Cottiers is a theatre located in

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 ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It also operates as a bar and restaurant. Cottiers occupies the building of the 19th-century former Dowanhill Parish Church.

Early years of the church

The church building was built to serve as the

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 Dowanhill United Presbyterian Church. It was designed in the

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style by

William Leiper William Leiper Royal Institute of British Architects, FRIBA Royal Scottish Academy, RSA (1839–1916) was a Scotland, Scottish architect known particularly for his domestic architecture in and around the town of Helensburgh.

, and was built between 1865 and 1866. The foundation stone was laid on August 4, 1865, and the building was opened on November 11, 1866. The congregation became part 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 1929, and the church was renamed Dowanhill Parish Church.

Works of art

The building includes a collection of notable frescoes and stained glass windows by

Daniel Cottier Daniel Cottier (1838–1891) was a British artist and designer born in Anderston, Glasgow, Scotland. His work was said to be influenced by the writing of John Ruskin, the paintings of the Dante Gabriel Rossetti and the work of William Morris. H ...

. The building was renamed Cottiers in honour of

after the church was converted into a theatre.

Closure, conversion and present use

The church served as a

of the

until 1984, when the Dowanhill congregation united with the East Partick congregation forming East Partick and Dowanhill Parish Church. That same year, the church building was bought by the Four Acres Charitable Trust which converted the building into a theatre, an arts centre with a bar and restaurant. The building was restored during numerous phases starting from the 1980s and going as far as 2012."Restoration"
''Cottiers''. Retrieved on 16 August 2020.

References

{{Scottish Theatres 1865 establishments in Scotland 19th-century Church of Scotland church buildings Category A listed buildings in Glasgow Former churches in Scotland Listed theatres in Scotland Music venues in Glasgow Restaurants in Glasgow Theatres in Glasgow