![St](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/St._Enoch_Square_in_1966.jpg)
St. Enoch Square is a
public square
A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true square, geometric square, used for community gathe ...
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 ...
, situated south of the junction of
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: ...
and
Argyle Street, two of the city's busiest shopping streets.
History
The Square sits on land that once was the western part of
Glasgow Green
Glasgow Green is a park in the east end of Glasgow, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde. Established in the 15th century, it is the oldest park in the city. It connects to the south via the St Andrew's Suspension Bridge.
History
In ...
, alongside the river Clyde, and reportedly had a chapel and burial site of St Thenew (St Enoch) mother of St Kentigern. The site changed hands to the Luke family of goldsmiths, managers of the soaperie in Candleriggs and owners of the glass-works next to the Clyde, who in turn sold it to the Merchants House of Glasgow, and from there to Glasgow City Council who laid the foundation stone of St Enoch Church in 1780. It is one of six squares in the city centre.
The square, always of a quiet and retiring nature then, was joined by grand Regency style buildings between around 1780-1820, the focal point south of the centre being St Enoch's Church, originally designed by James Jaffray in 1780. The church was later substituted for another, this time designed by
David Hamilton in 1827. The centre was planted with grass and shrubbery with an iron railing round it, and grazed with sheep. The grass plot remained till about 1860, when it was removed to make way for the farmers, who in that year, were prohibited from meeting in Stockwell Street on the Wednesday market-days. With increasing traffic and a congregation now living further away the church was demolished in 1926, in order to allow space for a bus terminus and car parking.
In the 1860s many streets, of houses, shops, warehouses, restaurants, hotels and inns, and theatres including the Theatre Royal in Dunlop Street, and David Brown`s Royal Music Hall, on the east side were demolished to make way for the railway lines of the
Glasgow & South Western Railway
The Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR) was a railway company in Scotland. It served a triangular area of south-west Scotland between Glasgow, Stranraer and Carlisle. It was formed on 28 October 1850 by the merger of two earlier railway ...
Company crossing the Clyde. One of the major buildings on the square, which had to move, was the Faculty and Surgeons Hall of the
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow
The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, is an institute of physicians and surgeons in Glasgow, Scotland.
Founded by Peter Lowe after receiving a royal charter by James VI in 1599, as the Glasgow Faculty, it originally exist ...
which moved to new premises 242 St Vincent Street on
Blythswood Hill
Blythswood Hill, crowned by the elegance of Blythswood Square, is the wealthiest part of central Glasgow, Scotland. It extends from the west edge of Buchanan Street to Gordon Street and Bothwell Street, Charing Cross, Sauchiehall Street a ...
where the College remains today. St. Enoch Station opened in 1876, with its St. Enoch Hotel opening in 1879. The hotel was then the largest hotel in Glasgow, with over 200 bedrooms. The station and hotel were both one of the first buildings to be lit by electricity in the city. The hotel eventually closed in 1974, and was used as a car park until work began on the indoor
St. Enoch Centre in 1985, designed by
Arup Associates
Arup (officially Arup Group Limited) is a British multinational professional services firm headquartered in London which provides design, engineering, architecture, planning, and advisory services across every aspect of the built environmen ...
and built by
Sir Robert McAlpine & Sons
Sir Robert McAlpine Limited is a family-owned building and civil engineering company based in Hemel Hempstead, England. It carries out engineering and construction in the infrastructure, heritage, commercial, arena and stadium, healthcare, educa ...
. A £150 million refurbishment programme began in 2005. This work concluded in May 2010. Along with this work, St Enoch Square received an upgrade, transforming the area into a plaza like environment, housing large screens for broadcasting, and generally creating a more pleasant urban area for pedestrians.
Refurbishment of the St Enoch Underground, created in 1896, began in 2014, and was completed in 2015, in an attempt to create a more modern and efficient environment. The £5.3 million contract involved replacing the entrances to the subway with new entrance canopies made of glass and steel, replacement of the floor, wall and ceiling materials, and general upgrading of facilities and equipment.
Architecture
Located adjacent to the square is the
St Enoch Centre
The St. Enoch Centre is a shopping mall located in the city centre of Glasgow, Scotland. The centre is located adjacent to St Enoch Square. The Architects were the GMW Architects. The construction, undertaken by Sir Robert McAlpine, began in 19 ...
, on the site of the former station and hotel, the largest glass-covered enclosed commercial area in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
. The current east row, containing the St Enoch Centre buildings, retains a lot of the same architecture as they originally did, barring the storefronts of the many shops along the street level.
The original 2-storey Subway ticket office building, designed by
James Miller in 1896 for the
Glasgow Subway
The Glasgow Subway is an underground light metro system in Glasgow, Scotland. Opened on 14 December 1896, it is the fourth-oldest underground rail transit system in Europe after the London Underground, Liverpool's Mersey Railway and the Budapes ...
, uses Flemish Renaissance architecture. The masonry is polished ashlar, most distinguished by the use of it in the 4 turrets that are corbelled out at each corner of the building. The original building is now a coffee shop.
The IET Glasgow: Teacher building, used for meetings and offices, but originally the headquarters of whisky distillers William Teacher & Son Ltd designed in 1875 by
James Boucher, is on the west side of the square. To the south and into Clyde Street is the A-listed Custom House of Glasgow designed in 1840 by John Taylor at the Broomielaw to collect dues and monitor imports from the expanding shipping traffic. It sits atop the town`s early glass-works.
Events
Hosted every year between November and December, the Glasgow Christmas Market takes place in St Enoch Square. The event offers continental beers along with mulled wine that are readily served at Continental Bars that will be present during the time.
References
External links
Website for Christmas MarketIET: Teacher buildingSt Enoch site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Enoch Square
Squares in Glasgow
Parks and commons in Glasgow
Glasgow