Its name is listed in the late 19th century Ordnance
Gazetteer of Scotland as
"Howwood or Hollow-wood". Hollow-Wood is an anglicisation of the
Scots language name
Howewuid. Historically part of the
civil parish of Lochwinnoch, it now supports its own
Community Council. The chief industry in the village was formerly
bleaching and the finishing of cotton cloth and thread, particularly from the mills of Paisley and the other Renfrewshire villages. Two main bleaching works existed at Bowfield and Midtownfield, the former being the last to close in the 1960s. Overlooking the village on Kenmure Hill is the Temple, a circular folly built around 1760 and whose purpose is unknown. In the hills above Howwood also lie the remains of
Elliston Castle, a
tower house once home to the Semple family. A battle took place between Government forces and
Covenanters at Muirdykes on the 18 June 1685, led by the Cochrane family of
Johnstone The Iron Age hillfort of Walls Hill lies on Whittliemuir with the
Walls Loch lying to the west of it. ==References==