Future
The future of the Farmhouse is not set in stone but relies on the community being involved in shaping the vision and supporting the process (from collectively forming an idea to renovation to running the space).
Some of us involved in the Farmhouse Project would like to see it becoming an independent, affordable community resource.
What is a Community Resource Centre though?
Space for the weans? Space for relaxing? Where you find out what’s going on in Govan? Where you have a laugh and a cuppa?
It could be all of the above – the important thing is that we shape it together.
Present
The Farmhouse is an old building that sits in the community garden in Elder Park. The structure forms part of the communities Common Good Fund, as does the park it sits in. The farmhouse building sits within the community garden in the corner of Elder park at the end of govan road before the roundabout at the clyde tunnel. The building itself has lain derelict for 25 years or so and is in bad state of repair, though in the last few years there have been community efforts to repair it. It is a listed building and one of Govan’s oldest if not the oldest.
Common Good
The Park, building and library were gifted to the people of Govan and are part of the city’s common good. The farmhouse project will work towards maintaining and creating awareness of the common good in the work we do.
Past
When John Elder – a member of the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company died in 1869 his wife, Isabella became sole owner of his business for 9 months, until it was transferred to a partnership led by her brother John Ure. Subsequently, she devoted her life to philanthropic projects in Govan and Glasgow. In 1883 Isabella Elder purchased 37 acres of ground near the Fairfield Shipyard, and had it laid out as a public park named the Elder Park in memory of her husband and her father-in-law David. The park opened to a great local fanfare in 1885, and for many years she paid for an annual fireworks display there. Also in 1885, she set up a School of Domestic Economy in Govan to teach young women how to prepare nutritious meals, darn, mend, starch, and perform other chores required in managing a household on a limited budget.
