RENTON
Renton is a village now completely absorbed into the greater Vale of Leven urban sprawl. Yet it retains its own character and history situated as it is between the slopes of Carman Muir and the River Leven.
The Vale of Leven Project website starts the story when the Romans left the area. This is somewhat confusing as we have no hard evidence that they were ever actually here. But then Dumbarton Rock is within sight and we know that waves of peoples occupied it. Amongst those were Romans and Vikings. The Rock is an excellent viewpoint for the confluence of the Clyde and Leven. But then Mount Mallow above Renton overlooks that, more of the vale and beyond so it is quite possible that they at least visited. (There are theories that the Romans in fact explored even more widely in this area).
As for the Vikings, well we do know that they portaged their boats from Loch Long to Tarbet on the northern banks of Loch Lomond before making their way down to the Clyde. That means that they would have passed through "Renton" using the Leven as their water borne route.
The Hillfort on Carman Muir overlooks Renton and much of the Vale. It has never been fully investigated so its origins and purpose are speculative, but its occupants and other living on Carman Muir would have been very familiar with what was to become Renton.
Another resident of note before the village really became established was King Robert the Bruce. He is reputed to have retired near here at Pillanflatt. His mansion had access to the River Leven and his lands spread southwards to the Clyde and westwards towards Cardross.
Renton really only becomes a village with the development of textile works in Cordale and Dalquhurn. It was not until 1770, eight years after Renton was founded in 1762, that the second of Renton's textile finishing Works was opened at Cordale. William Stirling, who was a nephew of the Walter Stirling who had acquired and expanded Dalquhurn over 40 years earlier in 1727-28, bought the Cordale Estate in 1770 from John Campbell of Stonefield and Levenside (Levenside was renamed Strathleven Estate in the mid 19th century). William Stirling was already a noted Glasgow merchant, with a textile factory on the Kelvin and a booming retail business. [Vale of Leven Project].
A leading personality in the area was author Tobias Smollett. He and others of the extended famil had no direct financial interests in any of the textile works in the Vale at any time, but they were the feu superior for most of the land on the west side of the Valley, and in the late 18th century still directly owned most of it. [Vale of Leven Project].
So there was plenty of money to be made by them out of property in general, and housing in particular. No doubt Mrs Telfer Smollett saw an opportunity for growing rental income in Renton from the outset, and with the opening of Cordale Works just 8 years after the foundation of the village, and the continuing success of William Stirling and Sons, she was certainly proved right about that. [Vale of Leven Project].
Tobias's sister, Jane, who had married a Mr Alexander Telfer... She lived at Dalquhurn House until she inherited Cameron in 1775. By then she had already played a key role in the history of Renton - she founded it in 1762, and named it after her daughter-in-law Cecilia Renton. [Vale of Leven Project].
Joseph Irving confirms this : Alexander of Bonhill married Cecilia Renton, sister of the Miss R----. mentioned in "Humphrey Clinker", as one of the belles of Edinbugh who had taken captive the heart of Jerry Melford. it is fom this lady the village of Renton, in the Vale of Leven, derives its name; the first houses built there for the accommodation of those employed in the printworks having been so called by Jane of Bonhill, in honour of her daughter -in-law.....[Irving].
Renton is today a pleasant dormitary town for those who generally work further away. It has regained a sense of identity over the last 2 decades that had seeped away with the demise of the textile industries. The character though has changed. There was a time when trams clanked down the Main Road between tenement blocks with shops below. It had been a typical village with specialist shops such as green grocers and butchers. Even the Roxy Cinema. The local school and several churches.
Main Street houses near the Milburn Church ruins.
Renton looks really urban here complete with a tram service. In reality of course such buildings were concentrated mainly along the Main Street. Deep gardens were the norm and many would have had vegetables and fruit growing.
In this extract from a map of 1860 the village of Renton runs primarilly along Main Street and Back Street - Hillfoot. Deep gardens would have been useful for supplying the kitchen. The River Leven winds its way southwards along the east side. Dalquhurn Works are out of sight in the bend in the river to the north east and Cordale Works in the bend in the river to the south east. Both of these were to define the extent of Renton, yet both of these subsequently disappeared. NLS © as ref below.
A = R. P. Church (see below); B - manse; C = signal post for the railway: D = station; E = bridge over the railway (where there is now a footbridge); F = Subscription School (now Renton Primary); G = Smollett monument; H = Gaelic Free Church; I = Mission Church.
Notes :
The Free Church of Scotland is a Scottish denomination which was formed in 1843 by a large withdrawal from the established Church of Scotland in a schism. [Wiki].
The Mission Church would have been the forerunner of St Martin of Tours Roman Catcholic Church which now sits at the northen end of Renton.
In 1882-4, Frances Groome's Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland described Renton like this:
Renton, a town and a quoad sacra parish in Cardross parish, Dumbartonshire. The town, standing on the right bank of the river Leven, has a station on the Vale of Leven railway, 1¼ mile S of Alexandria, and 2¼ miles N by W of Dumbarton. It was founded in 1782 by Mrs Smollett of Bonhill, and named in honour of her daughter-in-law, one of the Rentons of Lammerton; grew and flourished in connection with the special industries of the Vale of Leven; has charming environs, enriched with the parks of Strathleven and Bonhill; carries on extensive industry in calico-printing, bleaching, and dyeing establishments; and has a post office with money order, savings' bank, and telegraph departments, a quoad sacra parochial church, three Free churches (one of them Gaelic, and one Reformed Presbyterian till 1876), a public school, a public hall (1882), etc. ... [A Vision of Britain Through Time website].
For more about Renton use the Find at the top right side.
COLOUR ON THE CLYDE - Renton pages featuring the work of William M'Kim : https://www.dalmadan.com/?p=59936
FOOTAGE DUMBARTON website - Renton : https://footagedumbarton.weebly.com/old-renton.html
IRVING, JOSEPH. The Book of Dumbartonshire. W. and A.K. Johnston. Edinburgh and London. 1879.
ST MARTIN OF TOURS website : https://www.stmartinoftours.rcglasgow.org.uk/history/
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND : MAPS : Dumbartonshire, Sheet XVIII. Survey date: 1860, Publication date: 1864 https://maps.nls.uk/view/228777145
VALE OF LEVEN PROJECT website : https://www.valeofleven.org.uk/renton2.html
A VISION OF BRITAIN THROUGH TIME : https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/21603
WIKIPEDIA : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Church_of_Scotland_(1843%E2%80%931900)
