Buildings of Cambuslang


The buildings of Cambuslang include the architecture, ancient sites, medieval castle ruins, 18th-century mansion remnants, churches, schools, public buildings, commercial and industrial premises and retail and leisure facilities in the Scottish town of Cambuslang. There are three, much modified, railway stations. The very diverse domestic architecture comprises 19th-century mansions, villas and tenements, and sheltered and nursing homes constructed from Victorian public buildings. Extensive 20th- and 21st-century housing estates include private and social housing and range from small terraces to high rise flats. The 1960s town centre has recently been redeveloped.

Ruins and remains

There have been three bridges of different types over the River Clyde north of Cambuslang Main Street. In the early 21st century there is a large supermarket on the Cambuslang side of the bridges, and on the other side is the ancient village of Carmyle, which is administered by the City of Glasgow.

Orion/Rosebank Bridge

The earliest crossing over the river was a 19th-century wooden mineral railway bridge. It was constructed in the 1850s and named Orion Bridge in commemoration of a naval tragedy involving a paddle steamer of that name which had occurred a few years earlier. The bridge was also known as Rosebank Bridge after Rosebank House, the nearby mansion on the Cambuslang side. For a time the Dunlop Family, operators of the Clyde Iron Works around a mile to the north on the opposite side of the river, were also the owners of Rosebank House, explaining the reason for the desire to link the sites. The private railway linked the iron works to the main Clydesdale Junction Railway lines and also provided a source of fuel from local collieries. The Orion connection would appear to stem from the fact that another previous owner of Rosebank, shipping magnate Sir George Burns, had a brother who died in the Orion incident. The wooden bridge eventually burned down in a fire in 1919, by which time the iron works were linked to the closer Rutherglen and Coatbridge Railway lines and most of the local coal had been exhausted.

Cambuslang/Orion Bridge

Cambuslang Bridge which has been referred to as Clyde Bridge and later as Orion Bridge, was built in 1892 by Crouch and Hogg. It was built using the steel lattice girder structure commonly used in rail bridges of the time but historical maps do not show it ever having been used by a railway. For 80 years it carried the main road north towards Tollcross in the East End of Glasgow but weight restrictions meant it became unsuitable for such heavy use, and in 1976 a replacement was built downstream. Vehicles continued to use the Cambuslang Bridge until 1986 when the Bogleshole Road Bridge was built around half a mile to the north.

Footbridge

Cambuslang Footbridge is the point where the Clyde Walkway and the National Cycle Route 75 cross from the north to the south bank of the Clyde. In 2015 a feasibility study was conducted on creating a new cycling and walking route which would run along the south river bank to Farme Cross in Rutherglen via the Clydebridge Steelworks site. The footbridge is just downstream from the original Cambuslang Bridge, and although becoming overgrown and blocked off from vehicular traffic the older structure is still in place and can be used freely by pedestrians, meaning that for several years there have been two crossings serving the same function only a few yards from one another.