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// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Inverclyde say to its date? "You're a Clyde above the rest.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Inverclyde
Council area
Coat of arms of Inverclyde
Coat of arms
Inverclyde shown within Scotland
Inverclyde shown within Scotland
Coordinates: 55°54′N 4°45′W / 55.900°N 4.750°W / 55.900; -4.750
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
CountryScotland
Lieutenancy areaRenfrewshire
Unitary authority1 April 1996
Administrative HQGreenock Municipal Buildings
Government
[1]
 • TypeCouncil
 • BodyInverclyde Council
 • ControlNo overall control
 • MPsMartin McCluskey (L)
 • MSPs
2 MSPs
Area
[2]
 • Total
62 sq mi (160 km2)
 • Rank29th
Population
 (2024)[2]
 • Total
78,880
 • Rank28th
 • Density1,270/sq mi (492/km2)
Time zoneUTC+0 (GMT)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+1 (BST)
ISO 3166 codeGB-IVC
GSS codeS12000018
Websiteinverclyde.gov.uk

Inverclyde (Scots: Inerclyde; Scottish Gaelic: Inbhir Chluaidh, pronounced [iɲiɾʲˈxl̪ˠuəj], "mouth of the Clyde") is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Together with the East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire council areas, Inverclyde forms part of the historic county of Renfrewshire, which currently exists as a registration county and lieutenancy area. Inverclyde is located in the west central Lowlands. It borders the North Ayrshire and Renfrewshire council areas, and is otherwise surrounded by the Firth of Clyde.

Inverclyde was formerly one of nineteen districts within Strathclyde Region, from 1975 until 1996. Prior to 1975, Inverclyde was governed as part of the local government county of Renfrewshire, comprising the burghs of Greenock, Port Glasgow and Gourock, and the former fifth district of the county. Its landward area is bordered by the Kelly, North and South Routen burns to the southwest (separating Wemyss Bay and Skelmorlie, North Ayrshire), part of the River Gryfe and the Finlaystone Burn to the south-east.

It is one of the smallest in terms of area (29th) and population (28th) out of the 32 Scottish unitary authorities. Along with the council areas clustered around Glasgow it is considered part of Greater Glasgow in some definitions,[3] although it is physically separated from the city area by open countryside and does not share a border with the city.

The name derives from the extinct barony of Inverclyde (1897) conferred upon Sir John Burns of Wemyss Bay and his heirs.

Council

[edit]

History

[edit]

Inverclyde was created as a district in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which established a two-tier structure of local government across mainland Scotland comprising upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Inverclyde was one of nineteen districts created within the region of Strathclyde. The district covered the area of four former districts from the historic county of Renfrewshire, all of which were abolished at the same time:[4][5]

The new district was named Inverclyde, meaning "mouth of the River Clyde", a name which had been coined in 1897 for the title of Baron Inverclyde which was conferred upon John Burns of Castle Wemyss, a large house at Wemyss Bay. The remaining parts of Renfrewshire were divided between the Eastwood and Renfrew districts. The three districts together formed a single lieutenancy area.[6]

In 1996 the districts and regions were replaced with unitary council areas under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. In the debates leading up to that act, the government initially proposed replacing these three districts with two council areas: "West Renfrewshire", covering Inverclyde district and the western parts of Renfrew district, and "East Renfrewshire", covering Eastwood district and the eastern parts of Renfrew district.[7] The proposals were not supported locally, with Inverclyde successfully campaigning to be allowed to form its own council area. The new council areas came into effect on 1 April 1996.[8][9]

Settlements

[edit]

Settlements by population:

Settlement Population (2020)[10]
Greenock

41,280

Port Glasgow

14,200

Gourock

10,210

Kilmacolm

3,930

Inverkip

3,490

Wemyss Bay

2,390

Quarrier's Village

710

Communities

[edit]
Greenock skyline
Greenock, the administrative seat of Inverclyde Council.
Greenock Municipal Buildings
Inverclyde Council is based at Greenock Municipal Buildings.

The area is divided into eleven community council areas, seven of which have community councils as at 2023 (being those with asterisks in the list below):[11]

Places of interest

[edit]

National voting

[edit]

In the 2014 independence referendum, the "No" vote won in Inverclyde by just 86 votes and a margin of 0.2%. By either measure, this was the narrowest result of any of the 32 council areas. In the 2016 EU Referendum, Inverclyde posted a "Remain" vote of almost 64%.

Education

[edit]

Inverclyde has twenty primary schools serving all areas of its settlements. These are:

  • Aileymill Primary School, Greenock (merger of Larkfield and Ravenscraig primaries)
  • All Saints Primary School, Greenock (merger of St. Kenneth's and St. Lawrence's primaries)
  • Ardgowan Primary School, Greenock
  • Gourock Primary School, Gourock
  • Inverkip Primary School, Inverkip
  • Kilmacolm Primary School, Kilmacolm/Port Glasgow
  • King's Oak Primary School, Greenock (merger of King's Glen and Oakfield primaries)
  • Lady Alice Primary School, Greenock
  • Moorfoot Primary School, Gourock
  • Newark Primary School, Port Glasgow (merger of Boglestone, Clune Park, Highholm and Slaemuir primaries)
  • St. Andrew's Primary School, Greenock (merger of Sacred Heart and St. Gabriel's primaries)
  • St. Francis' Primary School, Port Glasgow
  • St. John's Primary School, Port Glasgow
  • St. Joseph's Primary School, Greenock
  • St. Mary's Primary School, Greenock
  • St. Michael's Primary School, Port Glasgow
  • St. Ninian's Primary School, Gourock
  • St. Patrick's Primary School, Greenock
  • Wemyss Bay Primary School, Wemyss Bay
  • Whinhill Primary School, Greenock (merger of Highlanders' Academy and Overton primaries)

These are connected to several Secondary schools which serve Inverclyde as follows:

Demography

[edit]

The average life expectancy for Inverclyde male residents (2013–2015) is 75.4 years, to rank 28th out of the 32 areas in Scotland. The average Inverclyde female lives for 80.4 years, to rank 26th out 32.[18] There are large health disparities between settlements in Inverclyde with many health indicators being above the Scottish average in certain areas, whilst considerably below in others.[19]

In 2019, the Inverclyde Council Area was rated as the most deprived in Scotland by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), with Greenock Town Centre the most deprived community. (The term "deprivation" refers not only to low income according to the BBC, but may also include "fewer resources and opportunities, for example in health and education".) After the announcement, Deputy leader Jim Clocherty said that he hoped that investment money would arrive soon, and that "no part of Scotland wants to be labelled as the 'most deprived'". A £3m investment was scheduled for Greenock Town Centre and there was also a plan to create a new cruise visitor centre with other investment funds being expected.[20]

Religion

[edit]

Inverclyde is one of only two Scottish council areas where 'no religion' was not the most common response to the question on religious adherence in the latest 2022 census. Census figures show that the most common religious denomination in Inverclyde was Roman Catholic, with 30,156 adherents (2011 Census) and 26,224 in the most recent 2022 census. Those who described their denomination as Church of Scotland fell to 18,554 in the same period.[21]

Languages

[edit]

The 2022 Scottish Census reported that out of 76,542 residents aged three and over, 22,878 (29.9%) considered themselves able to speak or read the Scots language.[22]

The 2022 Scottish Census reported that out of 76,554 residents aged three and over, 660 (0.9%) considered themselves able to speak or read Gaelic.[23]

Accidents and disasters

[edit]

In the Late Middle Ages and the Early modern period, battles took place with an unknown number of casualties. Ardgowan Castle, originally called Inverkip Castle, was besieged in 1302 and in 1306.[24][25] In 1578, Duchal Castle near Kilmacolm was attacked and burnt as part of a family feud by James Cunningham.[26] In 1662, Marie Lamont from Inverkip was executed for witchcraft.

The 19th century includes incidents related with water ways, the Radical War, mining and maritime activities. In 1804, two people died in a mining accident at a coal-pit near Greenock.[27] In 1822, the Mary of Iona, a boat sailing islanders from Mull and Iona to Greenock for harvesting work, was struck by a steam tug, Hercules, and sunk close to Cloch Lighthouse with the loss of 42 lives.[28][29] In 1835, the Whinhill Reservoir collapsed resulting in water sweeping through the streets of Cartsdyke in Greenock, killing about 40 people, most of whom were children asleep in their beds.[30][31] During the Radical War in 1820, strikes and unrest occurred in multiple towns in Scotland; in Greenock eight people were killed.[32] Maritime accidents include the sinking of the paddle steamer Comet II in 1825 after the ship collided with another paddle steamer Ayr off Kempock Point, Gourock, with the loss of about 65 passengers and crew.[33][34]

The 20th century includes disasters related with conflagration, World War II, as well as rail and maritime incidents. In 1903, the Ardgowan distillery near Inverkip caught fire; the fire ran down Baker Street causing an explosion and resulting in the killing of 7 people.[35] During World War II, a number of maritime accidents and air strikes took place. In 1940, the French destroyer Maillé Brézé had a torpedo tube malfunction which killed of 37 crew followed by sinking off Greenock at the Tail of the Bank. The Free French Memorial erected on Lyle Hill is partly associated with the loss.[36] In 1941, the Greenock Blitz occurred when the Luftwaffe bombed Greenock resulting in the killing of 271 people. In 1943, the aircraft carrier HMS Dasher (D37) sank in the Firth of Clyde due to an internal explosion 32 km southwest of Wemyss Bay. 379 out of 528 crewmen died.[37]

Post World War II in 1947, the pleasure boat Ocean sank with the loss of 20 people half a mile south of Rosneath Point.[38][39] In 1956, the cargo ship MV Akka shipwrecked off Dunoon with the loss of six crew.[40] A rail accident occurred in 1965 in upper Port Glasgow, where three boys were killed by a train while on the tracks.[41] Five people in Inverclyde were killed in the 1968 Scotland storm.[42] In 1971, a CO2 asphyxiation accident occurred when the oil tanker "Ocean Bridge" was repaired in Greenock Dry Dock which resulted in the death of two men.[43] In 1974, the cargo ship MV Captayannis wrecked with no loss of lives in the Firth of Clyde between Greenock and Helensburgh. The partly submerged 121 m long ship has not been removed and is known locally as the "Sugar Boat".[44]

Accidents in recent times include the Greenock rail crash in 1994, when an Inverclyde Line train derailed after hitting concrete blocks placed deliberately on the railway, resulting in the death of two people.[45] In 2000, Margaret Fleming, a women with learning disabilities, went missing in Inverkip. Her caregivers were convicted of murder in 2019. A maritime accident took place in 2023 when the tugboat Biter capsized off Greenock with the loss of its two crew.[46]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "Council and Government". Inverclyde Council. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
  2. 1 2 "Mid-Year Population Estimates, United Kingdom, June 2024". Office for National Statistics. 26 September 2025. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  3. ↑ "Glasgow and Clyde Valley Structure Plan Joint Committee". www.gcvcore.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 20 May 2007. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  4. ↑ "Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1973 c. 65, retrieved 9 February 2023
  5. ↑ "No. 14632". The Edinburgh Gazette. 7 March 1930. p. 258.
  6. ↑ "The Lord-Lieutenants Order 1975", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1975/428, retrieved 9 February 2023
  7. ↑ "Local Government (Scotland and Wales) Volume 233: debated on Monday 22 November 1993". Hansard. UK Parliament. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  8. ↑ "Local Government Etc (Scotland) Bill: Volume 235: debated on Monday 17 January 1994". Hansard. UK Parliament. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  9. ↑ "Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1994 c. 39, retrieved 6 February 2023
  10. ↑ "Population estimates for settlements and localities in Scotland: mid-2020". National Records of Scotland. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  11. ↑ "Community Council Pages". Inverclyde Council. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  12. 1 2 "Clyde Muirshiel – Scotland's Largest Regional Park". clydemuirshiel.co.uk.
  13. ↑ Archived 23 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ↑ "Online Member Services". www.inverclydeleisure.com. Archived from the original on 13 February 2006. Retrieved 1 September 2005.
  15. ↑ "McLean Museum and Art Gallery - Inverclyde Council - Museum & Art Gallery". Archived from the original on 22 November 2005. Retrieved 1 September 2005.
  16. ↑ "Historic Environment Scotland". www.historic-scotland.gov.uk.
  17. ↑ "Online Member Services". www.inverclydeleisure.com. Archived from the original on 20 February 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2005.
  18. ↑ "Life expectancy for areas within Scotland 2013–2015" (PDF). National records for Scotland. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  19. ↑ "Browser Health". Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
  20. ↑ "Scotland's most and least deprived areas named". BBC News. 28 January 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  21. ↑
  22. ↑
  23. ↑ [https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/webapi/opentable?id=019a2022-ecdd-77ea-96ad-569f0c5b3786
  24. ↑ Michael Penman (5 August 2014). Robert the Bruce: King of the Scots. Yale University Press. pp. 103–. ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5.
  25. ↑ Colm McNamee (1 November 2012). Robert Bruce: Our Most Valiant Prince, King and Lord. Birlinn. pp. 95–96. ISBN 978-0-85790-496-6.
  26. ↑ "Duchal Castle". Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  27. ↑ "Renfrewshire Accidents". Scottish Mining Website. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  28. ↑ "Council unveil memorial for victims of shipping tragedy in 1822". STV News. 18 September 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  29. ↑ "The Drowning of the Harvesters". Ross of Mull Historical Centre. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  30. ↑ Stevenson T. (1845). "IV.—Account of Experiments upon the Force of the Waves of the Atlantic and German Oceans". Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 16 (1): 23–32. doi:10.1017/S008045680002487X.
  31. ↑ "Dam burst it banks". Greenock Telegraph. 22 November 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  32. ↑ "Remembering the Radical War". Inverclyde Council. 8 April 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  33. ↑ "Comet II". Scottish Shipwrecks, Information and Pictures of Shipwrecks in Scotland. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  34. ↑ Loss of the Comet steam-boat on her passage from Inverness to Glasgow, on Friday the 21st October, 1825. Greenock Advertiser. 1826 – via Wikisource.
  35. ↑ "Fire at the Ardgowan Distillery - river of burning whisky". thegreenockian.blogspot.com. Archived from the original on 14 June 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  36. ↑ Greenock War Detectives project (15 October 2014). "WW2 People's War - Free French Navy in Inverclyde". BBC Scotland. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  37. ↑ Pym, Hugh; Baker, Felicity (11 November 2021). "The secrecy behind a wartime disaster at sea". BBC News. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  38. ↑ ""Ocean" pleasure boat accident 14 September 1947". Inverclyde’s Heritage. 9 May 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  39. ↑ "Boating tragedy victims are honoured". Greenock Telegraph. 28 November 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  40. ↑ "Akka". Scottish Shipwrecks. 17 February 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  41. ↑ "Port pensioner's tribute to school friend". Greenock Telegraph. 28 November 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  42. ↑ "Storm of 1968 caused killed five and caused £50m damage in Inverclyde". Greenock Telegraph. 10 January 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  43. ↑ "Oil Tanker "Ocean Bridge" (Accident)". Hansard. 826 (1). 22 November 1971.
  44. ↑ "Fifty years on, the story of the Sugar Boat shipwreck on the Clyde". BBC News. 6 August 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  45. ↑ Stephen, Paul (19 June 2019). "The vandalism that claimed two lives". Rail Magazine. No. 881. Peterborough: Bauer Media. ISSN 0953-4563.
  46. ↑ "Tug boat crew died after things went 'dreadfully wrong' within seconds". STV News. 13 November 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
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