Eaglesham
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Eaglesham, as it is spelled today and pronounced Eagles - ham (not Eagle - sham), takes its name from the French word eglise, or church. In other words, it is the hamlet of the church or churches. Reflecting the fact that in earlier times the poulation was apparently spoiled for choice in their place of worship. Today, however, there are only two congregations in the village, one Catholic and one Protestant
The French influence may be due to the fact that the historic land owners were Montgomeries (latterly spelled Montgomery), who originated from Normandy. Or simply, that prior to union with England, Scottish aristocracy often spoke French, many having been educated in France,
In fact, it was during a journey abroad, it is said, that one of these Montgomeries, the 10th Earl of Eglinton, saw a village constructed in an ‘A’ shape and, on his return, decided to transform his scattered ‘ferm toun’ parish, then known as Egglisham, by building a similarly planned settlement at its heart. It was around this time that the spelling changed to Eaglesham. The bi-centenary of the formation of the ‘new town’ was celebrated in 1969.
As well as agriculture, during the 1800s many of the poulation were employed in cotton mills, however, the last of these was destroyed by fire early last century. The ruins are still visible on ‘The Orry’ (the name given locally to the village green - from the word area).
By the middle of the 1950s the village had suffered severe decline, many of the old properties being threatened with demolition. Fortunately, about 1960 a group of concerned residents fought to have these historic buildings ‘listed’ and so Eaglesham became the first Conservation Village in Scotland. A such, the historic part of today's village is subject to strict planning regulations with even new build housing having to reflect a traditional style. Now they have all been restored and have become much sought after residential properties. The two principal streets in old Eaglesham are Polnoon Street and Montgomery Street. They both climb a steep hill and meet at the top, on the edge of the moor. The addition of Mid Road connecting them forms the distinctive "A" shape, which can often be seen from the air when approaching Glasgow Airport. The other original thoroughfares are Cheapside Street, Strathaven Road and Montgomerie Square.
During World War Two Eaglesham found brief international attention as the crash-landing site of Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s then deputy. He claimed to be seeking the Duke of Hamilton, whom he had met in Berlin prior to the war, to start talks about an alliance to end Germany’s war with the United Kingdom. It seems he mistook Eaglesham House (no longer standing) for the Duke’s residence in Hamilton and ditched his plane, parachuting into a nearby field and going to the door of a farm-worker’s cottage. He was eventually imprisoned in Berlin until his death.
Eaglesham is situated about 16km south of Glasgow, Scotland to the southwest of Newton Mearns, south of Busby, and west of East Kilbride. Set amongst the hills of East Renfrewshire,which, to the south west of the village, become Eaglesham Moor and the northern boundary of Fenwick Moor. To the south lies mainly farmland and planted forested areas where two experimental wind turbines have existed for many years. At the beginning of 2007 construction of a 100 + 'windmill' commercial wind-farm was started.
The population of the village and its surrounding parish is in excess of 4,000 and it is served by a Primary School, local shops and services - garages, restaurant, B&Bs and the historic Eglinton Arms Hotel and Swan pub. The only manufacturing done near Eaglesham now is at Linn Products, a state-of-the-art Hi-Fi production plant. Eaglesham Amateurs is Eaglesham's football team.
Eaglesham’s Market Act of 1672 permitted villagers to hold weekly markets and annual fairs. Unfortunately these events became lost in history. In 1969, however, a Fair was revived as part of the celebration of the bi-centenary of the Earl of Eglinton’s construction of old Eaglesham as is now preserved. Sadly, this event, too, threatened to become part of history, declining from annual to two-yearly events. The last one was held in 2000. Fortunately, a group of concerned residents got together in 2004, resurrecting a new fair to be held every two years from 2005.
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