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Sunday, 1st August 2010

 
Lenzie


The name 'Lenzie' is very old indeed, although the same cannot be said of the place that now bears it. The original Lenzie was an ecclesiastical parish that extended from Kirkintilloch north-westwards as far as Cumbernauld. The lands of Lenzie were for many years possessed in their entirety by the Comyn family, who built a castle at Kirkintilloch.
The name was pronounced Sdingie' at that time, and for many years thereafter.

The history of modern Lenzie can be traced back only to the year 1842, when the Edinburgh da Glasgow Railway was opened and a station established there to serve the town of Kirkintilloch. The building of houses for Glasgow commuters, close to the station, began about 1848 and was given impetus by the railway company's scheme of the 1850s to
offer free season tickets to persons building large villas near any of its stations. However, large-scale construction did not begin until piped running water was made available to the villas during the 1870s, by which time the free Villa tickets' scheme had been discontinued. The housing and population boom of the 1870s is reflected in the fact that all three of Lenzie's main churches - the Old Parish, the Union Parish and St Cyprian's - were established during that decade. The growth of Lenzie, as a convenient place of residence for Glasgow commuters, has continued ever since.

The ralway station was opened to serve the town of Kirkintilloch and was accordingly named Sirkintilloch' at first. During the 1840s it was relocated to Garngaber for a short period. In 1848 it was moved back to its present site, and with the opening of a branch line to Lennoxtown it was renamed (Campsie Junction'. The extension of this branch to Campsie Glen and beyond, in 1867, gave rise to an anomaly over the station name and the railway company (by then the North British) chose the old parochial name of 'Lenzie' to replace it. The station and its environs have been known as Lenzie ever since (although pronounced differently from the old parish name).

When in Lenzie, the castellated villa known as 'The Tower', at the corner of Kirkintilloch Road and Garngaber Avenue, should be noted. Built in 1858, this was one of the houses to benefit from the Edinburgh 8a Glasgow Railway's Free season tickets' scheme. The Old Parish Church, just across the road, is one of the churches of the 1870s, mentioned above. A short distance downhill, towards Kirkintilloch, is the Union Church, where several stained glass windows in memory of notable early commuters can be seen.
 
 

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