page_title: Quarrier's Village
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Quarrier's Village / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The old schoolhouse in Quarriers' Village, Kilmacolm.
context_page_description: Quarrier's Village is a small settlement in the civil parish of Kilmacolm in Inverclyde council area and the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies within the Gryffe Valley between the villages of Kilmacolm and Bridge of Weir, falling on the boundary between the modern Inverclyde and Renfrewshire council areas.
  Now a residential commuter village, Quarrier's was constructed as the Orphans Homes of Scotland in the late 19th century by philanthropist William Quarrier. In modern times, these orphans' homes and associated buildings have been converted into private housing and some expansion has taken place with new residential development. A charity under the name of Quarriers continues the work of the former homes and is based within the village.
context_section_description: The village was founded as the Orphan Homes of Scotland in 1876 by Glasgow shoe-maker and philanthropist William Quarrier on the site of the former Nittingshill Farm. Quarrier had a vision of a community allowing the young people in his care to thrive, set in a countryside environment and housed in a number of grand residences under a house-mother and father. This vision was realised by a number of donations from Quarrier and his friends.
  A devout Christian, Quarrier's homes also had a distinct religious ethos. He commissioned the building of Mount Zion Church - known informally as the Children's Cathedral - and his values are also reflected in the naming of streets in the village, such as Faith Avenue, Hope Avenue, Love Avenue, Praise Avenue and Peace Avenue. In 2006, Mount Zion Church decided it could no longer justify such a large premises and moved to one of the nearby homes. The church itself has been converted into private dwellings after the initial rejection of planning permission by the local authority was successfully appealed by the developer to the Scottish Ministers.
  Until 1999, it was also the site of the Bridge of Weir Hospital, opened as a tuberculosis sanatorium. The main section of the hospital has now been converted into residential flats. Hunter House, also commissioned by Quarrier and completed three years after his death, served as Scotland's only residential epilepsy assessment centre until the facility moved to The William Quarrier Scottish Epilepsy Centre, which opened in Glasgow in 2013.
  Quarriers is a registered charity and still functions to help disadvantaged young people, carers and adults with disabilities in the United Kingdom and beyond.  However, due to the changing nature of childcare, the number of children being cared for in the village fell dramatically in the 1970s and 1980s, and most of the homes were sold off privately. The village now attracts a number of tourists and offers a coffee shop.
  Greenock Morton Football Club train in the village.
caption: The Old Schoolhouse
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