Publication Account
Date 1985
Event ID 1016542
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016542
Although Glasgow achieved burgh status as early as the 12th century, the present city owes little to the medieval period (but see the Cathedral, no. 52, and the nearby Provan Lordship), and it is largely a creation of the last two centuries. The boom decades of the Victorian era have bequeathed to Glasgow one of Europe's most extensive 19th century towns capes and a unique range of Victorian architecture. Glasgow may not have been the political capital of Scotland but it was the commercial centre, and vast sums were spent on prestigious building projects, particularly by industrial concerns, banks and the city itself On the darker side, the wretchedness of much of the mass housing must not be overlooked (but see the Tenement, no. 21) and driving around Glasgow the visitor cannot fail to miss the rapid and stark contrast between various parts of the city.
The medieval town lay to the north of the Clyde, well above the river, and was centred around the crossing of two principal thoroughfares-the west-east Argyle Street/Trongate/Gallowgate and the north-south High Street/Saltmarket Street. Rapid growth at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries led to expansion to the north-west of the nedieval town and to development on the south side of the river. These areas were laid out on a rigid rectangular grid pattern (in what we might today consider to be typically American style), which still forms a characteristic feature of the city centre. In later 19th century developments, such as those around Park Circus, Kelvinside, the rigidity of the grid pattern was softened by the use of crescents and circuses.
The public architecture of the city centre is a mixture of styles, ranging from severe classical to flamboyant Baroque and Gothic, which manage to knit together to form a comparatively harmonious townscape. Running through all the various histOlical moods, however, Glasgow manages to achieve a recognisable local style: of particular note are the works of Alexander (Greek) Thomson (St Vincent Street Church), Charles Rennie Mackintosh (Glasgow School of Art, Scotland Street School, Willow Tea Rooms) and the cast-iron buildings (Gardners Warehouse, Ca D'Oro). Listed below is a selection of the principal buildings in the city.
Townscape
The City Centre: George Square, Buchanan Street, St Vincent Street, Blythswood Square.
Later Victorian Town Planning: Park Circus/Woodlands (NS 575663). Restoration in the Woodlands area has recently won an Urban Renaissance Award.
Great Western Road (NS 5667).
Public Architecture
City Chambers, George Square. 1833, recently cleaned, with magnificent interiors.
Clydesdale Bank, St Vincent Street. 1870, recently restored, built in ornamental Baroque style.
Hutchesons Hall; Ingram Street. 1802-5. Glasgow Headquarters of the National Trust for Scotland.
Stock Exchange, Buchanan Street. 1877, secular Gothic style.
St Vincent Street Church. 1859, Alexander (Greek) Thomson's strange mixture of Greek temple with Egyptian details.
Charles Rennie Mackintosh
Glasgow School of Art, Renfrew Street. 1897-1907, Mackintosh's finest building.
Scotland Street School.
Willow Tea Rooms, Sauchiehall Street. 1903, recently restored and now used as a jewelry shop.
5 Blythswood Square, Art nouveau doorway.
Hunterian Art Gallery, Hillhead Street. Mackintosh interiors.
Education and Leisure
The University, Hillhead. 1874, Gilbert Scott with Gothic revival.
Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum, Kelvingrove. 1901, a legacy of the Glasgow International Exhibition.
Botanical Gardens, Kelvinside. 1873. Magnificent glasshouse, known as Kibble Palace, after the architect John Kibble.
Burrell Museum, Pollock Park. 1982, much praised modem museum.
Cast-Iron Buildings
Ca D'Oro, Buchanan Street 1872.
Gardners Warehouse, Jamaica Street 1862, designed by John Gardner, also known as 'The Iron Building'.
Factory
Templeton's Carpet Factory, Glasgow Green. 1889, loosely derived from the Doge's Palace in Venice, the colourful design helps to brighten up this part of Glasgow. Now converted to small factory units.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: The Clyde Estuary and Central Region’, (1985).
