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{{Short description|Coastal town in Inverclyde, Scotland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2017}}
{{Infobox UK place
| gaelic_name                      = Guireag
| type                             = [[Town]] 
| official_name                    = Gourock
| static_image_name                = Gourock Bay - geograph.org.uk - 3954516.jpg
| static_image_caption             = Gourock Bay
| population                       = {{Scottish locality population|name|POP=Gourock}}
| population_ref                   = ({{Scottish settlement population citation|year}})<ref>{{Scottish settlement population citation}}</ref>
| shire_district                   =
| unitary_scotland                 = Inverclyde
| lieutenancy_scotland             = Renfrewshire
| constituency_westminster         = [[Inverclyde (UK Parliament constituency)|Inverclyde]]
| constituency_scottish_parliament = [[Greenock and Inverclyde (Scottish Parliament constituency)|Greenock and Inverclyde]]
| country                          = Scotland
| sovereign_state                  = 
| coordinates                      = {{coord|55.953763|-4.8173176|region:GB_type:city|display=inline,title}}
| os_grid_reference                = NS 24200 77000
| map_type                         = 
| post_town                        = GOUROCK
| postcode_area                    = PA
| postcode_district                = PA19
| dial_code                        = 01475
| edinburgh_distance_mi            = 
| london_distance_mi               = 
| website                          = 
}}

'''Gourock''' ({{IPAc-en|audio=Gourock.ogg|ˈ|ɡ|ʊər|ə|k}} {{respell|GOOR|ək}}; {{langx|gd|Guireag}} {{IPA|gd|ˈkuɾʲak|}}) is a town in the [[Inverclyde]] [[council areas of Scotland|council area]] and formerly a [[burgh]] of the [[County of Renfrew]] in the west of [[Scotland]]. It was a [[resort town|seaside resort]] on the East shore of the upper [[Firth of Clyde]]. Its main function today is as a residential area, extending contiguously from [[Greenock]], with a railway terminus and ferry services across the Clyde.

==History==
[[File:Gourock from Lyle Hill.jpg|thumb|left|View from [[Lyle Hill]] over Cardwell Bay and Gourock Bay to the pierhead]]
[[File:Gourock Pierhead from Tarbet Street.jpg|thumb|The [[crown steeple]] of St John's church on the skyline, CalMac ferry [[MV Coruisk]] at the pier next to [[Caledonian MacBrayne|CalMac]] headquarters.]]

The name Gourock comes from a Gaelic word for "pimple", in reference to the hill above the town.<ref>{{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Iain |year=2011 |title=Place-names of Scotland |place=Edinburgh |publisher=Birlinn Limited |page=83}}</ref> As far back as 1494 it is recorded that [[James IV of Scotland|James IV]] sailed from the shore at Gourock to quell the rebellious Highland [[clan]]s. Two hundred years later [[William III of England|William and Mary]] granted a Charter in favour of Stewart of [[Castlemilk]] which raised Gourock to a [[Burgh of Barony]]. In 1784 the lands of Gourock were purchased by Duncan Darroch, a former merchant in [[Jamaica]]. He built Gourock House near the site of the castle in what the family eventually gifted to the town as Darroch Park, later renamed by the council as Gourock Park.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRmAnJwHhjM|title=The Darroch Mausoleum and Gourock Park, Inverclyde|website=[[YouTube]] |access-date=16 October 2022}}</ref>

From a small fishing village in the [[Traditional counties of Scotland|traditional county]] of [[Renfrewshire]], Gourock grew into a community involved in [[herring]] curing, [[copper]] [[mining]], ropemaking, quarrying and latterly yacht-building and repairing. Within sight of Gourock, in the early hours of 21 October 1825, ''[[PS Comet#Comet II|PS Comet (II)]]'' was run into by the steamer ''Ayr'', some 62 people losing their lives.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://heritage.scotsman.com/diagrams.cfm?cid=7&id=667862006 |newspaper=The Scotsman |title=The passengers 'precipitated into Eternity' when their steamship sank |date=9 May 2006 |first=Iain |last=Lundy |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061107231316/http://heritage.scotsman.com/diagrams.cfm?cid=7&id=667862006 |archive-date=2006-11-07}}</ref>

When the competing railway companies extended their lines to provide fast connections to [[Clyde steamer]] services the ''Pierhead'' was built as a railway terminus. Nowadays a passenger ferry serves [[Kilcreggan]] and electric trains provide a service to [[Glasgow]] from [[Gourock railway station]] at the pierhead. The [[David MacBrayne Ltd]] headquarters is at the pier, and [[Caledonian MacBrayne|CalMac]] run a passenger ferry service to [[Dunoon]]. A car ferry service is run by [[Western Ferries]] from [[McInroy's Point, Gourock|McInroy's Point]] on the west side of the town to [[Hunter's Quay]] to the north of Dunoon.<ref name=point>{{cite web|url=https://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/hunters-quay-mcinroys-point-ferry-timetable|title=Hunters Quay - McInroy's Point Ferry Timetable|date=13 December 2010 |publisher=Argyll and Bute Council|access-date=16 October 2022}}</ref>

Like many Scottish seaside towns, Gourock's tourist heyday was in the latter half of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth. Evidence of this part of its past is gradually disappearing - The Bay Hotel and [[Cragburn Pavilion]] and The Ashton, three local landmarks, disappeared towards the end of the last century. At the same time, Gourock has continued to expand along the coastline, with new estates above the medieval [[Castle Levan]] which has been restored and is in use as a [[bed and breakfast]]. Further development is taking place, though a short stretch of green belt still separates the town from the [[Cloch]] lighthouse which looks out over the firth to [[Innellan]] in Argyll.<ref>{{Historic Environment Scotland|cat=PLA |num=123013 |num2=NS27NW 16 |desc=Inverkip, The Cloch Lighthouse |access-date=19 June 2025}}</ref>

==Places of interest==
[[File:Gourock swimming pool.jpg|thumb|left|Gourock Outdoor Pool]]
Gourock has one of the three remaining public outdoor swimming pools in Scotland. [[Gourock Outdoor Pool]] was built in 1909 and reconstructed in 1969, it was once tidal and had a sandy floor, but is now a modern, heated facility, with cleaned sea water used in the saltwater pool. The pool was closed at the end of the 2010 summer season for a major improvement project, now completed. The existing changing accommodation was demolished and replaced with a more modern leisure centre, incorporating an enlarged gymnasium and lift access from the street level down to the new changing accommodation and the upgraded pool.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.inverclydeleisure.com/gourock-outdoor-swimming-pool/ |title=Inverclyde Leisure - Gourock Outdoor Swimming Pool |quote=Gourock's famous outdoor pool is now closed ahead of a massive £2 million refurbishment |access-date=2010-12-31}}</ref>

The [[megalithic]] Kempock Stone, popularly known as "[[Granny Kempock Stone]]", stands on a cliff behind Kempock Street. The superstition was that for sailors going on a long voyage or a couple about to be married, walking seven times around the stone would ensure good fortune. A flight of steps winds up from the street past the stone to Castle Mansions and St John's Church, whose [[crown steeple]] forms a landmark dominating Gourock.<ref>{{Citation |last= Macrae |first= Rev David |year= 1880 |title= Notes About Gourock |publisher= Andrew Elliot |place = Edinburgh}}</ref>

Kempock Street is the main shopping street, and has a variety of shops including a small supermarket, art and gift shops, cafes, restaurants and pubs. At the north end of the street, a statue of a "Girl on a Suitcase" with [[bucket and spade]] at her side, popularly known as "Wee Annie", commemorates the town's past as a seaside resort and setting-off point. She looks out over the pier where [[Clyde steamers]] took holidaymakers "[[doon the watter]]". The statue was created by Angela Hunter as part of a public art project commissioned by Riverside Inverclyde in 2011.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lochrie |first=Susan |title=Gourock's 'Wee Annie' back from her holidays |newspaper=Greenock Telegraph |date=16 December 2015 |url= https://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/news/14148231.gourock-statue-wee-annie-has-been-returned-after-a-spell-away-to-allow-for-the-52-million-town-centre-redevelopment-to-be-completed/ |access-date=23 March 2020}}</ref>

Gourock also has a golf course, which stretches from behind Trumpethill to Levan estates. The [[Municipal Buildings, Gourock|Municipal Buildings]] in Shore Street, which are now used as a business centre, were completed in 1924.<ref>{{Historic Environment Scotland|num=LB34024|desc= 116, 118 and 122 Shore Street and 3 and 5 Kempock Place (former Municipal Buildings and Police Station), Gourock |access-date=7 November 2021}}</ref>

==Yacht club==
Gourock has a large yacht club named the Royal Gourock Yacht Club. Situated on Ashton Road at the junction of Victoria Road, it was known as Gourock Sailing Club when it was founded in 1894. It became Gourock Yacht Club in 1900, and acquired Royal status in 1908.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://rgyc.org.uk/|title=Royal Gourock Yacht Club|website=Royal Gourock Yacht Club}}</ref>

==Clan Darroch==
[[Clan Darroch]]'s links with Gourock began in the later half of the 18th century with Duncan Darroch, 1st of Gourock, who had returned to [[Scotland]] after making a fortune in the [[West Indies]]. There is a story that as a lad, before leaving for [[Jamaica]], he climbed into the garden of Gourock House to get apples from the orchard, and when chased out by the gardener said he would return to buy the estate with its orchard. He acquired the Barony of Gourock from the [[House of Stuart|Stewarts]] of Castlemilk in 1784. He was also granted arms by the [[Court of the Lord Lyon]] and designated Chief of McIireich.<ref name=HISTORYDARROCH>{{cite web |url=http://darroch.org/darroch_gourock.html |title=History - Darroch Family Web Site |access-date=2011-02-06}}</ref>

The present head of the [[Scottish clan]] Darroch is titled Claire Darroch-Thompson, 8th of Gourock, Lady of the Barony of Gourock, following the death of her father, the late Duncan Darroch of Gourock on 1 February 2011.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/deaths/129053/darroch-of-gourock |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110723072824/http://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/deaths/129053/darroch-of-gourock |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 July 2011 |place=London |work=The Daily Telegraph |title=Darroch of Gourock}}</ref>

==Industry==
[[File:Former Gourock Municipal Buildings (geograph 3442052).jpg|thumb|right|The [[Municipal Buildings, Gourock|Municipal Buildings]]]]

Gourock's principal industry, apart from tourism and fishing, was small craft repair and [[Ship chandler|chandlery]]. An eponymous ropework opened in the town but later moved to Port Glasgow. More recently [[Amazon.com]] opened a distribution centre at Faulds Park, an industrial estate to the south of the town. The Amazon building was originally occupied by Mimtec who manufactured PC products in high volumes for IBM which closed in 2023.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.ft.com/content/8c4c73ab-754b-4611-93c8-93f8781373dc | title=Amazon plans closure of three UK warehouses as it cuts costs | newspaper=Financial Times | date=10 January 2023 }}</ref>

==Geography {{anchor|Areas of Gourock}}==
===Ashton===
The promenade at Ashton forms part of the Inverclyde Coastal Path.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://inverclyderamblers.org.uk/coastal-path/|title= Inverclyde Coastal Path|publisher=Inverclyde Ramblers|access-date=15 October 2022}}</ref>

===McInroy's Point===

{{main article|Western Ferries}}

McInroy's Point is a small peninsula to the west of the town. Around 1973, a pier was constructed here to form the departure point for Western Ferries.  The port has since been expanded and now incorporates two floating ramps. The port is a terminus for the service to [[Hunters Quay]], near Dunoon on the [[Cowal]] peninsula, on the western shore of the upper [[Firth of Clyde]].<ref name=point/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.western-ferries.co.uk/|title=Western Ferries (Clyde) Ltd|website=Western Ferries}}</ref>

{{s-rail-start|noclear=yes}}
{{s-rail|title=Ferry}}

{{rail line |previous=|next=[[Hunters Quay]]|route=[[Western Ferries]]<br /><small>Ferry</small> |col={{ferry colour}} }}
{{s-end}}

===Midton===
The area was the home of the Drumshantie Rifle Range in the late 19th century. It was developed in the mid-20th century as a series of [[Prefabs in the United Kingdom|prefabs]] (pre-fabricated houses) which were built on part of the "Tower Hill" as a temporary response to the post-war housing shortage.<ref>{{Historic Environment Scotland|cat=PLA |desc=Gourock, Drumshantie, Rifle Range|num=240342 |num2=NS27NW 145 |access-date=19 June 2025}}</ref>

===Trumpethill===
[[Image:Trumpethill.jpg|thumb|right|View looking onto the River Clyde from a house in Trumpethill]]
Trumpethill is a residential area situated between Midton and Levan and lies to the north of Gourock Golf Club, which stretches all the way behind to the back of Levan.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/news/18676661.another-new-housing-development-proposed-trumpethill-gourock/|title=Another new housing development has been proposed for Trumpethill in Gourock|date=28 August 2020|newspaper=Gourock Telegraph|access-date=15 October 2022}}</ref>

==Notable residents==
<!---♦♦♦ Please keep the list in alphabetical order ♦♦♦--->
{{see also|:Category:People from Gourock}}
*[[Iain Banks]] (1954–2013), author
*[[Charlie Barr]] (1864–1911), yachtsman and three-time [[America's Cup]] winner
*[[Nicky Low]] (1992– ) footballer
*[[Neil Munro (writer)|Neil Munro]] (1863–1930), author
*[[Fiona Ritchie]] (1960– ), radio broadcaster
*[[William Somerville Shanks]] (1864–1951), artist
*[[Melissa Stribling]] (1926–1992), actress
*[[Ernest Woodroofe|Sir Ernest Woodroofe]] (1912-2002), chairman of Unilever
*[[George Wyllie]] (1921–2012), artist

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Commonscatinline}}
{| class="wikitable"
|<nowiki>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mrl0O_QXtwU</nowiki>
|}
Video by Gourockguy 
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRmAnJwHhjM Video images and narration - Darroch Mausoleum & Gourock Park]

{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Gourock| ]]
[[Category:Ports and harbours of Scotland]]
[[Category:Seaside resorts in Scotland]]
[[Category:Towns in Inverclyde]]
[[Category:Port cities and towns in Scotland]]
[[Category:Firth of Clyde]]
[[Category:Burghs]]