The Lion and Unicorn Staircase, at the

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, is located next to the university's Memorial Chapel on the west side of the Main Building. It consists of two flights connected by a landing, the upper flight turning ninety degrees to the left from the lower flight. There is a balustrade adorned with sculptures of a unicorn on the left and a lion on the right. Along with the Memorial Chapel and the adjacent Gilbert Scott Building, it is protected as a

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. The staircase originally formed part of the university's Old College site on

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, situated in the Outer Court and leading to the Principal's Residence and the Fore Hall. On 20 June 1690, the university instructed William Riddel, a mason, to place stone bannisters on the staircase with figures of a lion and a unicorn on the first turn, for which he was paid twelve pounds sterling. Work began on 30 June and finished on 15 August that year. When the university moved to its new site in Gilmorehill in 1870, the staircase was transported and incorporated into the new building, along with parts of the High Street gatehouse, which were rebuilt as

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Lodge. When the Main Building of the university was originally built, the West Quadrangle was not enclosed on all sides; instead, on the west side, a staircase stood at each end of a small landscaped garden leading from the elevated grass of the quadrangle to the lower level of The Square, where the Principal's and Professors' houses were. The Lion and Unicorn Staircase was the southern of these. The quadrangle was subsequently enclosed when the new Memorial Chapel and additional facilities were built along that side between 1914 and 1929, and the Lion and Unicorn Staircase provided access to these from The Square. When first installed in Gilmorehill, the staircase turned right at its middle landing (as it did in its original site), but was altered at this time to turn left. At its original site in the Old College, the staircase had led to the Fore Hall; amongst the new rooms created with the 1929 Gilmorehill expansion was a new hall, also named the Fore Hall.

References

External links

Report at National Recording Project

Public Monuments and Sculpture Association The Public Monuments and Sculpture Association (PMSA) was an organisation established in 1991 to bring together individuals and organisations with an interest in British public sculptures and monuments, their production, preservation and history ...

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

Gallery of images at GlasgowSculpture.com
{{University of Glasgow University of Glasgow Stairways Outdoor sculptures in Scotland Buildings and structures completed in 1690 Category A listed buildings in Glasgow Sculptures of lions 1690 establishments in Scotland Listed sculptures in Scotland 1690s sculptures Sculptures of unicorns Animal sculptures in Scotland