Desk Based Assessment
Date 30 June 2017
Event ID 1024918
Category Recording
Type Desk Based Assessment
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1024918
The Adelphi distillery was located south of the Victoria Bridge over the River Clyde and in the Gorbals area of Glasgow. It was founded in 1825 by C and D Gray and it is depicted on the 1:500 OS Town Plan of Glasgow (1857, Sheet VI.11.21). This shows a mash house standing SW of the distillery and a draff house to the SE, facing on to Muirhead Street. In 1870 its name changed to the Loch Katrine Adelphi distillery and ownership changed in 1880 to Messrs A Walker and Company. At this time it was one of the largest distilleries in Scotland, with an annual output of over 500,000 gallons (Information from Adelphi Distillery http://www.adelphidistillery.com/index-gate.php#history, accessed on 30/6/2017). In 1906 one of the distillery’s washback vats collapsed, resulting in 150,000 gallons of hot whisky engulfing the distillery yard and Muirhead Street, leading to one fatality (information from http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/Great-Gorbals-Whisky-Flood-of-1906/ accessed on 30/6/2017). A year later the production of malt whisky ceased, although grain distilling and cask maturation continued on the site. The distillery was made up of a group of red and white brick buildings, the largest of which was a seven storey, 4-bay by 5-bay silo block. The distillery complex was dominated by a large circular-section chimney with a flared top. It was demolished between 1968 and 1970, and today the site is occupied by the Glasgow Central Mosque.
Information from HES Survey and Recording (AMcC) 30 June 2017.
