Making it Happen
Houston Farms & Elderslie Estates is a prime mover in the community delivering homes, jobs and cultural benefits.
Renfrewshire Rural Watch
The estate is delighted to have been able to help develop this local initiative to help stamp out petty crime in the rural neighbourhood. The estate, with others, has funded Renfrewshire Rural Watch and it is run from the Estate Office at Houston. “It is a wonderful example of the way that a community can come together and decide that something needed to be done” says Mark, “it is great to be pushing at open doors”. For more information, please go to the RRW website – www.renfrewshireruralwatch.co.uk
|
Kilallan Kirk Preservation Trust
Kilallan is the site of a seventh century hermits cell of St Fillan, a follower of Saint Columba, whose hand was one of the holy relics paraded in front of the Scots Army at Bannockburn. The existing church, which has its origins in the 10th century became redundant in 1771 and by 2005 was in very poor condition. Mark Crichton Maitland set up the Trust, which is a registered charity, in 2005. Works were completed in 2014 and Elderslie Estates was one of a number of funders of a hugely successful restoration scheme. For more information, please go to the KKPT website – www.kilallan.org
|
New and Refurbished Housing
The estate has some 30 houses and cottages which makes it a substantial local provider of housing. There is a constant programme of refurbishment of the housing stock and from time to time new build. This pair of cottages at Gryffe Wraes was constructed in 2013 to the highest environmental standards and has been extremely popular with tenants ever since.
|
Farm Tenancies
One of the striking things about the estate's history is the continuity of family farming in the area. The same family names appear on presentation silverware and illuminated manuscripts since the agricultural enclosures in the 18th century. The estate recognises the importance of the family farming unit and wherever possible seeks to invest on their behalf despite the vicissitudes of the agricultural economy and the restrictions of current and proposed legislation.
|
Community Woodland
The East Renfrewshire Community Woodland is located just outside the village of Neilston. south of Glasgow and extends over some 370 acres dedicated to informal recreation by the public. Opened in 1995 with the assistance of Forestry Commission grants, the purpose was to embody the best of silvicultural planning and practice with full public access for recreation and education. 200,000 people live within a 5 mile radius of the woodland. Now achieving maturity in the landscape it is a much valued and well-loved community asset although still owned and maintained by Elderslie Estates.
|
Forestry
With nearly a thousand acres of woodlands, forestry is an important estate activity. Our woodland types range from pure Sitka spruce plantations at the top of the hill to broadleaved amenity woodlands at the bottom with a surprisingly wide range of stand types and ecological classifications in between.
|