxwellton Road.

Local Government District

'East Kilbride District' 1975-96

Scot1975EKilbride.png

From 1975 East Kilbride lent its name to a local government district in the Strathclyde region of Scotland. In 1996 administrative functions were taken over by the South Lanarkshire unitary council. (See: Subdivisions of Scotland)

East Kilbride Constituencies

There is an East Kilbride constituency of the Scottish Parliament. Since the opening of the Scottish Parliament, the constituency has been represented by Andy Kerr MSP (Labour).
East Kilbride was formerly a constituency of the UK Parliament. In 2005 it was replaced by the constituency of East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow. The seat has been held since 1987 by Adam Ingram.

Twin towns

★ Ballerup, Denmark

References

1. ''East Kilbride Town Centre redevelopment'' [1]
2. BBC News (2006) ''New town could get £400m facelift'' [2]

Primary Sources

★ Cowling, D (1997) ''An Essay for Today: the Scottish New Towns 1947-1997'' (Rutland Press, Edinburgh)

External links

★ Interactive picture guide of East Kilbride

★ East Kilbride's Shopping Centre

★ Business and Community

★ Local Theatre Company

★ Local Pipe Band

Further interest

New Towns

★ "''The Dissappointing New Towns of Great Britain''

★ "''New Towns: Can They Be Given New Life?''"

★ "''Building Towns for the future''"