Articles

All the burial grounds described so far have left some trace behind, whether a burial list, a survey map or a mention in contemporary sources. But Glasgow has its own share of medieval burial grounds which usually come to light when developers move onto a site and discover remains. One ancient burial ground has yet […]

Known nowadays to locals as the ‘Riddrie Hilton’ or Bar-L, Barlinnie Prison was built in 1880 on farmland to the north east of Glasgow, in an attempt to alleviate prison overcrowding in the city.

At the turn of the nineteenth century, the Catholic population of Glasgow and its surrounding area grew rapidly with the arrival of many Irish people in search of work. Their numbers swelled in the 1850s with those leaving Ireland in the wake of the potato famine. St Mary’s Calton RC Church was opened to serve […]

When James II and VII fled the country in 1688 and William and Mary came to the throne, many Episcopalian Scottish bishops felt unable to take the oath of allegiance to the couple because James had not actually abdicated as king. These Episcopalian bishops, known as ‘non jurors’ because they would not swear allegiance to […]

Anderston’s first church, Anderston Old, was opened in 1770. In 1792, a second Dissenting congregation, the Associate Congregation of Anderston, built a meeting house in Cheapside Street. They left there for Wellington Street in 1828, subsequently building Wellington Church in University Avenue in 1884. I have been unable to ascertain who moved into the premises […]

The North Street burial ground (also known as North and South Woodside) was opened in 1821 and was the last resting place of many old Partick families. It lay about 100 yards from Anderston Cross, and was accessed from the east side of North Street. In 1849, the Glasgow Herald revealed a dangerous management practice […]

Graveyard at Lower Auchingramont Road, Hamilton

St Mungo’s New burial ground was opened in 1832.  It adjoined Castle Street on the east and lay between the Royal Infirmary and the Asylum for the Blind.  It was designed and executed by James Cleland, superintendant of Public Works for Glasgow Town Council and author of ‘Annals of Glasgow’, a history of the city’s […]

Until 1770, the villagers of Anderston had to travel to Glasgow to worship in the Barony Church or one of the Dissenting churches. One James Monteith was a member of a Dissenting congregation in the the Havannah Church, off High Street and, following a disagreement with the church, he and some friends built their own Relief church in Anderston, the area’s first church.

The Town’s Hospital was erected in Clyde Street to act as a work house, old folk’s home, orphanage, asylum and infirmary. A burial ground for inmates was opened next to the Hospital in Dunlop Street, and the first interment took place in 1733.