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.
21. The Methodist Church
Pollokshaws Methodist congregation was established in 1880 and at first held service’s in the Tontine Hall in King Street until 1883. They commissioned Paisleyborn architect John Gordon (1835-1912) to build a church, at a cost of £1100, at the corner of Cross Street and Barrhead Road. In the mid 1960s the site occupied by the building was required for road widening and was acquired by Glasgow Corporation Roads Department. The present church, which opened in 1967, was built on ground to the north of the original building.
22. Afton Terrace
This building of four closes is one of five old style good quality tenements to survive the Pollokshaws redevelopment scheme of the 1960s. Three of the five are mentioned above, the fourth is Mannering Court which is in the same area as the Swan Inn (see No.2). In the Glasgow Valuation Roll of 1913/14 the proprietor is Glasgow Tobacco Manufacturer Stephen Mitchell (1789- 1874). Stephen Mitchell’s family had been involved in the manufacturing of tobacco in his home town of Linlithgow since 1723 and in Glasgow since 1825. He left the residue from his estate to the City of Glasgow to establish a large reference library known today as the Mitchell Library, the largest reference library in Europe.
23. Pollokshaws Train Station
The Glasgow, Barrhead and Neilston Direct Railway was incorporated by an Act of Parliament on 4th August 1845. On the 2nd July 1847 the company purchased the Glasgow Southern Terminal Railway and subsequently the board of directors – which included Sir John Maxwell – leased both companies in perpetuity to the Caledonian Railway Company. Complete nationalisation of the railways was subsequently carried out after the Second World War through the 1947 Transport Act. Pollokshaws Station was built by the Glasgow, Barrhead and Neilston Direct Railway in 1847 and opened on 27th September 1848. The lower floor was constructed as houses for the Station Master and other railway employees, with the ticket office and other rooms above at platform level. Passengers could wait on each platform in a coal fired waiting room. It is one of the oldest station buildings in the city. It was renamed Pollokshaws West Station on 5th May 1952.
24. Railway Viaduct
The viaduct was completed on 5th October 1847 as part of the Glasgow, Barrhead & Neilston Direct Railway.
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