Dalmuir (; ) is an area northwest of Glasgow, Scotland, on the western side of Clydebank, and part of West Dunbartonshire Council Area. The name is a lowland Scots derivation of the Gaelic meaning Big Field. The area was originally two separate villages with Dalmuir Shore joining with Clydebank in 1886 and Dalmuir Village in 1906, during a period of rapid industrialisation and expansion. Dalmuir is bounded by the village of Old Kilpatrick to the west, the Mountblow and Parkhall housing schemes to the north, and the Clydebank town centre area to the east. To the south is the River Clyde.
Geography Dalmuir is situated mostly on the alluvial plains of the River Clyde, south of the former volcanic Kilpatrick Hills. The Kilpatrick Hills are a part of the Clyde Plateau Lavas. Near the west boundary is Duntocher Burn running down to the Clyde from the high ground that forms the north perimeter of the area.
Transport The area was initially accessed from the River Clyde via an old quay for loading and landing goods at Dalmuir Shore, the current location of the Golden Jubilee Hospital. Prior to 1790, Bridge Street ran from Dalmuir Shore directly to Dumbarton Road.
The main thoroughfare through the village is Dumbarton Road that was originally a toll road from Yoker Bridge to Old Kilpatrick and onto Dumbarton. In 1777, there was a second road from approximately Duntocher Road connected Boquhanran and Kilbowie to the north-east running along the current Second Avenue. On the Auchentoshan Estate lands to the north was the old Roman Road and predecessor route of the Great Western RoadA Map of the Shire Dumbarton (Ross 1777). Source: NLS Online
The Forth & Clyde Company Act 1768 authorised the establishment of a company to construct the Forth and Clyde Canal starting "at or near a place called Dalmuir Burnfoot, in the county of Dumbarton". With an initial investment by Sir Lawrence Dundas, 1st Baronet, the canal was completed on 28 July 1790.Joseph Priestley, A Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways, of Great Britain, Longman, Rees Orme, Brown and Green, London, 1831 Two narrow timber double-leaved bascule bridges were located at Dumbarton Road and at Dalmuir Farm next to the Duntocher Burn. The bridge at Dumbarton Road was replaced with a swing bridge in 1915 and in 2010 by the only drop lock in Europe, as part of the canal's revival and re-opening.
The railway arrived in 1858 with the opening of the Glasgow, Dumbarton and Helensburgh Railway linking Queen Street Station Glasgow with the Caledonian and Dumbartonshire Junction Railway at Bowling. The station was originally located at Park Road until it was relocated in 1897 to its current location creating two more platforms as part of the extension to Dalmuir of the Glasgow, Yoker and Clydebank Railway. A fifth platform was added as part of the Argyle Line expansion in 1979. Dalmuir railway station was briefly renamed Dalmuir Park in 1952 until 1973 and is now part of the North Clyde Line. The area previously had a second station, Dalmuir Riverside, built by the Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire Railway, which operated from 1896 until 1966, primarily serving the William Beardmore Shipyard area. Joshua Heywood Collins of Kelvindale, the son of the last paper mill owner was the Chairman of the Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire Railway who cut the ceremonial first sod on 6 October 1891 at Maryhill for the railways ground breaking.
Dalmuir was also served by Glasgow street trams from 1904 but terminating at the canal until the construction of the swing bridge in 1915 extended the route to a new terminus at Dalmuir West. Starting from the other side of the canal bridge, a service from Dalmuir to Bonhill in Dumbarton ran from 1908 to 1928. Until 1915, passengers traveling by tram from Glasgow to Dumbarton had to change trams and walk across the bascule bridge at Dumbarton Road. Watched by a crowd of 200,000, the last Glasgow tram left Dalmuir West Terminus on 4 September 1962. The journey was featured in the film, 'Nine Dalmuir West' - A Record of the Last Weekend of the Glasgow Trams. The No 9 Dalmuir to Auchenshuggle service was replaced by the number 64 bus.
Demographics The Dalmuir and Mountblow community council area in West Dunbartonshire has a population of 8,933. The overall population in Dalmuir and Mountblow reduced by 7% between 2001 and 2014, with the largest decrease being in the number of 16 to 44 year olds, for whom the population reduced by 15%. Male life expectancy is 73.7 years and female life expectancy 75.0 Years. Although life expectancy for males has risen by 6 years in the 14 years since 1997 and female life expectancy risen by 1 year, it has remained below the West Dunbartonshire and Scottish average.
The proportion of the population aged 0–15 is 18%; 16-64 is 65%; 65-74 is 8% and 75 and over is 9% (13% higher than in West Dunbartonshire as a whole). Black and minority ethnic groups represent 1% of the population. Owner-occupied households is 44%; privately rented households 4% and Council rented households 52%. People in employment is 59%; 22% are claiming out of work benefits and income deprivation levels are at 21% with children in poverty at 24%. Youth unemployment is 39%
Religion People with religious affiliation represent 64% of the population in the Dalmuir and Mountblow community council area.
Dalmuir Barclay Church Dalmuir Barclay Church is a congregation of the Church of Scotland, located in the Dalmuir area of Clydebank, a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland.
St Stephen's Church St Stephen's Church is a Roman Catholic church, established in 1907. The original church was destroyed in the Clydebank Blitz and the magnificent new structure, with its prominent bell tower, which opened on 28 September 1958, was designed by the architect Thomas Cordiner.
Education
Dalmuir and Mountblow has a similar proportion of adults with qualifications at Higher level or above to West Dunbartonshire at 41%. Youths not in employment, education and training is 39%.
Clydemuir Primary A non-denominational primary school, opened in 1976, is located on Ottawa Crescent and has a current pupil roll of 246
Our Lady of Loretto Primary A Catholic primary school, opened in 1974 is located on Castle Square and has a current pupil roll of 225
St Stephen's Primary A Catholic Primary School, the building was replaced in 2001 and is located on Second Avenue with a current pupil roll of 251
Dalmuir Public Schools (closed) The school was originally opened in 1873 as a temporary measure, until a new school was to be built on Kilbowie road in Clydebank. Due to local resistance, and the support of the Scotch Education Department, the transfer of Dalmuir pupils did not occur. Instead a former Masonic Lodge on what is now Beadmore Street was used until a purpose built school was completed on Auld Street in 1886.
In 1908 a new school was opened on Duntocher Road on the corner of Singer Road. Later a junior Secondary School was added. In 1962 the school was destroyed by fire and a new primary School built to the east along Singer Road. Dalmuir primary was one of the largest schools in the UK with a pupil roll of 1200. Dick McGregor (1926–2017), President of the teaching union the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), was head teacher for many years until his retirement in 1988. Dalmuir Primary school closed in 1993, torn down and replaced by Hill View Nursing Home. Only the former janitor's cottage remains.
The remaining Dalmuir Secondary had previously been closed in 1971, when Clydebank High School became a comprehensive. The buildings are now the Dalmuir Community Centre.
Recreation and leisure
Cinema Dalmuir's only purpose built cinema, the Regal on Dumbarton Road, opened in 1916 by owners Dalmuir Cinema House. Originally it only showed silent films and was closed in 1966.
Dalmuir Park Opened in 1906 and originally named Overtoun Park,Dalmuir Park, Glasgow's Parks. 25 January 2025 it consists of of landscaped and open space with a golf course, bowling green, tennis courts and children's play areas. The park has main entrances at Mountblow and Overtoun Road and originally a level crossing at the original Collins Mill access close to the Beardmore tenements and Dalmuir Village. The replacement underpass tunnel was added in 1907, which gave access to the grounds of Dalmuir House, which were incorporated into the Park in 1908. The park went under a renovation in 2013.
A municipal golf course is located at the north end of Dalmuir Park on Overtoun Road. The course is a highly rated municipal owned 18 hole course, 5349 in length and a par of 68. There is a bowling club, Dalmuir Bowling Club on Stevenson Street that was founded in 1883.
Dalmuir Square Dalmuir Square is an open space created in the late 1970s after demolition of the Beardmore tenements on Dumbarton Road between Swindon and Dunn Streets. It is the centre of retail and community facilities and also serves as a transport hub. The square is surrounded by the main shopping stores, community cafe and public library. In 2017 revitalisation work commenced to create a town square with the addition of a play area, landscaping, local cultural information, seating, lighting and signage.
History The area was at the most northerly-west part of the Roman Empire with Antonine Wall forts to the west at Old Kilpatrick and north at Duntocher from AD 142 until it was abandoned in AD 162. There was a brief re-occupation for a few years, starting in AD 208. In 1281 the land was first recorded as owned by Walter Spreul, Steward of Malcolm, Earl of Levenax, in the "Charter Records of the land of Dalmuir or Dalmore". From the 13th to the early 19th century the land was held by the Spreull family.
In the 1750s the area was called DamurOS Map James Dorret 1750 or Dalmar OS Roy Lowlands 1752-1755 and in 1768, Dalmuir Burnfoot.Joseph Priestley, A Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways, of Great Britain, 50 Longman, Rees Orme, Brown and Green, London, 1831
In the 18th century the area was mostly arable land, undivided moor capable of grazing 266 sheep, with a small mansion, near the Duntocher Burn, called "Dallmuir House" Owner of the Duntocher Mill, Faifley Mill, and the Mountblow lands, William Dunn, purchased the Dalmuir lands in 1828. To the west was Dalmuir Farm and the two Buchanran farms to the east.Ordnance Survey 6 Inch (1843-1862)
In addition to the original Dallmuir House and estate, to the north were the estates of Auchentoshan and Mountblow. Auchentoshan Estate was owned by James Hamilton, Earl of Abercorn until 1612. Auchintoshan House, built in the 17th century, was destroyed in the Clydebank Blitz in March 1941. One of the last residents was Sir Thomas Bell, managing director of John Brown & Co. Originally 24 acres of the Auchentoshan Estate, the Mountblow Estate was created in 1767 and Mountblow House built by Robert Donald, a tobacco merchant. The house was also destroyed in the Clydebank Blitz in March 1941.
Dalmuir Glen