Origin of the name Eaglesham is a hybrid name, composed of the
Brittonic element *
egles (ultimately from Latin ) and the
Old English element ; the meaning is "church estate".
The Middle Ages The parish of Eaglesham formed part of the district of Mearns, and together with other lands was bestowed on
Walter fitz Alan, Steward of Scotland (1106–1177), a member of the
FitzAlan family, by
David I. It is almost certain that Walter granted Eaglesham to
Robert de Montgomerie, one of his principal followers, who appears to have originated from the Shropshire lands of the FitzAlans. Situated in the Orry is the
Motte or Moot Hill, a flat-topped mound situated on the north-west bank of the Eaglesham Burn in the Orry used for judicial and local assemblies. In 1361, Sir John de Montgomerie of Eaglesham and Eastwood married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Hugh de Eglinton and niece of
King Robert II. Sir John obtained the baronies of Eglinton and Ardrossan upon Sir Hugh's death in 1374. Afterwards the
Montgomeries made
Eglinton Estate their chief residence. In 1388, Sir John de Montgomerie captured
Sir Henry Percy at the
Battle of Otterburn. It is believed that Sir John accepted a ransom for his prisoner and built
Polnoon Castle on a small hillock on what appears to be an earlier motte. Polnoon Castle was refurbished for occupation in 1617 but was in ruins by 1676.
17th century Following a period of peace and relative stability in Scotland during the reign of King James VI, religion continued to be a major issue. The
Calvinistic
Covenanter movement was founded as a reaction against the efforts of King
Charles I to forcibly introduce
High Church Episcopalianism inspired by the
Caroline Divines and a hierarchy of bishops into the
Church of Scotland. The population of
Renfrewshire was predominantly in favour of the National Covenant and Alexander, 6th Earl of Eglinton signed the covenant. Covenanters faced steep fines or even the threat of execution for expressing their faith and held their religious services (
conventicles) in secret. Alexander Montgomerie, 8th
Earl of Eglinton obtained an Act of Parliament in 1672 for an annual fair and weekly market. By the time the New Statistical Account for Scotland was published in 1845 the weekly market had long been discontinued and a flower show was held in place of fairs. The fair was revived in 1961 and in recent years is held bi-annually in May or June and traditionally opens with a procession parading through the village.
18th and 19th centuries Until the 18th century, Scotland's villages were little more than settlements loosely organised around
fermtouns. In 1769
Alexander, 10th Earl of Eglinton, began the work of developing the old Kirktoun of Eaglesham into a planned village. However, it was his successor,
Archibald, 11th Earl of Eglinton, who largely saw Alexander's plans through to completion. The Earl planned his new village with two ranges of houses built around the Orry, an area of common land (Orry is from the Scots word, aurie meaning area), divided in the centre by the Eaglesham Burn. Tacks were offered on 900-year leases. As a result of agricultural improvements, displaced workers became tradesmen or weavers in the village. Eaglesham flourished during the age of agricultural and industrial improvements. Surgeons, shopkeepers and traders such as coopers; grocers; wrights; smiths; boot and shoemakers supplied the needs and demands of the increasing population. Churches met the religious needs of the inhabitants, schools provided education. Handloom weaving became the main industry until the establishment of a water powered cotton spinning mill in the village in 1791. The Orry cotton spinning mill at its peak employed around 200 people. The mill burned down and was rebuilt several times before being destroyed by fire in 1876 and was never rebuilt. Without work many of the mill workers drifted away and their homes lay empty. After seven centuries of ownership, the Montgomerie family's finances foundered, and Eaglesham Estate was put on the market in 1835. The Estate was finally sold for £217,000 in 1844 to
Allan Gilmour, Sr. and
James Gilmour. East Renfrewshire Council's archives hold an unpublished manuscript "Graham's Eaglesham Essay" which details the history of the village at this time.
20th century By the early 20th century, The Eaglesham Estates were heavily burdened and together with the considerable debts left by Allan Gilmour were advertised for sale in the late 1920s. Angus Gilmour transferred the common area of the village of Eaglesham in 1929 to the parish council at his death. By the late 1930s many of the houses were in a state of disrepair. A letter-writing campaign was started and by the 1950s a worldwide appeal was launched for funds towards Eaglesham's conservation. Such was the success of the campaign, that the village was designated the first outstanding conservation area in Britain on 12 August 1960. '
Messerschmitt Bf 110D, after crashing at Bonnyton Farm on 10 May 1941 A remarkable event during World War II was the landing of
Rudolf Hess at Eaglesham on 10 May 1941. Shortly after 11 p.m. a
Messerschmitt Bf 110 aircraft crashed at Floors Farm with an airman bailing out and landing at Floors Farm. David McLean, a local
ploughman, ran out of his cottage at the rear of Floors Farm after hearing an aeroplane crashing and saw a parachutist coming down. McLean assisted the slightly injured airman back to his cottage. The airman, a German officer, identified himself as Captain Albert Horn. Horn was arrested and subsequently taken to the
3 Battalion Home Guard Headquarters at
Busby then briefly
Giffnock Police Station before being transferred to
Maryhill Barracks in Glasgow and other locations before finally being to transported to
POW Reception Station,
Abergavenny,
South Wales where he remained for the duration of the hostilities. Horn turned out to be Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess. Hess apparently claimed that he had flown to Britain with a message for the
Duke of Hamilton in an attempt to persuade the British government to restore peace but in poor light mistook his intended destination of
Dungavel House near
Strathaven as
Eaglesham House. Hess was tried as a war criminal at
Nuremberg where an
International Military Tribunal found him guilty on two counts of 'concerted plan or conspiracy' and 'crimes against peace'. He spent the rest of his life imprisoned in
Spandau Prison, Berlin. ==The village today==