The Pollokshaws Burgh Hall is a municipal building at the edge of
Pollok Country Park
Pollok Country Park is a country park located between Shawlands, Crossmyloof, and Pollok in Glasgow, Scotland. In 2007, Pollok Country Park was named Britain's Best Park, and in 2008 it was named the Best Park in Europe, beating competition fro ...
,
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 ...
. The burgh hall, which was briefly the headquarters of Pollokshaws Burgh Council, is a Category A
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
.
History
The building was commissioned and endowed for future maintenance by the politician,
Sir John Stirling Maxwell of
Pollok House
Pollok House, formerly the family seat of the Stirling-Maxwell family, is located at Pollok Country Park in Glasgow, Scotland (which also houses the Burrell Collection).
Overview
The house, built in 1752 and originally thought to be designed b ...
as a gift for the people of Pollokshaws.
The site he selected in Pollokshaws Road had formed part of the Old Pollok Estate, which had been home to the
Maxwell family for over 700 years.
The burgh hall was designed by
Robert Rowand Anderson
Sir Robert Rowand Anderson, (5 April 1834 – 1 June 1921) was a Scottish Victorian architect. Anderson trained in the office of George Gilbert Scott in London before setting up his own practice in Edinburgh in 1860. During the 1860s his ...
in the
Scottish Renaissance style[ and was officially opened by Maxwell on 7 December 1898.]cupola
In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome.
The word derives, via Italian, from ...
above of a similar style to the then recently-demolished Glasgow College
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
in the High Street; the right hand three bays contained three windows on the ground floor; there was a large round-headed window on the first floor flanked by two smaller windows and a crow-step
A stepped gable, crow-stepped gable, or corbie step is a stairstep type of design at the top of the triangular gable-end of a building. The top of the parapet wall projects above the roofline and the top of the brick or stone wall is stacked in a ...
ped gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...
above.[
The building was used as the headquarters of the independent ]burgh
A burgh is an autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland and Northern England, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burg ...
of Pollokshaws
Pollokshaws ( sco, Powkshaws) is an area on the South side of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is bordered by the residential neighbourhoods of Auldhouse to the east, Eastwood and Hillpark to the south and Shawlands to the north, with the Glas ...
until the burgh was annexed by Glasgow Corporation in 1912.[ A war memorial commemorating local people who had died in the ]First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
was unveiled in front of the burgh hall by the local member of parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
, Sir John Gilmour, on 28 October 1922. The hall was used as a British Restaurant
British Restaurants were communal kitchens created in 1940 during the Second World War to help people who had been bombed out of their homes, had run out of ration coupons or otherwise needed help. In 1943, 2,160 British Restaurants served 600,0 ...
during the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.[
After functioning as a community centre for ]Glasgow Corporation
The politics of Glasgow, Scotland's largest city by population, are expressed in the deliberations and decisions of Glasgow City Council, in elections to the council, the Scottish Parliament and the UK Parliament.
Local government
As one of ...
and then, from 1975, for Strathclyde Regional Council
Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc. ...
, it was deemed surplus to requirements in the late 1990s and the management of the building was transferred to the Pollokshaws Burgh Hall Trust in October 2000. A Wurlitzer
The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...
organ with three manual
Manual may refer to:
Instructions
* User guide
* Owner's manual
* Instruction manual (gaming)
* Online help
Other uses
* Manual (music), a keyboard, as for an organ
* Manual (band)
* Manual transmission
* Manual, a bicycle technique similar to ...
s, which had originally been installed in the Ritz cinema in Stockport
Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here.
Most of the town is within ...
and then transferred to Clydebank Town Hall in September 1998, was installed in Pollokshaws Burgh Hall in 2007. The Scottish entertainer, Gordon Cree
Gordon Charles Cree BMus
Bachelor of Music (BM or BMus) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree, and the major ...
, who appeared to have developed a special interest in the Wurlitzer, performed on it at a concert in April 2009.
Architecture
The dominant feature is the tower which is intended to replicate the tower on the old Glasgow College
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
in the High Street
High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...
.[
File:Inside the clock tower, Pollokshaws Burgh Hall (geograph 3665585).jpg, Inside the clock tower
File:Burgh Hall, Pollokshaws, Glasgow. Entrance view from the west.jpg, The entrance to the hall
File:War Memorial, Burgh Hall, Pollokshaws, Glasgow. View towards Pollokshaws Road.jpg, The war memorial at the hall
File:Pollokshaws Burgh Hall (geograph 2658643).jpg, one of five square carvings on the hall
File:Pollokshaws Burgh Hall (geograph 2658628).jpg, Carving above the rear door
]
See also
*
References
External links
*
*{{Commonscat-inline, Burgh Hall, Pollokshaws
Category A listed buildings in Glasgow
City chambers and town halls in Scotland
Listed government buildings in Scotland
Government buildings in Glasgow
1898 establishments in Scotland
Pollokshaws
Clock towers in the United Kingdom