The Pollokshields Burgh Hall is a municipal building at the edge of Maxwell Park,

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 Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. The burgh hall, which was briefly the headquarters of Pollokshields 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 ...

, as a gift for the people of Pollokshields. The site he selected in Glencairn Drive 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

Harry Edward Clifford Henry Edward Clifford FRIBA (12 September 1852 – 14 October 1932) was a Scottish architect, prominent in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

in the Scottish Baronial style and built with dark red

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

from the Ballochmyle Estate in Ayrshire. A ceremony was held at which Maxwell laid a memorial stone to commemorate the opening of the burgh hall and also the opening of Maxwell Park, which he had also gifted to the local people, on 25 October 1890. The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage facing Glencairn Drive; the main hall, which projected forward was on the left; the right bay featured a gabled porch with a round-headed doorway on the ground floor and a tower above; there was a

bartizan A bartizan (an alteration of ''bratticing''), also called a guerite, ''garita'', or ''échauguette'', or spelled bartisan, is an overhanging, wall-mounted turret projecting from the walls of late medieval and early-modern fortifications from th ...

on the right hand corner of the tower. The building was initially used as a

masonic Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

meeting place by masonic lodge no. 772 and was also briefly used as the headquarters of the independent burgh of

Pollokshields Pollokshields ( gd, Buthan Phollaig, Scots: ''Powkshiels'') is an area in the Southside of Glasgow, Scotland. Its modern boundaries are largely man-made, being formed by the M77 motorway to the west and northwest with the open land of Pollok ...

until 1891 when the burgh was absorbed into the city of

in 1891. It was extended in 1935. After functioning as a day 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 o ...

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 ...

, it was deemed surplus to requirements in 1982 and acquired the Pollokshields Burgh Hall Trust for a nominal sum in 1986. Following refurbishment by the trust it reopened for community use in 1997. The lower ground floor was refurbished and converted for conference use with financial support from the

National Heritage Memorial Fund The National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) was set up in 1980 to save the most outstanding parts of the British national heritage, in memory of those who have given their lives for the UK. It replaced the National Land Fund which had fulfilled the ...

in the late 1990s. The actress,

Keira Knightley Keira Christina Righton (; née Knightley, born 26 March 1985) is an English actress. Known for her work in both independent films and blockbusters, particularly period dramas, she has received several accolades, including nominations for ...

, attended her brother's wedding at the hall in April 2011.

Architecture

The dominant external feature of the building is the high tower while the entrance porch exhibits the Maxwell family coat of arms flanked by two Scottish lions. File:Pollok Memorial Stone.jpg, Foundation Stone File:Burgh Hall Entrance 3.jpg, The Tower File:Maxwell COA.jpg, Maxwell Coat of Arms File:Morris Carswell Window 1.jpg, Stained Glass Window donated by Lodge Pollok's 1st Master Morris Carswell File:David R Clark Window 1.jpg, Stained Glass Window donated by Lodge Pollok's 2nd Master David R Clark

References

External links

*{{Commons category-inline City chambers and town halls in Scotland Category A listed buildings in Glasgow Masonic buildings in Scotland Listed government buildings in Scotland Government buildings in Glasgow 1890 establishments in Scotland Pollokshields Government buildings completed in 1890 Masonic buildings completed in 1890

History

Architecture

See also

References

External links