Home Report Eaglesham

The affluent village of Eaglesham, East Renfrewshire, is found to the southern fringes of the Greater Glasgow area, southeast of Newton Means, south of Clarkston and southwest of East Kilbride, with a population of roughly 3400 residents. It is one of the most desirable residential areas in Greater Glasgow and indeed the whole of Scotland due to a variety of factors from schooling, local services, commute times, low crime rates and more.

The Eaglesham area has had some form of settlement for centuries, mainly farmland and crofters’ cottages, but it wasn’t until the 18th century when more development took place at the behest of the then Earls of Eglinton to create a planned village. The town was built on a hillside site with the development of the village beside a triangular park area of common land, interspersed with trees and divided in the centre by the Eaglesham Burn. To this day it gives the village a great deal of character and a unique feeling.

Today, Eaglesham is an attractive residential village for primarily for people working in the Greater Glasgow area. As such, transport links are good although primarily by road with the nearby A726 offering connections onwards to the M77, Queensway and East Kilbride Expressway. There are a number of local bus services with routes to the larger towns where better developed public transport links can be found. The village has no dedicated railway station, the closest being in nearby Hairmyres and Thorntonhall. Glasgow city centre is roughly 20 minutes away by car.

In terms of local amenities and things to do, Eaglesham has a good variety of local shops, eateries, a hotel and more. Other places of interest include St Bridget’s Church, Polnoon Lodge, Deil’s Wood and the Eaglesham Fairy Trail which is a lovely walking trail for children and families. Eaglesham Heritage Trail, a project of Eaglesham & Waterfoot Community Development Trust. The trail consists of interpretation panels located throughout the village, explaining the history of the area from the 11th century to the present day. Eaglesham residents also benefit from services and amenities in the larger nearby towns of Newton Mearns, Clarkston and East Kilbride.

As for education, the village is served by Eaglesham primary school. The majority of children of secondary school age attend either Mearns Castle High School, Newton Mearns or St Ninian’s High School in Giffnock; state schools which have consistently ranked among the best in Scotland over many years. The school performance is one of the main factors driving the desirability of the village and the wider East Renfrewshire area.

A rather unique and extraordinary World War 2 II event happened in Eaglesham. Rudolf Hess – the Nazi Party deputy Fuhrer to Adolf Hitler – parachuted out of his aircraft which was about to crash into the area near Floors Farm. Hess allegedly claimed that he had flown to Britain with a message for the Duke of Hamilton in an attempt to persuade the British government to restore peace with Germany, but in poor light mistook his intended destination of Dungavel House near Strathaven as Eaglesham House. Hess was arrested shortly after, and the wider story is freely available online.