Bonhill

History

The area is mentioned in a charter of 1225 giving the monks from Paisley Abbey fishing rights on the east bank of the River Leven at the Linbrane pool. Bonhill Parish was noted in a charter of 1270 as "the parish of Buthehille", and the name became Bonyle about 1550, with the variants Binnuill, Bonuil and Bonill appearing before Bonhill was adopted by 1700. In 1650 this small poor parish was enlarged, and since then the Parish has included most of the towns and villages in the Vale of Leven. The village of Bonhill itself featured an early church, and a ford across the River Leven on the drovers' road to Glasgow. The first modern church was built close to the river in 1747, and it was replaced in 1835 by the present Church of Scotland building on the site of an earlier small church. Various churches of other denominations were constructed from 1830, but closed in the 1960s. The textile finishing industry came to Bonhill with a printworks, the Dalmonach Works which started in 1786. It burnt down in 1812, and was rebuilt by Henry Bell. A second textile works opened in 1793, and two more works had begun by 1840. Some closed shortly afterwards, but one lasted to 1936. The Dalmonach Works itself featured a school outside the main gates, serving children from the area as well as children employed in the works. After the works closed in 1929, its buildings were used an army barracks during World War II, and subsequently occupied by various smaller companies before the buildings were demolished in 2006, leaving only the school which remains as a listed building. The town rapidly expanded in the 1960s and 1970s when many residents of Glasgow were moved to "New Bonhill" built on green field sites aimed at facilitating economic expansion and assisting with the removal of…

Most-observed species

• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,493
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,461
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,206
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,190
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,773
• eastern gray squirrel

  Sciurus carolinensis Gmelin, 1788 · Mammalia
  2,672
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,633
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,507

Most recent

• M 3.5 — 2026-04-16
  42 km WNW of Comrie, United Kingdom
• M 3.9 — 2025-10-20
  29 km NW of Comrie, United Kingdom
• M 3.1 — 2021-11-16
  18 km NW of Lochgilphead, United Kingdom
• M 2.5 — 2018-08-30
  1 km ENE of Gourock, United Kingdom
• M 2.6 — 2017-11-01
  2 km NNW of Tarbert, United Kingdom
• M 2.5 — 2005-12-31
  3 km WSW of Auchterarder, United Kingdom