process was "just the beginning" for regeneration processes in the town. Geography and climate Paisley sits primarily on an expanse of low ground around 12 metres (40 ft) above sea level surrounding the White Cart Water, which runs through the town centre. There are some hills and ridges which have been absorbed as the town has expanded. The settlement is historically centred on Oakshaw, an area surrounding a hill to the north of the current High Street. Oakshaw is a conservation area, and on the high ground many of Paisley's significant buildings can be found, such as the High Kirk, the Coats Observatory and the former John Neilson Institution, which was once a school and is now converted into residential flats. Paisley expanded steadily, particularly in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, creating many suburbs. Castlehead is a wooded conservation area primarily made up of Victorian villas where many of the town's leading industrialists made their homes in the late 19th century. Thornly Park is another conservation area, to the south of the town, just off Neilston Road toward Barrhead. It contains a variety of architecture ranging from mock Tudor to Art Deco. Many of the houses were designed by W. D. McLennan, a contemporary of Charles Rennie MacIntosh. McLennan also designed several local churches such as St Matthew's Church. Particularly following the Housing Act 1946, modern Paisley grew into the surrounding countryside, and several large residential areas were created in the post-war period. These include portions of Glenburn (south), Foxbar (south west), Ferguslie Park (north west), Gallowhill (North East) and Hunterhill (South East). Gockston in the far north of the town has many terraced houses, and after regeneration has many detached and semi-detached houses as well as several blocks of flats. Dykebar, to the south east of the town centre, is a residential area which is also the site of Dykebar Hospital, a secure psychiatric hospital. On the outskirts of the town are a number of settlements such as Ralston, a residential area in the far east bordering the city of Glasgow. Ralston was outside the Paisley burgh boundary when constructed in the 1930s, but as a result of local authority reorganisation in the 1990s, it is now a suburb of Paisley. Economy Public sector organisations in Paisley include the headquarters of Renfrewshire Council, the largest campus of the University of the West of Scotland, the Paisley campus of West