Weaver's Cottage

Weaver's Cottage in Kilbarchan was built in 1723 and re-creates the home and workshop of a handloom weaver from the days when hundreds of looms in this Renfrewshire village made shawls and tartan. The National Trust for Scotland keeps the last working handloom in the village in the loom shop, with weaving demonstrations, while the low-beamed rooms hold period furniture, a box bed and the tools of the trade. The cottage garden grows the plants once used for dyes, woad and madder among them, alongside cottage flowers, and the shop is one of the few places in Scotland selling cloth woven entirely by hand. Reviewers praise the staff's knowledge and the chance to try weaving, and call it a gem that is bigger than it looks. Tips from visitors: the cottage has two steps in, uneven floors, winding stairs and low ceilings; park on the street beside it or in the free public car park 100m away; and the number 38 bus from Paisley and Glasgow passes the door.