Burnside is a mostly residential area in the town of Rutherglen in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. Including the neighbourhoods of High Burnside and High Crosshill, respectively south and north-west of its main street, it borders Overtoun Park in Rutherglen plus several other residential areas of the town (Blairbeth, Cathkin, Eastfield, Fernhill, Springhall and Stonelaw), as well as western parts of neighbouring Cambuslang.

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Burnside
Stonelaw Road looking north
Burnside Show map of South Lanarkshire Burnside Location within Scotland Show map of Glasgow council area Burnside Burnside (Scotland) Show map of Scotland
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	GLASGOW
Postcode district	G73
Dialling code	0141
Police	Scotland
Fire	Scottish
Ambulance	Scottish
UK Parliament	Rutherglen and Hamilton West
Scottish Parliament	Rutherglen
List of places UK Scotland 55.81846°N 4.201981°W / 55.81846; -4.201981

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Burnside is the largest component of the Rutherglen South ward of South Lanarkshire Council,^[1][2][3] which has an overall population of around 15,000.^[4]

Burnside grew as an affluent commuter suburb in the early 20th century following the establishment of the railway station,^[5] and although within the boundaries of Rutherglen it became established separately from the older burgh and has thus retained a distinct identity.^[6][7] The post-World War II housing estates which subsequently surrounded Burnside to the south and west were built to alleviate housing problems in central Rutherglen and in Cambuslang, so although physically adjacent were never seen as parts of Burnside as such; in the same vein, the nearby Castlemilk housing scheme is situated close to Rutherglen and Burnside and shared the same administration in times past when it was a rural estate,^[8] but was constructed by Glasgow Corporation for residents being rehoused from the inner city and has never had a formal connection to the neighbouring town.

The local park, Stonelaw Woods,^[9][10] was landscaped from a disused quarry^[8] and named after the most prominent historic landmark in the area, the castellated Stonelaw Tower,^[11] a converted 18th-century coal mine winding engine house which fell into disrepair - after subsidence in the vicinity caused by the mining - and was demolished in the 1960s to be replaced by apartments and a petrol station (also since demolished),^[12] with only a boundary wall remaining.^[13][14][8]

The origin of the name, Burnside Farm, is located some distance south of the centre of the modern settlement, being uphill closer to Fernhill and Cathkin - the farmhouse still exists, located off Beech Drive, while the burn in question runs north-west past the Blairbeth and Spittal neighbourhoods, concealed in parts, before merging with another originating near Castlemilk and flowing through Rutherglen, entering the River Clyde at Richmond Park (Oatlands).^[15] The farm also gave its name to Burnside Loch, used for boating and curling^[8][16] but drained in the 1920s and now the playing fields for two primary schools located in the Springhall housing estate (including Loch Primary, which today has no visual indication as to why it was so named).^[17] Other local farms included High Crosshill at the entrance of Glenlui Avenue at Burnside Primary School, no trace remaining; Stonelaw, adjacent to the tower, no trace remaining;^[8] and Fishescoats off East Kilbride Road, the buildings for which were retained by a funeral director's business.

There were various stages of housebuilding, with the earliest properties among the largest at High Burnside in the vicinity of Lower Bourtree Drive and Lochbrae Drive in the late 19th century, followed by the grid of streets at High Crosshill and the similar sandstone villas at Buchanan Drive, plus the tenements on the main road in the 1900s, then more at High Burnside (Thorn Drive / Tynwald Avenue / St Stephen's Avenue) and on the old golf course around Crawfurd Road post-World War I. Land to the east of Stonelaw Road was also occupied in the 1920s,^[18][19] with a development of quartered villas and bungalows at Southhill Avenue towards the yet unbuilt Eastfield, thereafter mainly semi-detached homes in the triangular plot of land at Dukes Road / Brownside Road, and another set of quartered villas and bungalows on the inclines around Bradda Avenue / Blairbeth Road; these latter areas (including Burnside Church and bowling club) were historically within the civil parish of Cambuslang^[20] but were always more closely associated with the amenities of central Burnside, located within the boundaries of Rutherglen along with Springhall and Blairbeth^[21] (but unlike Spittal, Cathkin and Fernhill which were in Carmunnock parish).^[22] The last major residential project at Upper Bourtree Drive / Larchfield Drive in the 1970s 'joined' the existing parts of High Burnside and meant the vast majority of the territory was now built upon, with all subsequent modern developments being on a far smaller scale.

Previously, Burnside had its own cinema on Stonelaw Road, the Rhul Cinema. Built in 1932 by the Burnside Picture House Company, the cinema was sold to ABC in 1936 and later demolished in 1960.^{[23][24][25][8]} The space is now occupied by a supermarket, which was previously run by Safeway, Morrisons and Somerfield,^[26] but is presently a Tesco, who purchased the store in 2010 and completed a comprehensive redevelopment.

On the western side of Burnside, overlooking Rutherglen Cemetery and immediately north of the railway tracks, is Blairtum House, built in 1878 for the owner of a rope works at Farme Cross and adorned with rope-related features in its stonework. It was owned in the 1900s by George Gray, Town Clerk of Rutherglen,^[27] and later was a care home for the elderly and YMCA-run accommodation for homeless teenagers^[28] before being converted as the centrepiece of an upmarket residential development,^[29][30] surviving a major fire during the process in 2016.^[31] The high ground immediately north of Blairtum is presumed by W. R. Shearer in Rutherglen Lore (1922) to have been the location of a large mediaeval stone cross placed in a prominent position and from which the Crosshill name is derived, although other sources suggest the cross may have been further west at Bankhead,^[32] where there is a Crosshill Farm.

Stonelaw Road (part of the A749) is the heart of Burnside and home to a supermarket and a range of other local businesses and cafés (as well as several estate agents, having become the main concentration of the industry's branches for the south-east of Glasgow).^[6][41] It is also on several bus routes (First Glasgow services 18 to Buchanan Bus Station / East Kilbride and 7A to the St Enoch Centre / Cambuslang, and the 14 McGill 'Ruglen Rambler' service to Rutherglen town centre / Fernhill).^[42][43] Burnside railway station, as part of the Cathcart Circle Lines, is served by half-hourly, seven-day services between Newton and Glasgow Central via Mount Florida or Langside.

In education,^[44] the area is served by ACE Place Nursery and Out of School Care,^[45] Oakwood House Nursery,^[46] Burnside Primary School, Loch Primary School, St Anthony's Primary School, (both Springhall), St Marks Primary School (Blairbeth), Calderwood Primary School, Stonelaw High School (both near Eastfield) and Fernhill School (Fernhill). The primary schools were rebuilt in the early 21st century.^[47][48] Some of the newest housing in the area, on Greystone Avenue, was previously the site of a special school.^[8]