Paisley walking tour

Paisley’s long history, starting with the foundation of the Abbey in 1163; burgh status in 1488; weaving and spinning in the 18th century through to the 20th century; and now service centre with large hospital, university campus and Glasgow Airport, has has left the town with a rich and diverse built heritage.

The major industrialists endowed it with some city-scale buildings, notably Paisley Museum (1871), the Clark Town Hall (1882), and Coats Memorial Baptist Church (1894). These buildings, designed by architects from outside the town, have been complemented with many other buildings of interest designed by local architects of great ability. Our tour will focus on them.

We will stop for coffee and cake in the boutique Ashtree House Hotel. Then continue our climb up Oakshaw Hill, where competing denominations erected no less than eight churches. Then downhill via the Bull Inn, arguably Scotland’s most Art Nouveau pub, to lunch in the volunteer-run local history Sma’ Shot museum with its humble weavers’ cottage.

The tour will be led by Duncan Macintosh, local historian and former conservation officer for Renfrewshire Council.  Numbers are limited, so please get your booking form in early.