Editing Howwood (section)

==History==
[[File:Howwood, Renfrewshire.jpg|thumb|Howwood seen from a nearby bike trail]]
Its name is listed in the late 19th century Ordnance [[Gazetteer for Scotland|Gazetteer of Scotland]] as ''"Howwood or Hollow-wood"''.<ref>[http://www.electricscotland.com/history/gazetteer/vol3page271.htm Hodges, Holburn Head, Holehouse, Holekettle or Kettle Bridge, Holl, Holland, Hollandbush, Hollows, Hollow-Wood or Howwood, Hollybush, Hollylee, Holm, Holmains, Holme or Holme Rose, Holms Water, Holybush, Holydean Castle, Holy Isle<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Hollow-Wood is an anglicisation of the [[Scots language]] name ''Howewuid''.<ref name="The Online Scots Dictionary"/> The Surname Database gives the following etymology for the equivalent surname 'Howood': a topographical name from residence by a muddy wood, deriving from the pre-7th-Century [[Old English]] "horh", mud, slime, and "wudu", wood.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Howood | title=Surname Database: Howood Last Name Origin }}</ref>

Historically part of the [[List of civil parishes in Scotland|civil parish]] of Lochwinnoch, it now supports its own [[Community Council]].<ref>[http://www.howwood.com/ Howwood Community Council]</ref>

The chief industry in the village was formerly [[bleaching]] and the finishing of cotton cloth and thread, particularly from the mills of Paisley and the other Renfrewshire villages. Two main bleaching works existed at Bowfield and Midtownfield, the former being the last to close in the 1960s.<ref name="renfrewshire.gov.uk">{{Cite web |url=http://www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/ilwwcm/publishing.nsf/Content/Navigation-els-Howwood(OurHistoryandHeritage)Homepage |title=Renfrewshire Community Website - Howwood |access-date=9 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090318140104/http://www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/ilwwcm/publishing.nsf/Content/Navigation-els-Howwood%28OurHistoryandHeritage%29Homepage |archive-date=18 March 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Overlooking the village on Kenmure Hill is the Temple, a circular folly built around 1760 and whose purpose is unknown.<ref name="howwood.com">{{cite web| url = http://www.howwood.com/history.php| title = Howwood Village Renfrewshire Scotland Community Website}}</ref> In the hills above Howwood also lie the remains of [[Lands of Elliston|Elliston Castle]], a [[tower house]] once home to the Semple family.<ref name="renfrewshire.gov.uk"/> A battle took place between Government forces and [[Covenanter]]s at Muirdykes on the 18 June 1685, led by the Cochrane family of [[Johnstone]]<ref name="howwood.com"/> The Iron Age hillfort of Walls Hill lies on Whittliemuir with the [[Walls Loch, East Renfrewshire|Walls Loch]] lying to the west of it.