Tollcross ( gd, Toll na Croise) is an area north of the

River Clyde The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major cit ...

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 ...

and has a popular park, opened in 1897, which is famed for its international rose trials. It lies approximately a mile east of the neighbouring suburb of

Parkhead Parkhead ( sco, Pairkheid) is a district in the East End of Glasgow. Its name comes from a small weaving hamlet at the meeting place of the Great Eastern Road (now the Gallowgate and Tollcross Road) and Westmuir Street. Glasgow's Eastern Necropo ...

, and just north of

Braidfauld Braidfauld is a small area of Glasgow, Scotland which is in the East End of the city slightly north of the River Clyde and south of the Tollcross area.

and south of

Shettleston Shettleston ( sco, Shuttlestoun, gd, Baile Nighean Sheadna) is a district in the east end of Glasgow in Scotland. Toponymy The origin of the name 'Shettleston' is not clear and, like many place-names of possibly medieval origin, has had a multi ...

History

The area was once host to mass employment in the industrial age thanks largely to the large Fullarton steel works (now occupied by housing).

McVitie's McVitie's () is a British snack food brand owned by United Biscuits. The name derives from the original Scottish biscuit maker, McVitie & Price, Ltd., established in 1830 on Rose Street in Edinburgh, Scotland. The company moved to various sites ...

biscuit factory is one of the main employers in the area today, with a facility in the area since the 1920s.Tollcross

Gazetteer for Scotland The ''Gazetteer for Scotland'' is a gazetteer covering the geography, history and people of Scotland. It was conceived in 1995 by Bruce Gittings of the University of Edinburgh and David Munro of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, and cont ...

Many residents of the

Lilybank Lilybank is a neighbourhood in the east of Glasgow, Scotland. Neighbouring areas Newbank to the west, Braidfauld to the east and the eastern part of Parkhead to the north. The A74 London Road runs to the south, with the land on the opposite si ...

housing estate would consider themselves residents of Tollcross, but they, like the biscuit factory, were officially placed within the separate

Braidfauld Braidfauld is a small area of Glasgow, Scotland which is in the East End of the city slightly north of the River Clyde and south of the Tollcross area.

Ward of

Glasgow City Council Glasgow City Council is the local government authority for the City of Glasgow, Scotland. It was created in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, largely with the boundaries of the post-1975 City of Glasgow district of the S ...

until its reorganisation in 2007; since then, Maukinfauld Road has been the local administrative boundary, with land to the west in the Calton ward and land to the east in Shettleston ward along with the rest of Tollcross. Bus stop on Tollcross Road (geograph 5446568)

Bus stop on Tollcross Road (geograph 5446568)

Part of the Tollcross area was formerly known as Egypt, and is still marked so on a number of maps; the name is believed to have been derived from a farm that existed at one time in the vicinity, operated by a former soldier who had been stationed in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. The farm, owned by the Gordon family in 1920s before being sold to the Hamilton family. The poet William Miller, author of "

Wee Willie Winkie "Wee Willie Winkie" is a Scottish nursery rhyme whose titular figure has become popular as a personification of sleep. The poem was written by William Miller and titled "Willie Winkie", first published in '' Whistle-binkie: Stories for the Fir ...

", is buried in Tollcross. In June 2011, pupils from St. Aidan's and St. Joan of Arc School combined into a new school located on Fullarton Avenue. They voted to call the new school Cardinal Winning, after

Thomas Winning Thomas Joseph Winning (3 June 1925 – 17 June 2001) was a Scottish Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Glasgow from 1974 and President of the Bishops' Conference of Scotland from 1985 until his death. Winning ...

, the late

Archbishop of Glasgow The Archbishop of Glasgow is an archiepiscopal title that takes its name after the city of Glasgow in Scotland. The position and title were abolished by the Church of Scotland in 1689; and, in the Scottish Episcopal Church, it is now part of the ...

who died in 2001; the new school opened on 21 June 2011. Just south of the school is Fullarton Park, home to the local football club Vale of Clyde, and the Tollcross Bowling Club adjacent to a modern

retail park A retail park is a type of shopping centre found on the fringes of most large towns and cities in the United Kingdom and other European countries. They form a key aspect of European retail geographies, alongside indoor shopping centres, standalo ...

on London Road.

Tollcross Park and Winter Gardens

Tollcross Mansion House

was built in 1848 for James Dunlop who was one of the owners of the

Clyde Iron Works The Clyde Iron Works was a Scottish-based ironworking plant which operated from 1786 to 1978. Clyde Iron occupied a large site near the Carmyle and Tollcross areas of Glasgow. The plant was built by William Cadell (1737–1819) and Thomas Edi ...

. David Bryce and William Burn were the architects and the building replaced a substantial house that the original owners of the estate, the Corbets, had occupied. In 1897 the house, now within the centre of the public park, became a Children's Museum and was converted into flats in 1989,Williamson, Page 477 then as accommodation for the elderly in 2003.

Tollcross Park Tollcross may refer to the following places: *Tollcross, Edinburgh, Scotland **Tollcross Primary School **Tollcross United F.C. a former football club *Tollcross, Glasgow, Scotland **Tollcross railway station (closed) **Tollcross International Swim ...

occupies an area of between

and Tollcross. It opened in 1897, having been purchased by Glasgow Corporation from the Dunlop family.Tollcross Park

In 2008, Tollcross was voted the best park in Scotland with its children's farm based around the former main lodge building at its eastern side, the

rose garden A rose garden or rosarium is a garden or park, often open to the public, used to present and grow various types of garden roses, and sometimes rose species. Most often it is a section of a larger garden. Designs vary tremendously and roses m ...

in the southern section (set out in 1986, which holds annual cultivation trials)Everything's coming up roses at Tollcross Park
Evening Times, 24 August 2012 playing fields in the north part and a secret garden area. Tollcross Park - inside the Winter Gardens - geograph

Tollcross Park - inside the Winter Gardens - geograph

The Tollcross conservatories were originally erected in 1870 at Redholm in

Ardrossan Ardrossan (; ) is a town on the North Ayrshire coast in southwestern Scotland. The town has a population of 10,670 and forms part of a conurbation with Saltcoats and Stevenston known as the 'Three Towns'. Ardrossan is located on the east shore ...

, North Ayrshire. Baillie A.G. MacDonald of Redholm gifted them to the Glasgow Corporation in 1898 as a gesture to commemorate his links with the area. They were carefully dismantled and re-erected at their present-day site. The Tollcross cast-iron Victorian conservatory (NS 63659 63721), is a B-Listed structure, known as the 'Winter Gardens'. It is Latin-cross shaped in layout, has two semicircular ends and is crowned with a dome. The scrolled cast iron buttresses are a notable feature. The conservatory suffered storm damage in December 2010 and January 2011. The conservatory and associated building have been closed since that time.Fears damaged Winter Gardens may stay closed for Games 2014
Herald Scotland, 12 June 2013 The Winter Gardens are on the 'register of buildings at risk in Scotland'. The Winter Gardens underwent a £1.9 million refurbishment between 1998 and 2000 carried out by a partnership of the Heritage Lottery Fund, Historic Environment Scotland and Glasgow City Council. A tent-like extension was built that housed a cafe, toilets, etc. and after being closed for fourteen years the Winter Gardens were opened again in November 2000. In 1997, the East End Leisure Centre in Tollcross Park became a feature of the area,Glasgow, 350 Wellshot Road, Tollcross International Swimming Centre
Canmore featuring an Olympic-sized swimming pool which is used by the City of Glasgow Swim Team. It was renamed as the ''Tollcross International Swimming Centre'' and renovated to serve as the swimming venue of the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

held in the city.

References

;Notes ;Sources and Bibliography * Tollcross Park Heritage Trail. Land and Environmental Services. Glasgow City Council * Williamson, E., Riches, A. and Higgs, M. (1990). ''The Buildings of Scotland : Glasgow''. London : Yale University Press. .

External links

*
Video of the Winter Gardens in 2016.
{{Areas of Glasgow Areas of Glasgow Culture in Glasgow Parks and commons in Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games venues Types of garden Greenhouses in the United Kingdom Glass architecture Category B listed buildings in Glasgow Botanical gardens in Scotland Gardens in Glasgow 1897 establishments in Scotland