River Gryfe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The River Gryfe or River Gryffe is a river and tributary of the Black Cart Water, running through the counties of Renfrewshire and Inverclyde in Scotland, UK. It gives its name to the surrounding area of Gryffe Valley, also known as the former lordship of Strathgryfe.
[edit] Flow
The river emerges to the south west of the village of Kilmacolm on the edge of the Duchal Woods. It is fed from a number of streams or burns on the moors above the village including the Burnbank Water, Blacketty Water and the Mill Burn. Its main tributary is the Gryffe Water (or Gryfe Water) which flows through the village and begins at the Gryffe Reservoir beside Loch Thom.
It flows for approximately 16 miles to join the Black Cart near Glasgow International Airport beside the M8 motorway; passing through the villages of Bridge of Weir, Crosslee and Houston in Renfrewshire and immediately to the north east of Quarrier's Village, Inverclyde.
The Gryfe was formerly used to supply water for powering water mills at Kilmacolm; and at Crosslee, the latter fed via a lade (millstream) which left the River Gryfe near Bridge of Weir.
The river also supplied process water to ROF Bishopton; the water was taken near where the Linwood Moss road joins the Houston Road. The Dargavel Burn, which rises north of Kilmacolm, joins the River Gryfe near the site of the former Houston (Georgetown) railway station after flowing in a south-east direction through ROF Bishopton.
[edit] Name
The name 'Gryff' is recorded in the Military Survey of Scotland 1747-1755, compiled by William Roy, a predecessor to the Ordnance Survey maps of Great Britain. However it seems that 'Gryfe' was the established usage until more recent times.
The 'Gryffe' name is becoming the predominant usage in the area, seen for example in new signposts showing the name of the river and the names of organisations such as the Gryffe Valley Rotary Club and Gryffe High School in Houston, Renfrewshire.
[edit] External links
- River Gryfe at the Gazetteer of Scotland.
