The Collegiate Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Anne,
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, was founded in the middle of the sixteenth century by James Houstoun, Subdean of Glasgow and Rector of the
University of Glasgow
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
from 1534 to 1541. The church was located on the south side of
Trongate
Trongate is one of the oldest streets in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Trongate begins at Glasgow Cross, where the steeple of the old Glasgow Tolbooth is situated, being the original centre of medieval Glasgow, and goes westward changing its na ...
. Two copies of its Latin constitution, dating from 1549, have survived in the city archives. These provide detailed information about the structure of the college and its funding. James Houstoun's original provision was for a Provost, eight canons or prebends, and three choristers, but later benefactions extended this. The prebends were supported by property scattered across the city, and in
Dalry,
Maybole
Maybole is a town and former burgh of barony and police burgh in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It had an estimated population of in . It is situated south of Ayr and southwest of Glasgow by the Glasgow and South Western Railway. The town is bypass ...
and
Rutherglen
Rutherglen (, sco, Ruglen, gd, An Ruadh-Ghleann) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having existed as a Lanarkshire burgh in its own ...
.
The third prebend was the organist, who was also in charge of the Song School for the instruction of the youth in plainsong and descant, which stood on the west side of the church. When their voices broke, choristers would continue their education at the Grammar School.
The canons wore fur-trimmed red hoods, and surplices which were to be washed once a year. The daily pattern of services is carefully laid out.
St Anne
According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come o ...
's Day, 26 July, was marked with much pomp and ringing of bells, after which money for bread and ale was distributed to the canons, to thirty paupers, eight scholars, and the residents of the Hospital of St Nicholas by the cathedral. The lepers of St Ninian's Hospital received their share at a safe distance in the churchyard.
At the
Reformation in Scotland
The Scottish Reformation was the process by which Scotland broke with the Papacy and developed a predominantly Calvinist national Kirk (church), which was strongly Presbyterian in its outlook. It was part of the wider European Protestant Refor ...
in 1560, this all came to an end. In 1570, the church was described as ruinous, when it passed into the hands of a city
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, James Fleming. It later returned to use as a
parish church
A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...
of the
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland.
The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...
. In the 17th century a
gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
spire
A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...
was built. The church burnt down in 1793, and a new church was built to a
classical design but retaining the spire. The kirk was designed by architect
James Adam who was the joint architect of the very new Royal Infirmary, and a few years later the architect of the city's Assembly Rooms in Ingram Street. One of its most celebrated ministers was the evangelical and enterprising Rev Dr
Thomas Chalmers
Thomas Chalmers (17 March 178031 May 1847), was a Scottish minister, professor of theology, political economist, and a leader of both the Church of Scotland and of the Free Church of Scotland. He has been called "Scotland's greatest nine ...
.
Much later, the Tron congregation merged with St George's on
Buchanan Street
Buchanan Street is one of the main shopping thoroughfares in Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland. It forms the central stretch of Glasgow's famous shopping district with a generally more upmarket range of shops than the neighbouring streets: ...
in 1940 to form
St George's Tron Church
The St George's Tron Church, in Glasgow, Scotland, is a Church of Scotland church in the city centre, located in Nelson Mandela Place, previously known as St George's Place, fronting Buchanan Street at West George Street, along from Queen Stre ...
; after a period of disuse, the building – the Tron Kirk or Laigh Kirk – was converted into the
Tron Theatre
The Tron Theatre is located in the corner of Trongate and Chisholm Street, in what was formerly the Tron Kirk which had started as the Collegiate Church of Our Lady and St. Anne in the Trongate area of Glasgow, Scotland. The Tron Steeple still ...
in the early 1980s.
The Building
Tron Theatre
The Tron Theatre is located in the corner of Trongate and Chisholm Street, in what was formerly the Tron Kirk which had started as the Collegiate Church of Our Lady and St. Anne in the Trongate area of Glasgow, Scotland. The Tron Steeple still ...
See also
*List of Collegiate churches in Scotland
Bothwell Parish is the only Collegiate church where worship is still held. It is thought that the first ''Collegium'' of canons with its own chapel was formed in St. Andrews in the 13th century, and it is thought that by the Reformation there w ...
References
* ''Liber Collegii Nostri Domine &c.'', Maitland Club, 1846.
* ''Glasghu Facies – The History of Glasgow'', James Gordon, 1873.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collegiate Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary And St Anne, Glasgow
Collegiate churches in Scotland
Former churches in Scotland