Through old pictures of buildings in Pollokshaws - we hope to tell the story of the history and heritage of the Glasgow southside neighbourhood
Pollokshaws has a storied and proud heritage - today we wanted to take a look at the local history of the Southside through the architecture and the story’s they tell.
Pollokshaws was originally a village predominantly dedicated to weaving in the 17th century. A group of Flemish weavers were brought to the area in the 19th century by the landowners, the Maxwells of Pollok, on account of their exceptional weaving skills.
Pollokshaws was granted a charter to become a Burgh of Barony in 1812. It became a police burgh in 1858 and remained a burgh of Renfrewshire until 1912 when it was annexed to the City of Glasgow.
Though it had been an industrial area, this changed in 1957 when it was proposed as the second Comprehensive Development Area in Glasgow (the first was Hutchesontown). The area was demolished and rebuilt anew.
The 1960’s regeneration scheme of mainly high-rise buildings has started to make way for new mainly low-rise modern housing - but despite this razing, there’s still plenty of historic buildings that indicate the burgh’s historic past.
A lot of this information was supplied from the Pollokshaws Heritage Trail, created by Paul O’Cuinn on behalf of Pollokshaws Heritage Group.
Pollokshaws was granted a charter to become a Burgh of Barony in 1812. It became a police burgh in 1858 and remained a burgh of Renfrewshire until 1912 when it was annexed to the City of Glasgow.
5. St Mary Immaculate
There was no Roman Catholic presence in Pollokshaws until the beginning of the 19th century when Irish workers on the Glasgow, Paisley and Johnstone canal (1807-1810) began to settle in the area. They used to walk to Glasgow to attend mass. From 1829 onward a service was conducted in a room in a building used as a Roman Catholic school which stood on the site of where The Stag Inn is now. In 1849 the Parish of St. Mary Immaculate was formed and its congregation was drawn from Pollokshaws, Thornliebank, Crossmyloof, Shawlands, Cathcart, Newton Mearns, Eaglesham and Busby. In 1850 they moved into a converted blacksmiths building at the riverside in Lillybank Place (Riverbank Street), where they attended services until 1859. In the church grounds is the category ‘B’ listed war memorial in remembrance of those parishioners who lost their lives in the Great War.
6. St Conval’s School
By 1829 the Catholic population had grown to such an extent that proper provision had to be made for the education of children. An early attempt at establishing a small school in Brewery Close, Main Street had to be abandoned through lack of funds. The next accommodation, a room in a building where the Stag Inn now stands, proved to be more successful and remained there until 1859, when a distinctive three storey building was erected on land at Shawhill. The building served as a school and place of worship until the completion of St Mary’s in 1865 and thereafter it was used exclusively as a school.
7. The Toonhouse
The clock tower is all that remains of the former Pollokshaws Burgh Halls. Erected in 1803 to administer the affairs of the town and to provide a place for meetings, it took ten years to complete. It included a distinctive clock tower much to the envy of neighbouring councils. It covered about half the area of the square, and over the years extensions were added with shops located externally in parts of the old building. One of them was occupied by McClurg’s the Fishmonger who until recently operated a business in The Stag Inn building. According to Fowlers Commercial Directory for Renfrewshire (1834-35) the licensee was James Struthers. It was partly demolished in 1895 as a result of the opening of the new burgh hall (see No.1) and the main part was demolished in 1934 leaving only the squat tower containing the vestibule. It is still affectionately known by locals as The Toonhoose.
8. John Maclean memorial
John Maclean was one of the founding fathers of Glasgow’s socialist movement, and was incredibly active across several industries encouraging them and supporting them to strike for better conditions. On the day of his funeral, in tribute to his memory, thousands of Clydeside workers gathered outside his house and led by the Clyde Works band marched to Eastwood Cemetery. Thereafter thousands took part in a silent march on the first Sunday in December each year from Eglinton Toll to the cemetery. On the 2nd December 1973 a granite c o m m e m o r a t i v e cairn was unveiled by MacLean’s two daughters on the site of the old Town House in Pollokshaws attended amongst others by the Provosts of Glasgow and Edinburgh. In 1979 the Russian Government issued a commemorative postage stamp to mark the centenary of his birth.
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