GOVAN HERITAGE TRAIL

Govan is situated at the confluence of the rivers Clyde and Kelvin.
It was once surrounded by fertile lands and woods.
The place name of Govan has its roots in Gaelic with similar words found in Celtic and Welsh (Britons).
Gofan, Gowain, Gwvane, Govaine, Gohan and Goven translate to mean Smith or Land of the Smith.
Govan may have been named for its reputation as an area where metal was worked.
Indeed the presence of Doomster Hill and the round shaped graveyard of Govan Old Parish Church would suggest that there was a community long before the Romans arrived.
The ecclesiastical history of Govan dates back to the early monastery founded by Constantine around 565 AD.
Constantine was a contemporary of Columba and Kentigern.
He was reputed to be a Cornish King, although recent historians prefer Irish or Scottish origins.
The date of his martyrdom was around 596.
It was not until around 1147 that the name of Govan was historically recorded when King David 1 gave to the Church of Glasgu, "Guven" with its 'marches free and clear for ever'.
It was during this period that the church in Govan was made a prebend (an associated church) of Glasgow Cathedral in or around 1153.
Govan was primarily a fishing and farming community, although by the 16th Century there were extensive coal mine workings in the Craigton and Drumoyne areas.
The village grew as new trades and crafts were established such as weaving, silk manufacture, pottery, and the dyeing of cotton.
The Govan Weavers Society was formed in 1756 as a guild of master weavers.
The Society held an annual parade on the first Friday of June, known as Govan Fair Day.
After the treaty of Union in 1707 and the increase in the tobacco trade with America, Glasgow merchants realised the need to bring the raw materials of commerce closer to the city.
In 1759, the Clyde Navigation Act was passed and the task of deepening the river began, allowing larger ships to make their way up the Clyde to the city centre.
Improvements to the steam engine and the spread of the Industrial Revolution were to change Govan dramatically.
In 1841, Robert Napier laid out his shipyard and the first of the Cunarders was launched.
In the decades that followed, other yards were laid out and Govan came to the forefront of the Industrial Revolution.
During the 68 years from 1836 to 1904, Govan expanded dramatically from a village of 2,122 people to a town of 90,908 people.
In 1864, in recognition of its importance as a centre of commerce and industry, Govan, a 'town' of some 9058 people, was granted Burgh status by the Sheriff of Lanarkshire.
A Lord Provost was elected and and a Town Clerk and a Chief Medical Officer were appointed.
The Govan Coat of Arms with the motto ''Nihil sine Labore' - 'Nothing without Labour' was adopted.
As the industries grew, waves of Irish immigrants and Gaelic speaking Highlanders moved to Govan to meet the ever increasing demand for a larger work force.
Govan became the fifth largest Burgh in Scotland and stretched from Kelvinside to Cathcart.
In 1912, Govan was annexed to Glasgow.
Many Govanites thought that it should have been the other way around.
Heavy engineering industries and the Clydeside shipyards continued to employ tens of thousands of men and women, but as the orders for new ships declined and the prosperity of the traditional industries levelled-off, the growth of Govan slowed.
After World War 2, the decline of shipbuilding and the general demise of the heavy engineering industries brought a fall in the population of Govan.
With the redevelopment of the old shipyards and the slum clearance programmes of the 1960's, streets were realigned or they sometimes disappeared completely as the face of Govan began to change.
Govan was one of the earliest of the city's Comprehensive Development Areas.
Its first Housing Association, the Central Govan Housing Association was 21 years old in 1993, and pioneered new initiatives in urban planning.