Houston, Renfrewshire

Houston ( HOO-stən; Scots: Houstoun; Scottish Gaelic: Cille Pheadair) is a village in the council area of Renfrewshire and the larger historic county of the same name in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Houston lies within the Gryffe Valley on the banks of the River Gryffe 6 miles (10 km) north-west of Paisley and is the largest settlement in the civil parish of Houston and Killellan, which covers the neighbouring village of Crosslee and a number of smaller settlements in the villages' rural hinterland. The village grew around a 16th-century castle and parish church dedicated to Saint Peter, which gave the area its former name of Kilpeter (Cille Pheadair in Scottish Gaelic). The present-day old village dates mainly back to the 18th century and was a planned community, replacing earlier buildings. Historically, the economy was based around agriculture and, in common with a number of other Renfrewshire villages, cotton weaving. The old village was designated as a conservation area in 1968. From the middle of the 20th century, a larger area of residential settlement expanded the village into nearby areas such as the more upmarket Craigends, removing the open country between Houston and Crosslee. These additions to the village have expanded its population considerably, changing its character chiefly to a dormitory settlement for nearby Glasgow and Paisley with a largely service-based economy.