Argyle Street is a major thoroughfare in the city centre of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. With

Buchanan Street Buchanan Street is one of the high street, 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 neighbou ...

and

Sauchiehall Street Sauchiehall Street () is one of the main shopping streets in the Glasgow city centre, city centre of Glasgow, Scotland, along with Buchanan Street and Argyle Street, Glasgow, Argyle Street. Although commonly associated with the city centre, Sau ...

, Argyle Street is one of the main shopping streets in the city centre. It is the longest street by distance in the city centre, running for .

Overview

It begins in the south-eastern corner of the city centre, at the

Trongate Trongate is one of the oldest streets in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Trongate begins at Glasgow Cross, where the steeple of the old Glasgow Tolbooth is situated, being the original centre of medieval Glasgow, and goes westward changing its n ...

, where it is pedestrianised as far as Queen Street. This section forms the major shopping section of the road, including the St. Enoch Centre and the Argyll Arcade (a Victorian arcade principally containing jewellers). Closed to most traffic, this section forms a taxi and bus corridor for services travelling to the east and south-east of the city. After crossing the junction with Union Street / Jamaica Street, it passes underneath the expanse of railway lines at Glasgow Central Station (the so-called '' Hielanman's Umbrella'') before becoming a major thoroughfare ( A814) connecting the city centre to the M8 motorway and the Clydeside Expressway running alongside the

River Clyde The River Clyde (, ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the second longest in Scotland after the River Tay. It runs through the city of Glasgow. Th ...

; however while traffic continues freely on the expressway, Argyle Street itself, which ran north-west through

Anderston Anderston (, ) is an area of Glasgow, Scotland. It is on the north bank of the River Clyde and forms the south western edge of the city centre. Established as a village of handloom weavers in the early 18th century, Anderston was an independent ...

until the redevelopment of the area in the 1960s, now terminates as a through road after passing under the motorway at

Anderston railway station Anderston railway station serves Glasgow's financial district of Anderston and, across the M8 motorway, the housing schemes of both Anderston West and the Blythswood Court estate of the Anderston Centre. It is also close to both the Hilton and ...

, instead existing as an address in two unconnected sections. The route then joins St. Vincent Street at Finnieston/

Sandyford Sandyford () is a suburb of Dublin, located in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland. Sandyford Business District makes up much of the suburb and encompasses 4 business parks: Sandyford Business Park, Stillorgan Business Park, Central Park and S ...

and is revived as a major thoroughfare as it heads out towards the West End of the city. It connects with

at Kelvingrove Art Gallery, and the road itself ends just beyond the

Kelvin Hall The Kelvin Hall, located on Argyle Street in the Yorkhill area of Glasgow, Scotland, is one of the largest exhibition centres in Britain and now a mixed-use arts and sports venue that opened as an exhibition venue in 1927. It has also been ...

on a bridge over the

River Kelvin The River Kelvin () is a tributary of the River Clyde in northern and northeastern Glasgow, Scotland. It rises on the moor south east of the village of Banton, Scotland, Banton, east of Kilsyth. At almost long, it initially flows south to D ...

, where it becomes Dumbarton Road entering

Partick Partick (, Scottish Gaelic: ''Partaig'') is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch, to the east Yorkhill and Kelvingrove Park (across the River Kelvin), and to the north Broo ...

History

Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery - geograph

Originally known as Westergait, Argyle Street led west from

to the city's West Port, the western gate out of the city's walls. It was renamed in honour of the

Duke of Argyll Duke of Argyll () is a title created in the peerage of Scotland in 1701 and in the peerage of the United Kingdom in 1892. The earls, marquesses, and dukes of Argyll were for several centuries among the most powerful noble families in Scotlan ...

, some time after the removal of the West Port in 1751, as a result of the expansion of the city westward. The old West Port Well stood at the beginning of the street. On both sides of the street stood courts where businesses operated: Sysdney Court, Morrison's Court, Moodies's Court, Wellington Court, Wilson's Court, Buchanan Court, Turner's Court and Pratt's Court. Major reconstruction of the area at the turn of the 1970s which saw the construction of the Glasgow Inner Ring Road, the demolition of Anderston Cross and its replacement with the Anderston Centre complex changed the line of Argyle Street, the eastern half now terminating underneath the Kingston Bridge approach viaduct whilst the main vehicle route over the motorway runs along St. Vincent Street, leaving a 250-metre stretch of the western half of road in Anderston isolated as a

cul de sac A dead end, also known as a ''cul-de-sac'' (; , ), a no-through road or a no-exit road, is a street with only one combined inlet and outlet. Dead ends are added to roads in urban planning designs to limit traffic in residential areas. Some d ...

References

External links

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Argyle Street
at ''Glasgow History'' {{coord, 55.85851, N, 4.25789, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Streets in Glasgow Shopping streets in Scotland Pedestrian streets in the United Kingdom History of Glasgow