Hutchesonton

   HUTCHESONTON, a town, in the parish and barony of Gorbals, within the jurisdiction of Glasgow, county of Lanark; containing 3559 inhabitants. This place, which forms one of the principal suburbs of the city, is situated to the south of the Clyde, on land originally in the parish of Govan, purchased in 1647 by the corporation of Hutcheson's hospital. The town was commenced in 1794, and consists of several spacious and well-formed streets, intersecting each other at right angles; the houses are generally from three to four stories in height, and are tolerably well built of stone, and roofed with slate. The whole is well lighted with gas, and amply supplied with water. The inhabitants had formerly facility of communication with the city of Glasgow by a bridge over the Clyde, which was scarcely completed when it was swept away by an inundation of the river, in 1795. The loss of this bridge greatly retarded the progress of the town; and it was not till the year 1829 that the foundation-stone of a new one, on the same site, was laid by the preceptor of the hospital. The present bridge is a handsome structure of five arches, from a design by Mr. Robert Stevenson, civil engineer; and is 406 feet in length, and thirty-six feet wide within the parapets.

   The population are partly employed in the cotton manufacture, weaving both by power and hand looms, and in different branches of the linen trade. A very extensive factory for weaving stripes and checks for furniture, various fabrics for women's dresses, shirtings, and other articles, was established here by Messrs. Somerville and sons. There are also some foundries and iron-works, of which the most important are those of Mr. W. Dixon, who has erected several hot-blast furnaces on the principle of Neilson's patent, in which about 4000 tons of pig-iron are annually produced. The greater portion of the town was included within the late ecclesiastical district of Hutchesonton, separated from the parish by act of the General Assembly. That arrangement, however, has been set aside; and a congregation of members of the Free Church now rent the church, a plain but elegant structure, erected in 1839, at a cost of £2600, by the Church Building Society, and containing more than 1000 sittings. The members of the Relief have also a place of worship. A school-house, capable of receiving 650 children, has been built by subscription, aided by a grant from government; instruction is afforded upon very moderate terms. There are likewise Sunday schools for children of both sexes, all well attended.