Lyle Hill

Lyle Hill stands at the West End of Greenock in Inverclyde, Scotland. It has scenic viewpoints accessible from Lyle Road, which was constructed in 1879–1880 and named after Provost Abram Lyle, well known as a sugar refiner. The hill's highest point is Craigs Top at 426 feet (130 m) above sea level, and before the road was constructed the hill was known as the Craigs, or as the Bingens (with various spellings).[1]

The Free French memorial.[2]

Profile of the Lyle Hill seen from Gourock Pierhead
View across Lyle Road to the Lyle Hill scenic viewpoint and beacon

Adjacent to the highest point of the road, a scenic viewpoint looks out over Gourock and the Firth of Clyde to Cowal in the west, and north over the Fort Matilda area of Greenock to Argyll across the Clyde. There are benches, information points, and a beacon which is lit on significant occasions. Car parking spaces give views to the west, and a short distance further down the road the Free French Memorial is in the shape of the Cross of Lorraine combined with an anchor. Across the road, steps and a rough path lead up to a viewpoint at Craigs Top with views up the River Clyde as far as Glasgow.

History and name
Bench near the summit of Craigs Top

The hill was at one time known as the Craigs or Craigs Top, the Bingens, Mount Binian or Binnan's Hill. Spellings included the Binghans, Bingans, Bingins, Bingens, and Binyans, and it was suggested that this came from the Gaelic Binneans with the meaning of little hills.[3][4][5] The Reform Act 1832 plan of Greenock shows Craigs Top, with Craigs Farm House to its east,[6] as does an 1842 map of "Greenock and its environs" though it uses the term Farm Steading.[7] From 1856 onwards, large scale Ordnance Survey maps show Craigs Top, with Craigs farm about 330 yards (300 m) to the east. They also show Bow Hill to the south, but do not give any other name to the northern part of the hill.[8][9] Admiralty charts from 1850 on show Binian Peak[10] or Mt. Binian,[11] after 1915 they show Craigs Top with Mt. Binian as a supplementary name,[12] after 1932 just Craigs Top.[13]

Lyle Hill seen across Eldon Street from Battery Park, Greenock, with the old Toll House to the left

John Thomson's 1832 Atlas of Scotland depicts the mass of the hill. The word Cadelhills, across its southern part,[14] was the name of a house and its garden, now in the grounds of Greenock Crematorium.[15][16] A study of the early cartography of Renfrewshire states that the name "Lyle's Hill" appears on James Knox's 1836 Map of the Basin of the Clyde, but does not give any detail of the location of this hill.[17] There is a "Lyles Hill" in the Muirsheil area shown on John Ainslie's 1800 map of Renfrewshire to the east of the River Calder,[18] on large scale Ordnance Survey maps it is shown about 0.8 miles (1.3 km) north west of Windy Hill.[19]

John Marius Wilson in his 1860 Hand-Book To Scotland: For Tourists described the "small modern fortification" of Fort Matilda as set "on a point of land projecting from the base of Binnan's Hill", and said that "Binnan's Hill rises behind it with precipitous crest, and commands a fine view of the Clyde from Dumbarton to Dunoon."[5]

Lyle Road
Waterfront and harbours, view east from the start of Lyle Road, with the Glebe sugar refinery at far left

Greenock expanded to the west on a grid plan.[16] There was severe unemployment in the town during the Long Depression, and in late 1878 the Police Board resolved to provide work by building a road or carriage drive to the Craigs or Bingens from the west end of Finnart Street, where it meets Madeira Street. The Streets Committee agreed in January 1879 to name it Lyle Road, after Abram Lyle who was then the town's Provost. He inherited a Greenock cooperage business, and in 1865 had co-founded a sugar refining partnership at the Glebe refinery (visible from the start of Lyle Road). The number of men and boys employed on the road construction varied from 250 to 400. The completed road extended westwards down to the Gourock toll at the junction of the high and low roads to Gourock, and was formally opened on 1 May 1880.[3]

Old Gourock tollhouse, Lyle Hill viewpoint sign for turn into Lyle Road.
Railway bridge over Lyle Road.

Lyle Road was built to an average gradient of 1 in 10.[4] The maximum gradient is between 1 in 5 and 1 in 7 (14% and 20%), the steepest point being at the 50m contour, just above the hairpin bends at the west side of the road.[20] The distance along it heading west from Madiera Street to the Gourock toll is 1.7 miles (2.7 km). Its high point at 392 feet (119 m) above sea level is near Craigs Top (426 feet (130 m)), which a Canadian wit proposed should be renamed "The Heights of Abram".[4][21] The Lyle family sold its share in the Glebe refinery to other partners in 1880, and with the funds bought land at Plaistow near London to start the Abram Lyle & Sons refinery, not far from the Silvertown refinery of Henry Tate & Sons. In 1921 their successors merged to form Tate & Lyle.[22]

From 1863 onwards, the Caledonian Railway and the Greenock and Ayrshire Railway sought approval for rival schemes taking various routes for a connection to Gourock. In 1883 the House of Lords committee decided in favour of a Caledonian Railway scheme, and their railway opened in 1889.[23] It runs in a bored tunnel directly under Newton Street, the next street to the south parallel with Finnart Street, diverging where Newton Street bends west into Lyle Road. Houses eventually developed along Newton Street a short distance past this bend: the length of Lyle Road from these houses to the junction with Eldon Street is approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km). The railway tunnel ends in the Fort Matilda area, and a short distance to the west of Fort Matilda station an iron railway bridge takes the line over Lyle Road, on its way to Gourock station and pierhead.[24]

Recreation, wartime and commemoration
View from Craigs Top over Greenock golf course and container terminal

Two ministers from St Andrews were ordained in 1873 at Greenock churches, the Mid Kirk and the Old West Kirk, and brought their golf clubs. With others, they promptly set up a six hole golf course on land leased from Bow Farm, but this ended after three years when the tenant farmer applied cattle manure. In 1890 Greenock Golf Club was founded with a nine hole course on the Battery Park, then in 1892 the Club leased ground to the south of Lyle Road, and built a clubhouse at the south end of Forsyth Street. Initially they had a nine hole course, over time this was extended and an eighteen hole course added.[21][25]

In his 1903 guidebook, M. J. B. Baddeley described Lyle Road as the "most remunerative route" between Princes Pier and Gourock; "The view across the Clyde from the highest point ('Lyle Hill') is very fine", and a "zigzag road leads down into the main road to Gourock again."[26] In 1929 local Co-operative Society jubilee celebrations "concluded with a fireworks display on the Lyle Hill".[27]

Larkfield HAA anti-aircraft gun battery in Gourock, looking east towards Lyle Hill and Bow Hill

During World War II most of the golf course was occupied by Site Cz4 Z Battery, anti-aircraft rockets defending the area against Luftwaffe raids (such as the Greenock Blitz). Also known as Clyde Aa Defences, Bow Hill, Craig's Top and Lyle Hill, this was one of six such batteries covering the Clyde and Glasgow. Spread across the hill, the battery had four projectile rocket launchers, each of which was set on a circular base and surrounded by four ammunition huts. The site included a GL Mk. II radar unit. Other accommodation huts were located adjacent to Lyle Road, and on the south boundary next to Greenock Cemetery. After the war, the grounds were reinstated, and the golf course reorientated to form its present eighteen hole and nine hole courses.[25][28]

There was a large Free French Naval Forces base at Greenock during the war, and at its end they designed and built the Free French Memorial which stands beside Lyle Road, funded by subscriptions raised among their personnel.[29] At a ceremony held on 15 January 1946, the memorial was unveiled by A. V. Alexander, First Lord of the Admiralty,[30] in the presence of officers and ratings from both the Royal Navy and the French Forces.[31]

Lyle Hill beacon lit on the occasion of The Queen's Diamond Jubilee, 4 June 2012

To mark the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 1977, the Lyle Hill beacon was built at the viewpoint beside Lyle Road. This beacon has subsequently been lit for major occasions, including the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012,[32] and her 90th birthday in 2016.[33]

After the Countryside Commission for Scotland offered grant-aid in 1980, lnverclyde District Council carried out major improvements to the Lyle Hill car parking and viewpoint.[34]

Annual Remembrance Sunday commemoration ceremonies take place at the Free French Memorial; in 2016 the occasion also marked 70 years since its unveiling.[35] For the 2018 First World War centenary Remembrance Sunday on Armistice Day, the commemorations at this monument began with a bagpiper at dawn, and in an evening ceremony attended by the French consul a bugler played the Last Post then the Lyle Hill beacon was lit, as were beacons across the United Kingdom.[36]

Scenic viewpoints
Viewpoint platform, with views over Gourock and the Clyde to Cowal, and toposcope on capstan at corner of footpath above crags

Viewpoints provide panoramic views across the Clyde. The hill overlooks Gourock and the Tail of the Bank, an area of the River Clyde named after the end of the long sandbanks resulting from the river`s journey from the counties of Lanark and Renfrew and denoting the point at which the river becomes the Firth of Clyde. Also visible are the Cowal hills, with the town of Dunoon below, the Holy Loch, former site of the US Navy Scottish submarine base and the settlements of Kilcreggan, Rosneath and Helensburgh to the east. On a clear day it is possible to see beyond the Erskine Bridge to Glasgow in the east, and the Island of Arran and beyond to the south west.

Craigs Top viewpoint, above the road and main viewpoint.

Immediately to the north of the hill Greenock's Battery Park provides level playing fields, bounded on the west by Gourock's Cardwell Bay and on the east by the former torpedo factory, now occupied by warehousing and a housing development, and the Navy Buildings for long occupied by HM Coastguard. They stand at Ironotter Point which in the late 18th century was the site of a coastal gun battery called Fort Matilda, a name now given to the area, to the railway station just to the north of Lyle Hill and to the playing pitch of the local rugby side, the Greenock Wanderers.

Viewpoint car park, with steps for clear view above footpath railing

The viewpoint is marked by a beacon which was constructed to mark the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth in 1977 and is lit on special occasions. On the other side of the road, steps and a rough path lead up to Craigs Top, the highest point of the hill. There are steep craigs on the north and west of the hill, formed by glacial erosion, to its south undulating upland forms the site of Greenock golf course. Its high point is at Bow Hill on the west side, and the ground slopes less steeply to the south and east.

A war memorial to the Free French forces who fought in the Second World War stands on the western brow of the hill. The Free French Memorial, Greenock, was built in the shape of the Cross of Lorraine, the emblem of the Free French, combined with an anchor. It has plaques commemorating the loss of the Flower-class corvettes Alyssa and Mimosa, and of the submarine Surcouf.[2] Locally, it is also associated with the memory of the loss of the Maillé Brézé which blew up at the Tail of the Bank.[37][38]

See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lyle Hill.

Media related to Lyle Hill viewpoints at Wikimedia Commons

References
  1. Smith 1921, pp. 8–9.
  2. "War Memorials". Inverclyde Council. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  3. Smith 1921, p. 54.
  4. Macrae 1880, p. 23.
  5. Wilson, John Marius (1860). Nelsons' Hand-Book To Scotland: For Tourists. T. Nelson and Sons. p. 209.
  6. "Great Reform Act Plans and Reports, Greenock". National Library of Scotland Maps. 1832. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  7. "Macfarlane, Greenock and its environs". National Library of Scotland Maps. 1842. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  8. "Ordnance Survey 25 inch 1st edition, Renfrewshire II.1 (Greenock), surveyed 1856, published 1858". National Library of Scotland Maps. 15 October 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  9. "Explore georeferenced maps - OS Six-inch 1st edition, surveyed 1857, published 1863". National Library of Scotland Maps. 2 March 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  10. "Admiralty Charts of Scotland, Firth of Clyde - sheet 2, surveyed 1846, revised to May 1852". National Library of Scotland Maps. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  11. "Admiralty Charts of Scotland, River Clyde, from Greenock to Dumbarton". National Library of Scotland Maps. 1850. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  12. "Admiralty Charts of Scotland; River Clyde - Gourock to Dumbarton, surveyed 1880, revised to Jul 1915". National Library of Scotland Maps. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  13. "Admiralty Charts of Scotland; River Clyde - Gourock to Dumbarton, surveyed 1932, revised to Dec 1934". National Library of Scotland Maps. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  14. Thomson, John (1832). "Atlas of Scotland; Renfrew Shire". National Library of Scotland Maps. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  15. "Greenock Crematorium, 1 South Street, Summerhouse Tempietto (Formerly of Caddle Hill House now to North of Greenock Crematorium) (LB34120)". Home. 1 July 1948. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  16. Wood, John (1825). "Plan of the Town of Greenock from actual survey". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  17. Moore, John N. (11 February 2007). "The Early Cartography of Renfrewshire to 1864 by John N. Moore". lib.gla.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 11 February 2007. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  18. Ainslie, John (1800). "Map of the County of Renfrew". National Library of Scotland Maps. Retrieved 11 May 2020. Note: this does not identify the hill to the west of Greenock, but names buildings as Craigs Bank or Park (writing is unclear) which could be Craigs Farm.
  19. "Explore georeferenced maps - OS Six-inch 1st edition, surveyed 1857, published 1863". National Library of Scotland Maps. 2 March 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2020., "Explore georeferenced maps - OS 1:25000 NS36, Revised: 1949 - 1955, Published: 1957". National Library of Scotland Maps. 2 March 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  20. OS 7th Series Map Sheet 59 - Firth of Clyde - B
  21. "Explore georeferenced maps - OS Six-inch 1st edition, surveyed 1896, published 1898". National Library of Scotland. 2 March 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  22. O'Connell, Sanjida (31 May 2012). Sugar: The Grass that Changed the World. Ebury Publishing. pp. 53–54. ISBN 978-1-4481-3284-3.
  23. Smith 1921, pp. 107–109.
  24. "Ordnance Survey 1:2500, Plan NS2677 & NS2777; surveyed 1963, published 1965". National Library of Scotland Maps. 15 October 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  25. "Centenary Year recollections by Eric Black (1990)". Greenock Golf Club. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  26. Mountford John Byrde Baddeley (1903). Scotland (part III): The "Lowlands" Including Edinburgh and Glasgow and All Scotland South of Those Places. Dulau. p. 98. Between Greenock (Princes Pier), and Gourock (2 m.) a spacious esplanade extends and there is, by the more inland route, a tram service. The most remunerative route, however, is over the hill in the rear, up which a good road, passing Sir Gabriel Wood's Mariners' Asylum, was constructed some years ago chiefly to find work for the unemployed. The view across the Clyde from the highest point ('Lyle Hill') is very fine, comprising the entrances to the Gareloch, Loch Long and the Holy Loch. A zigzag road leads down into the main road to Gourock again.
  27. The Producer: With which is Incorporated "The Consumer.". Co-operative Press Agency. 1929.
  28. "Greenock, Bow Hill, Z Battery". Canmore. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  29. The Scots Magazine, New Series, Vol. 124, No.4. January 1986. p. 430. The Free French Naval Base was established in Greenock in 1941, and there were then 1,500 French military personnel in the town. After the War, they wanted to build a memorial chapel, but this idea was later abandoned in favour of the Cross. It was financed by the French sailors themselves from donations, and profits from their canteens, and they also designed and made it themselves. The base is of hard Scottish stone, to signify resistance, and the Cross itself is cast in concrete.
  30. Hammerton, J.A. (1945). The War Illustrated. Amalgamated Press. p. 671. Retrieved 18 May 2020. In Britain Now : Memorial To Fighting French Navy, in the form of a Lorraine Cross and anchor, commemorating the lives of officers and men lost in the Battle of the Atlantic, was unveiled by Mr. A. V. Alexander, First Lord of the Admiralty, at Lyle Hill, Greenock, on January 15, 1946.
  31. Unveiling Memorial To Free French 1946 - British Pathé.
  32. "Beacon lit to mark Jubilee". Greenock Telegraph. 5 June 2012. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  33. "Beacon marks 90th". Inverclyde Council. 20 April 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  34. Thirteenth Report. Countryside Commission for Scotland. 1980. p. 18. We have offered grant-aid to lnverclyde District Council for the provision of a major viewpoint and lay-by at Lyle Hill, Greenock. Offering magnificent panoramas of the Firth of Clyde, Lyle Hill is a popular stopping place on the roads which lead from the built up areas of Inverclyde to the recreational opportunities in the Clyde-Muirshiel Regional Park.
  35. Tonner, Judith (25 November 2016). "Airdrie war veteran receives top French honour at Remembrance Sunday ceremony". Daily Record. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  36. "Lighting of Lyle Hill Beacon Among Increased Inverclyde Remembrance Ceremonies". Inverclyde Now. 23 October 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  37. Greenock War Detectives project (15 October 2014). "WW2 People's War - Free French Navy in Inverclyde". BBC Scotland. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  38. Robert Jeffrey (6 November 2014). Scotland's Cruel Sea: Heroism and Disaster off the Scottish Coast. Black & White Publishing. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-84502-887-9.

55°57′20″N 4°47′36″W

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