Hutchesontown is an inner-city area 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 popu ...

, Scotland. Mostly residential, it is situated directly south 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 ...

and forms part of the wider historic

Gorbals The Gorbals is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, on the south bank of the River Clyde. By the late 19th century, it had become densely populated; rural migrants and immigrants were attracted by the new industries and employment opportun ...

district, which is covered by the Southside Central ward under

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 th ...

. The area is linked to

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 I ...

public park on the north side of the river by St. Andrew's Suspension Bridge and King's Bridge. At its north-western edge, Albert Bridge is the closest crossing point towards

Glasgow city centre Glasgow City Centre is the central business district of Glasgow, Scotland. Is bounded by Saltmarket, High Street and Castle Street to the east, The River Clyde to the south and the M8 motorway to its west and north. Glasgow City Centre is comp ...

. In McNeill Street, Hutchesontown has one of Glasgow's original Carnegie libraries, deftly designed by the

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histor ...

-born architect

James Robert Rhind James Robert Rhind, architect, was born in Inverness, Scotland in 1854 and trained as an architect in his father's local practice. He was successful in the architectural competition for new libraries to be constructed in Glasgow following Andrew C ...

. James Stokes, recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previousl ...

, was from the area.

Comprehensive Development Area

Following 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 opposi ...

, Hutchesontown was declared a Comprehensive Development Area (CDA) in 1957, in the aftermath of the Bruce Report.Lecture: Unbuilt Glasgow – The History & Impact of the Bruce Report
Fergus Sutherland & David Martin, Glasgow City Heritage Trust, 15 March 2017 This called for the mass

gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ...

of the area which took the form of

slum clearance Slum clearance, slum eviction or slum removal is an urban renewal strategy used to transform low income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. This has long been a strategy for redeveloping urban communities; ...

and the replacement of overcrowded, insanitary tenement housing with new homes in high rise

tower block A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdicti ...

s.Hutchesontown: Housing, Everyday Life & Wellbeing over the long term

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

The area became almost unrecognisable from its previous appearance, with blocks of tenements swept away along with several Victorian and Edwardian-era churches and civic buildings which in later times would have been considered to be of architectural merit.Hutchesontown Gorbals - Architecture and History
Scotcities Hutchesontown was, in effect, used as a testing ground for similar schemes around the city. It was decided to divide the area into five "zones" which were given to different architects to implement a mixture of different schemes. *Area A – on the northern side of the CDA was devoted to conventional

maisonette An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...

style housing - today close to the Gorbals Health Centre and Gorbals Sports Centre. *Area B – nowadays known as the ''Riverside'' estate, was given to architect Robert Matthew. His four 18-storey blocks – built in 1964 to the distinctive "scissor section" configuration – on the banks of the

still stand, and are widely regarded as the most successful of the Gorbals high-rises and have received numerous refurbishments in their lifetime. The Strathclyde Grain distillery lies directly to the east. * Area C – was the responsibility of

Basil Spence Sir Basil Urwin Spence, (13 August 1907 – 19 November 1976) was a Scottish architect, most notably associated with Coventry Cathedral in England and the Beehive in New Zealand, but also responsible for numerous other buildings in the Moderni ...

, and became the most infamous of the five schemes. The ''Queen Elizabeth Square'' blocks encountered numerous structural and social problems, and were demolished in 1993. *Area D – in the south of the CDA was developed by the newly created

Scottish Special Housing Association The Scottish Special Housing Association was established in 1937 to provide good-quality social housing. It had headquarters in Edinburgh's West End, Palmerston Place and Manor Place, Edinburgh, where it employed a large team of architects, enginee ...

Hutchesontown / Gorbals Area D

Dictionary of Scottish Architects The Dictionary of Scottish Architects is a publicly available online database that provides biographical information about all architects known to have worked in Scotland between 1660 and 1980, and lists their works. Launched in 2006, it was comp ...

and consisted of four 24 storey blocks at Caledonia Road (the main bus route through the area between Glasgow and

Rutherglen Rutherglen (, sco, Ruglen, gd, An Ruadh-Ghleann) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having existed as a Lanarkshire burgh in its own ...

) and an estate of smaller maisonettes and 8-storey "mini-multis". Two of the towers were demolished in early 2006; the remaining two were refurbished, but in 2020 it was confirmed that they too would be demolished in the near future due to issues with the

cladding Cladding is an outer layer of material covering another. It may refer to the following: *Cladding (boiler), the layer of insulation and outer wrapping around a boiler shell *Cladding (construction), materials applied to the exterior of buildings ...

that was applied in the previous work and the prohibitive cost of remedying these faults. This sector is close to the Oatlands neighbourhood, the Southern Necropolis cemetery and the 'Dixon's Blazes'

industrial estate An industrial park (also known as industrial estate, trading estate) is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more "heavyweight" version of a business park or office park ...

. *Area E – closest to Gorbals Cross and Laurieston, consisted of an estate of five-storey deck-access blocks and two 24-storey towers at Sandiefield Road, constructed in 1968. Within a few years, however, the low-rise buildings became badly affected by dampness and condensation problems and were presently declared unfit for habitation; they were finally demolished in 1987. The two towers were condemned in 2010 and were demolished at 14:00 on 21 July 2013.Double demolition for Glasgow Gorbals tower blocks
BBC News, 21 July 2013

Gallery

The Tidal Weir - geograph.org.uk - 1465502.jpg,

and Waddell Court towers ('Hutchie B'), 2009 Waddell Court and Ballater Street - geograph.org.uk - 1627132.jpg, Ballater Street, 2009 Modern Flats, Waddell Street, Glasgow (geograph 3750136).jpg, Waddell Street, 2013 Queen Elizabeth Square 1987.jpg, Queen Elizabeth Square ( 'Hutchie C'), 1987 Interesting flat design in Glasgow's Gorbals - geograph.org.uk - 1167975.jpg, Modern apartments on the site of Queen Elizabeth Square Former St Francis RC Church (geograph 3220561).jpg, 19th-century St Francis Church, in 'Hutchie C' area but spared from the wrecking ball, now a community centre, 2012 High flats in Hutchesontown (geograph 3893897).jpg, Caledonia Road towers ('Hutchie D'), 2005, shortly before the demolition of two (right) Gorbals Economic & Training Centre, McNeil St, Glasgow (geograph 3749964).jpg, Gorbals Training Centre, McNeill Street (formerly Hutchesontown Library), 2013 Hutchie E block 1985.jpg, 'Hutchie E' deck-access blocks, 1985 Gorbals towerblocks (geograph 2537462).jpg, Sandiefield Road towers ('Hutchie E'), 2011

References

External links

Greater Gorbals
socio-economic profile at ''Understanding Glasgow'' (2012)

{{Areas of Glasgow Areas of Glasgow Gorbals Housing estates in Glasgow

Comprehensive Development Area

Gallery

See also

References

External links