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Sma Shot Cottages

Sma Shot Cottages

Sma Shot Cottages, Paisley is a fully restored and furnished 18th century weavers cottages with photographs, artifacts of local interest and a tearoom. Also featuring a row of mill workers houses from the 1840’s. Out with opening hours visits are by prior arrangement.

Sma Shot Cottages, Paisley

The cottage  is a typical weaver’s cottage and is one of the only two remaining in Paisley. It was originally built in the 1740’s and its layout exactly matches written descriptions of such cottages as found in histories of the town. Slight alterations were made during the 1800’s in order to increase the size of the back room, thus providing more living space for the weaver and his family.

The cottage has three rooms, two of which were living quarters, the third being a loom shop where the weaver and his family worked.
Back in the 1700’s the cottage was a workshop as well as a home. Over and above looking after her husband, her children and the cottage, the weaver’s wife would spin and use the pirnwheel.

The weaver would have to work very long hours in order to make enough money to support his wife and family.

Short Video Documentary on Sma’ Shot Cottages

11/17 George Place

Paisley

PA1 2HZ

Tel: 0141 889 1708

Fax: 0141 889 0530

Wed & Sat 1200-1600 Apr-September
http://www.smashot.co.uk

Sma Shot Cottages, History

This cottage is the only survivor of the original shuttle street, which was built from 1735 to the early 1750s, and belongs to the world of the hand loom weavers.

It was built for Kerr and Pollock, a cloth manufacturer of Cork, in the early 1750s. The first direct reference to this Cottage is in a sasine of 1776, when it was one of the many properties bought by another Cork, Andrew Brown, after the failure of Kerr and Pollock, probably due to the collapse of the Bank of Ayr, some three years earlier.

The early history of the Cottage is linked with the Lawson family. David Lawson, and his wife Mary Porter, their son Robert Lawson, with his wife Lydia Lochhead, and Roberts three daughters, and his son Robert junior. David Lawson, journeyman weaver, and master with the incorporation of Old Weavers in Paisley, is the first known tenant, moving here around 1754.

By 10th April 1758 he was in the position to take on an apprentice, John Aird, duly entered by the incorporation. There was no house numbers then, but the occupants of the other cottages on this side are known and the sasine of 1776 names David Lawson and Archibald Munro, Weavers, as the sitting tenants in what is now No. 14 Shuttle Street.

Meanwhile John Aird had been entered journeyman to David Lawson in 1765, and Robert had been apprenticed to his father on 1st November 1774.

In 1797, Robert bought the Cottage from Andrew Brown and Company.he had already bought a property of three steadings including an Inn at the foot of New Street. His parents, David Lawson and Mary Porter continued to live in Shuttle Street with Robert and his wife Lydia.

David Lawson was now described as a school master, his son Robert as a weaver, while his grandson, Robert Junior, made weavers’ reeds, which were on sale at the inn. read more on the Paisley history pages.
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