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Johnstone
Johnstone's location locally and nationally
Demographics
Population:	16,468 (1991 Census)
Administration
Local Government Region:	Renfrewshire
Nation:	Scotland
Geography
Traditional County:	Renfrewshire
Former Region:	Strathclyde
Post Office and Telephone
Post Town:	Johnstone
Postcode:	PA5
Dialling Code:	01505

Johnstone (Baile Eòin in Scottish Gaelic) is a town in Renfrewshire, Scotland, three miles west of neighbouring Paisley.

Johnstone was built in 1782 to accommodate the mills of landowner George Houstoun. The town centre was designed on a formal grid pattern with two civic squares, Houston Square and Ludovic Square, which have been extensively restored in recent years and the town continues to improve. Johnstone is a fine example of a thriving post industrial Scottish town. Houston Square boasts a bandstand, a welcome and unusual feature now in town centres.

In 1950 St. David's Primary School was built along with its sister school Cochrane Castle Primary School. In 2007 the two schools will be joined to form a new primary school just outside Thomas Shanks Public Park.

Johnstone High School opened on its present site in March 1965, the previous building having burnt down in 1960. Where the old school stood in Ludovic Square there is now a modern health centre.

In 1967 St. Cuthbert's High School was built and established. The school closed at the end of the summer term 2006 to join with St. Brendan's High School to form a bigger Catholic school nearer to Linwood, called St. Benedict's High School, after the present pope. The old St. Cuthbert's building is currently being used by Gryffe High School while their own premises are being refurbished.

Contents 1 Transport 2 Notable sites and events 3 Future Developments 4 External links

Johnstone's main railway station sits to the east of the town near "The Thorn" and serves local villages over a wide area. It is a busy commuter station and, despite the recent enlargement of the parking area, there are still more cars parked than bays provided. The unmanned Milliken Park railway station lies at the west end of the town and strangely has no parking available.

Frédéric Chopin was a guest of the fifth laird of Johnstone, Ludovic Houston. The castle impressed the composer who described it as one of his favourite places in Scotland. Sadly all that now remains of it is a tower in Tower Road in the Johnstone Castle housing scheme.

The Cochrane family bought Johnstone’s other castle, originally a manor house called Lyncliff Castle, and around 1592 they added a tower to it. Subsequently it became Cochrane Castle. One famous member of the family was Sir John Cochrane, the Covenanters’ leader.

Cochrane Castle was demolished in the late 18th century but the last laird of Johnstone, George Ludovic Houston, erected Cochrane Tower where it once stood. Cochrane Castle has given its name to a local primary school (see above), another housing scheme and a golf course.

Johnstone lies on the Black Cart Water a tributary of the River Clyde. Industry in the town was once based on three ‘M’s: Mining, Mills and Machine tools. The first Laird of Johnstone, George Houston brought James Watt to the town to test an air pump which was used to pump the combustible gasses from the Quarrelton coal mine.

The Benston mine disaster of 1860 marked the beginning of the end of mining in Johnstone. However some attribute the early flowering of daffodils in the area to the heat of still-smoldering underground fires!

A large Morrisons superstore is currently under construction at the west end of the town, immediately adjacent to the A737. The store will have in the region of 3500 sq m of retail floor space (around 37,500 sq ft), and will provide Johnstone's first large scale supermarket as well as a petrol filling station, and is scheduled to open later in 2007.

• The Gazette (local paper)

Coordinates: 55°50′N, 4°30′W