museum
Riverside Museum
Glasgow's Zaha Hadid-designed transport museum on the Clyde, packed with classic cars, a recreated cobbled street of vintage vehicles, and the tall ship Glenlee moored outside.
12 km · about 20 min drive
EuropeUnited KingdomScotland
Neilston
Scotland, United Kingdom · Europe
About Neilston
Neilston is worth a stop: 10 minutes from Paisley, 36km from Loch Lomond.
Neilston is in Scotland, United Kingdom, with about 5,300 people. You drive on the left here. The nearest town is Paisley, about 5 km away.
Neilston (Scots: Neilstoun, Scottish Gaelic: Baile Nèill, pronounced [paləˈnɛːʎ]) is a village and parish in East Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is in the Levern Valley, two miles (three kilometres) southwest of Barrhead, 3+3⁄4 miles (6 kilometres) south of Paisley, and 5+3⁄4 miles (9.5Read more
kilometres) south-southwest of Renfrew, at the southwestern fringe of the Greater Glasgow conurbation. Neilston is a dormitory village with a resident population of just over 5,000 people.
Neilston is mentioned in documents from the 12th century, when the feudal lord Robert de Croc, endowed a chapel to Paisley Abbey to the North. Neilston Parish Church—a Category B listed building—is said to be on the site of this original chapel and has been at the centre of the community since 1163. Little remains of the original structure. Before industrialisation, Neilston was a scattered farming settlement composed of a series of single-storey houses, many of them thatched. Some domestic weaving was carried out using local flax. Water power from nearby streams ground corn and provided a suitable environment for bleaching the flax.
The urbanisation and development of Neilston came largely with the Industrial Revolution. Industrial scale textile processing was introduced to Neilston around the middle of the 18th century with the building of several cotton mills. Neilston became a centre for cotton and calico bleaching and printing in the 18th century, which developed into a spinning and dying industry, and continued into the early 20th century. Although Neilston is known as a former milling village, agriculture has played, and continues to play, an economic role. The annual Neilston Agricultural Show is an important trading and cultural event for farmers from southwest Scotland each spring.
Although heavy industry died out in the latter half of the 20th century, as part of Scotland's densely populated Central Belt, Neilston has continued to grow as a commuter village, supported by its position between Paisley and Glasgow, from roughly 1,000 people in 1800 to 5,168 in 2001. Expansion continues due to several new housing developments.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is there to see near Neilston?
Within an hour or so of Neilston: Riverside Museum (12 km), The Oak Tree Inn (34 km), Loch Lomond (36 km), Stirling Castle (48 km).
Are there any good drives near Neilston?
The nearest famous roads are Electric Brae, Rest and Be Thankful (A83) and Arran Coast Road (A841).
Where is Neilston?
Neilston is in Scotland, United Kingdom, about 5 km from Paisley.
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Quick Information
- Population
- 5,310
- Continent
- Europe
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Region
- Scotland
- Timezone
- Europe/London
- Coordinates
- 55.7857, -4.4264
Emergency & Services
Essential numbers in United Kingdom
112 also works. NHS non-emergency medical advice: 111. National Highways breakdown assistance on motorways: 0300 123 5000.
Full driving guide for United KingdomTags
Worth the detour from Neilston
8 notable places within an hour's drive.
cafe
The Oak Tree Inn
A popular stopping point on the A82 beside Loch Lomond, where road trippers heading to the Scottish Highlands pause to take in one of Scotland's most beautiful lochs.
34 km · about 40 min drive
natural wonder
Loch Lomond
Britain's largest freshwater lake by surface area, where Highland mountains meet Lowland shores in a landscape immortalised in song.
36 km · about 40 min drive
castle
Stirling Castle
One of Scotland's largest and most important castles, sitting atop Castle Hill and closely associated with Scottish independence.
48 km · about 55 min drive
landmark
The Kelpies
Two 30-metre steel horse-head sculptures towering over the canal at Falkirk, a striking modern landmark off the M9.
49 km · about 55 min drive
famous road
Electric Brae
Famous optical-illusion stretch of the A719 on the Ayrshire coast where cars appear to roll uphill. Drivers have pulled over to test the gravity-defying slope since the 1930s.
50 km · about 55 min drive
castle
Brodick Castle
A red sandstone castle and country park above Brodick Bay on Arran, with woodland gardens and a rhododendron collection.
50 km · about 60 min drive
castle
Doune Castle
A well-preserved 14th-century courtyard castle near Stirling, filmed for Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Game of Thrones and Outlander.
50 km · about 60 min drive
Driving roads near Neilston
- 50 kmElectric BraeFamous optical-illusion stretch of the A719 on the Ayrshire coast where cars appear to roll uphill. Drivers have pulled over to test the gravity-defying slope since the 1930s.
- 51 kmGoatfellArran's highest peak at 874m, climbed from Brodick, with views over the Firth of Clyde and to Ireland on clear days.
- 54 kmRest and Be Thankful (A83)The famous climb out of Glen Croe in Argyll with the old military road beside it; landslide-prone but a spectacular gateway to the west coast.
- 56 kmRest and Be ThankfulA famous viewpoint at the top of Glen Croe where 18th-century soldiers carved the name into a stone after completing the military road.
- 56 kmArran Coast Road (A841)The 90km loop around Arran, taking in the Boguillie and the Ross road climbs — a classic day's drive or ride from the Brodick ferry.
- 68 kmQueensferry CrossingThe world's longest three-tower cable-stayed bridge, opened in 2017, carrying the M90 high over the Firth of Forth alongside its famous Victorian and 1960s neighbours: three centuries of bridges in one view.
Driving in United Kingdom
- Drives on
- the left
- Petrol
- ~€1.73/litre
- Motorway tolls
- None
When to drive here
May to September
Far northern latitude: short daylight hours outside summer make long drives harder.
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