Shettleston

   SHETTLESTON, lately an ecclesiastical district, in the parish of Barony, and within the jurisdiction of the city of Glasgow, county of Lanark; containing, with the villages of Westmuir and Tollcross, 7220 inhabitants, of whom 1543 are in the village of Shettleston, 3 miles (E. by S.) from Glasgow. This district, which for ecclesiastical purposes was separated by act of the General Assembly, in 1835, from the Barony parish, an arrangement now set aside, is about four miles in length and three miles in average breadth, and comprises nearly 3800 acres. The surface is varied, the soil generally fertile, and the lands in profitable cultivation. The substratum is principally coal, of which there are numerous mines in active operation; there are also quarries of good sandstone: fossils of fish, and of trees and vegetable substances, are frequently found in the coal beds. The Monkland canal passes through the northern part of the district, affording facility for conveying the produce of the collieries to Glasgow and other places. The chief village is situated on the road to Edinburgh; and there are several other villages in the district, including Tollcross, Sandyhills, Westmuir, Parkhead, and Lightburn, inhabited by persons mostly employed in agriculture, in the mines, and in hand-loom weaving. The village of Tollcross owes its origin to the Clyde iron-works, in its immediate vicinity. Tollcross House, an ancient mansion, was built about the middle of the 17th century; and there are several other mansions, of which the chief are Gartcraig, Easterhill, Dolbeth, and Sandyhills. The late quoad sacra parish was in the presbytery of Glasgow and synod of Glasgow and Ayr: the minister's stipend was £100, without either manse or glebe, paid from the seat-rents by the managers and subscribers, who were the patrons. The church, built by subscription of the several landholders, in 1752, is a neat structure containing 911 sittings. The members of the Free Church have a place of worship; and in the village of Tollcross is one for members of the Relief. There are two parochial schools, in one of which are 135 children, and in the other fifty. The late Captain Robert Tennent bequeathed £460, of which the interest is distributed among the poor.