FULLARTON

It has been suggested that the name Fullarton comes from the "fullers" whose work was to felt woollen cloth and this would be consistent with the village's rural origins. Fullarton was the third of the communities which went to make up Tollcross village but whereas the other parts lay within the Barony Parish of Glasgow, it was in Old Monklands Parish with the line of the Battles Burn marking the boundary between the two Parishes.

The owner of the Fullarton mine, James Dunlop of Carmyle, invested heavily in its development in the late 18th century - it was the largest on his estates - and through the years the effect of this was the conversion of Fullarton itself from a rural into a largely mining community. When Dunlop later took over the nearby Clyde Iron Works in 1810 he was further able to exploit the mineral resources of his estates which included ironstone as well as good quality coal. Eventually, most of the folk of Fullarton worked for Dunlop in his mines and ironworks.

Clyde Store in Causewayside St was owned by Clyde Iron Works. Local ironworkers could have an advance on their pay from the company provided that a percentage of that money - sometimes up to 70% - was spent at the company's store. An advance was often necessary and the store's goods were invariably of very poor quality.

When Glasgow annexed Tollcross in 1912, the village was split when the old parish boundary was taken as the new city limit. The northern part of Causewayside St lay in Glasgow while the rest lay in Lanarkshire. It was not until 1975 that Fullarton joined the rest of the village in Glasgow.

Causewayside St was the main thoroughfare of Fullarton and led from Tollcross to the Clyde Iron Works beside the river. In Plate 7 the original Tollcross Free Church can be seen on the right. It is now used a church hall for Victoria Tollcross Church. The second building further along is Hamilton's farm house which is now gone. The farm was a producer of milk and its cattle would be driven down Causewayside St to graze on rented land, there being too little attached to the farm itself. The milk was sold directly from the back of a milk cart. Hamilton's brother owned Egypt farm at one time.