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On the 1st April 1996 The Old County of Renfrew was broken up under local government reform. Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde now represent the historical County of Renfrew along parts of Glasgow that were originally part of the county. Between them they host a vast array of heritage sites from Prehistory, Roman Forts, Castles, Religious buildings, grain mills, textile mills and so much more.
This website covers the Old County of Renfrewshire with blog posts on seperated into the modern day administrative areas in the main menu.
Discover Renfrewshire & Paisley’s Heritage is brought to you by The Urban Historian
Heritage Buddies
Announcing Heritage Buddies!
Are you interested in archaeology? local history or genealogy? I guess you are if you have arrived at this website! Heritage Buddies brings all three disciplines together to record and research the heritage graveyards of Renfrewshire.
The project launched in October 2025 and runs until December 2027. It is funded by the Culture, Heritage and Events Fund from Renfrewshire Council.
Discover more about the project at www.heritagebuddies.uk
The 2026 Discovery Series of Talks
We hold monthly talks in Paisley St George’s Church on Causeyside Street on the last Tuesday of the month at 7pm except July and December when we take a break.
These talks are available for booking at https://theurbanhistorian.co.uk/book-an-event/
Our upcoming topics are
June 30th, The early graveyards & churches of Renfrewshire
August 25th – Mapping Paisley’s Textile Heritage (workshop)
September 29th – Industrial Archaeology of Paisley
October 27th – Paisley that we used to know
November 24th – Archaelogy of the M74
Recordings of Talks
We now have the capacity to provide recordings of our talks once they have been given. The January 2026 talk on Christian Shaw’s Legacy is now available, and the others will be published a few days after each talk. See the link below to view available talks.
https://theurbanhistorian.co.uk/product-category/online-recorded-talks
Discover the Old County of Renfrew
Local History Posts
Select your desired modern day county and explore its history!
Discover Renfrewshire
Click above to discover more in our Renfrewshire history blogs on the area
Discover East Renfrewshire
Click above to discover more in our East Renfrewshire history blogs on the area
Discover Inverclyde
Modern day Inverclyde contains Greenock, Port Glasgow, Gourock, Inverkip, Kilmacolm and Wemyss Bay.
Click above to discover more in our Inverclyde history blogs on the area
Discover Old Parts of Renfrewshire
From the 17th Century onwards parts of Old Renfrewshire were incorporated into Lanarkshire, and now come under Glasgow.
Click above to discover more in our Now Glasgow history blogs on the area
Click here to view our full index
Latest History Blog Posts
Other Services
The Urban Historian website is our main place to discover and book our heritage walks and talks. Details of all of our events are posted there, along with links to our publications and other merchandise.
Renfrewshire Ancestors is our dedicated Genealogy/ Family History website. Here you can discover our different research packages and other useful links for Renfrewshire Records that can aid you family history research.
SJCResearch
SJCResearch is our corporate website relating to all of our activities. Here you will find our portfolio, along with links to other websites and details of Historical research packages (not genealogy) for clients such as businesses and local authorities.