OS1/26/19/4

Continued entries/extra info

[Page] 4 TOWN OF PAISLEY [ continued]

"The town of Paisley is at this day the third in Scotland in regards to Size and Population, its houses with those of its Suburbs, are spread
"over a tract of ground, About 2½ Miles Square, Perhaps the most Spacious an regularly built Street in Paisley is George Street, but in point
"of elegance of buildings, none can equal Forbes Place, * * * The town of Paisley upon the whole, Although well built cannot cope in
"elegance with Some of the larger towns of Scotland, of late years, however, its appearance has been greatly improved by Several low thatched "houses having given Way to neat and Substantial tenements. * * * * From the increase of Population in the Parish (Abbey) Particularly
"in the town, an Additional Church became necessary, and Accordingly in 1736 the Burgh was erected into a Separate Parish by a Decreet of the
" Lord Commissioners for the Plantation of Churches, At the Same time a Charter was Obtained from Lord Dundonald, the Patron of the Parish,
"granting liberty to the Magistrates and Community to build Within the Burgh, a Church or Churches, of which the Patronage was to be vested in "the Magistrates and town Council, In Consequence of the Arrangement they entered into, a Church was erected in 1736 as the Parish Church of
"the Burgh of Paisley, From the Confirmed increase of the Population, additional Church Accommodation became again necessary, And in the year "1756. Another Place of Worship was erected, being built on the height called Oakshawhead, the highest part of the town, it was distinguished by "the name of the High Church, and the former erection from its relative Situation, was denominated the Laigh Kirk or Low Church In the Space of "other 25 years, the Population still rapidly increasing, it was found necessary to add a third Church, to the two already in existance, And "Accordingly this was done in 1781, by its erection near to the site of the High Church; And this Place of Worship, from its relative Situation, "received the name of the Middle Church; The Burgh of Paisley, which till the erection of this third Church, had Continued one Parish, Was on the "20th February of that year (1781) by a deed of the Court of Teinds divided into three Parishes, Called each from its Particular Church, the Low "Church Parish, the High Church Parish, And the middle Church Parish, The Patronage of these Churches belong to the Magistrates and town "Council, The Original Stipend allocated to the Minister of the Burgh of Paisley was 1000 Merks Scots, With an Allowance in lieu of a Manse and "Glebe, This, as Well as the Stipends of the Other two Ministers, has been Several times Augmented, And now the Stipend of each is £300 [per] "Annum, Communion elements being Provided by the Council and Kirk Session; The Stipends are Paid out of the Teinds or Common goods of the Burgh, ______________

The New Statistical Account of Renfrewshire