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Description

This shipyard is located on the south bank of the lower Clyde in the east end of Port Glasgow. It is immediately to the west of Newark Castle [Port Glasgow]. Ship building continues today and the yard has been almost entirely rebuilt and thoroughly modernised Ferguson Marine .

The shipyard has survived where many others, which exported worldwide have not. Its focus in recent years has been on Scotland's requirements by customers such as Caledonian MacBrayne.

Opened in 1780 by Thomas McGill on the shore to build timber ships. By 1830 it was operated by the McDonald Brothers and fell out of use in 1840 as iron shipbuilding took over. Nothing appears to remain of the yard by the time of the 1856 OS map.

In 1867 the Caledonian Railway opened a branch from the former Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway to Port Glasgow Harbour's Wet Dock and East Harbour. This crossed the site and the grounds of the castle.

The yard was re-opened in 1873 by William and John Hamilton to the north of the branch (which separated it from the Bay Shipbuilding Yard). Much of the site occupied the former castle garden. East and west sheds bordered an open yard To the east of the castle was the Castle Shipyard opened in 1870.

Until recently the alignment of this railway could be seen in the constraints and layout of buildings in the shipyard. The offices which ran from the west fabrication shed south eastwards to the gate showed, on its south side, the former railway alignment.

The Hamiltons relocated to the Glen Shipyard in 1890.

Ferguson Brothers Ltd took the lease of the site in 1903 to 1914, then becoming Ferguson Brothers (Port Glasgow) Ltd until 1969.

The yard became part of Lithgows in the 1960s (sources vary for this between 1955, 1961 and 1963) to become the smaller vessels part of Lithgows, still under the Ferguson name.

The railway branch to the harbour, which had served the yard, closed in 1966.

With Lithgows it became part of the nationalised British Shipbuilders in 1977. The company was reformed first with Ailsa of Troon (Ferguson Ailsa Ltd 1981) and then Appledore of Bideford (Appledore Ferguson Shipbuilders Ltd 1986), then Clark-Kincaid (1989), Ferguson (Kvaerner Govan) Ltd (1990) before becoming independent as Ferguson Shipbuilders Ltd again in 1991. The company was then acquired by Holland House in 1995.

Clyde Blowers took over in 2014 and much of the site was redeveloped. The old office block was demolished and a new high covered work area built to the west of the slip. The east and west fabrication sheds have been retained. A new office block has been built to the south.

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