Portal to the Past

Cowan Park was a legacy to the people of Barrhead from James Cowan who was born in the town in 1830. When he died he left £10,000 to the Burgh to provide a park. A plaque at the lodge records that the park was the bequest of James Cowan of Rosshall in 1910. Rosshall is the mansion James built at Crookston, which is presently a hospital. The park was officially opened on King George V’s Coronation Day when a children’s treat was laid on by John & Joseph Turner of Parkhall. It was from the Turners’ estate that the grounds for the park had been purchased, which also gifted it many trees, shrubs and other plants.