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Glasgow, Clydebank, Renfrew Ferry Terminal
Ferry Terminal (19th Century), Slipway(S) (20th Century)
Site Name Glasgow, Clydebank, Renfrew Ferry Terminal
Classification Ferry Terminal (19th Century), Slipway(S) (20th Century)
Alternative Name(s) River Clyde
Canmore ID 152850
Site Number NS56NW 93
NGR NS 51061 68399
NGR Description NS 51061 68399 and NS 51178 68546
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/152850
- Council Renfrewshire
- Parish Renfrew (Renfrew)
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Renfrew
- Former County Renfrewshire
NS56NW 93 51061 68399 and 51178 68546
This ferry crosses the River Clyde between this point and the parish of Renfrew (Renfrewshire).
Information from RCAHMS (RC), 8 December 1999.
On both sides of the River Clyde are two slipways for the Renfrew Ferry. One on the N side at Yoker Ferry Road, the other on the S side at Ferry Road in Renfrew, of the River Clyde. The slipways are covered in setts and on the E side of both slipways is the framework of a wooden pier.
The Renfrew Ferry is for foot passengers only.
Information from RCAHMS (DE), October 2007
Desk Based Assessment (24 November 2017)
Renfrew Ferry has been in operation at its present location since 1790. It had originally operated about half a mile upstream at King’s Inch but after the purchase of the Elderslie Estate in the 1760s by tobacco merchant Alexander Spiers, and the construction of Elderslie House (NS56 NW 42) in 1782, Spiers’ son Archibald persuaded Renfrew Town Council to re-site the ferry. This cut down public access through the estate and in return the new quays, ferry boat, ferry house and roads were paid for by the estate (Information from http://www.dalmadan.com/?p=4601, accessed 24/11/2017). It is first depicted at this new location on Thomas Richardson’s 1795 ‘Map of the town of Glasgow and country seven miles around’ (NLS Shelfmark EMS.s.337). The 1st edition of the OS 25-inch map depicts the Renfrew ferry terminal - with a small pier and landing point and a building annotated ‘Ferry Inn’, on the S bank of the river, immediately west of the Cadzeoch Burn. The Yoker terminal on the N bank was also served by a ferry house (NS56NW 527). The ferry was initially propelled from either landing point by a rope strung across the river which ran on rollers. This was later replaced with a chain running across the bottom of the river. The first steam powered ferry was introduced in 1868, and in 1897 a new ferry requiring a double chain led to the alteration of the slipways, as depicted on the 2nd edition of the OS 25-inch map (Renfrewshire 1897, Sheet 008.07). This slipway on the north side of the river still survives, though greatly expanded, whilst the south terminal is shown in its present configuration on the 4th edition of the OS 25-inch map (Renfrewshire 1947, Sheets 008.07 and 03). Since 1984 it has operated as a pedestrian only ferry due to a drop in demand following the closure of shipyards and the opening of the Erskine Bridge (NS47SE 70).
Information from HES Survey and Recording (AMcC) 24 November 2017.
