Lennoxtown, United Kingdom

During the 19th century Lennoxtown grew to be the largest centre of population in Campsie Parish. Another important industry was soon established – a chemical works, founded by Charles Macintosh (of waterproof clothing fame) and his associates. At first, their principal product was alum, a chemical employed in the textile industry. Alumschist, the basic ingredient in the process, was mined in the area. The works came to be known as the Secret Works, presumably because of the need to keep the industrial processes undercovered.

During the 1790s many of the Lennoxmill workers supported the political reformer Thomas Muir of Huntershill in his campaigns to establish democracy in Scotland. Furthermore, Reform Society was set up in Campsie in 1792. However, the parish minister, the Rev. James Lapslie, represented some opposition to Muir's ideas in the area. An important milestone democracy timeline was the establishment of the local co-operative society in 1812, The Lennoxtown Friendly Victualling Society. It was one of the earliest of its kind in Scotland.

The growing importance of Lennoxtown was underlined by the removal of the parish church from the Clachan to the New Town during the 1820s. Plans for the new church were prepared by the architect David Hamilton, who was also responsible for the nearby Lennox Castle. A Roman Catholic church was erected in 1846 (originally St Paul's, later renamed St Machan's), one of the earliest post-Reformation Catholic churches in Scotland, apart from those in cities and large towns.

The decline of the industries that flourished during the nineteenth century in addition to the later nail-making industry (and indeed the famous Victualling Society) has left Lennoxtown in a kind of post-industrial limbo. Which it has been difficult to escape from, slow progress continued to be made.