John Knox memorial at Glasgow Nekropolis

Cathedral Square is a public square in the city 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 ...

. Cathedral Square and precinct is situated adjacent to

Glasgow Cathedral Glasgow Cathedral () is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in Glasgow, Scotland. It was the cathedral church of the Archbishop of Glasgow, and the mother church of the Archdiocese of Glasgow and the province of Glasgow, from the 12th ...

on High Street/Castle Street at John Knox Street. Nearby are many famous Glasgow landmarks such as

Provand's Lordship Provand's Lordship is a medieval-period in Scotland, medieval historic house museum in Glasgow, Scotland, located in the Townhead area at the top of Castle Street within sight of Glasgow Cathedral and next to the St Mungo Museum of Religious Li ...

Glasgow Royal Infirmary The Glasgow Royal Infirmary (GRI) is a large teaching hospital. With a capacity of around 1,000 beds, the hospital campus covers an area of around , and straddles the Townhead and Dennistoun districts on the north-eastern fringe of the city cen ...

, the

Necropolis A necropolis (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' (). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...

, the ceremonial

Barony Hall The Barony Hall, (formerly the Barony Church), is a Deconsecration, deconsecrated church building located on Castle Street in the Townhead area of Glasgow, Scotland, near Glasgow Cathedral, Glasgow Royal Infirmary and the city's oldest survivin ...

Strathclyde University The University of Strathclyde () is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal charter in 1964 as the first techn ...

, and the Glasgow Evangelical Church at the Square. It is one of six public squares and precincts in the city centre. Prior to the 1870s the post-medieval clutter of congested dwellings and workshops, on the remaining debris of the long-gone Bishop's Castle, where Castle Street is today, hampered access to the Infirmary, with its small Infirmary Square, and Cathedral. The new City Improvement Trust, under architect and city superintendent John Carrick, started to clear the hovels near Glasgow Cross and erect new tenements up the High Street and Castle Street. A new road, John Knox Street, was opened, curving its way past the Necropolis entrances and down to Duke Street, close to

Wellpark Brewery Tennent Caledonian is a brewing company based in Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded in 1740 on the bank of the Molendinar Burn by Hugh and Robert Tennent. It is owned by C&C Group plc, which purchased the Tennent Caledonian Breweries subsidia ...

at the Drygate. The street covered over the

Molendinar Burn The Molendinar Burn is a small tributary of the Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland, now largely culverted. It is popularly associated with Saint Mungo, who is said to have founded his church on its banks. The name may stem from Mellingdenor, a place m ...

. Cathedral Square Gardens opened in 1879 was formed by Carrick and landscaped by Duncan McMillan. In 1890 a decorative fountain, the Steven Fountain, was placed in the centre, the same year as in

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 ...

. As well as being a restful place the square has been used for political gatherings.

Buildings of the area

Prominent buildings of the area include: * Glasgow Evangelical Church, 1880, Category A listed building with its elegant Italian facade and handsome classical interiors designed by architect John Honeyman of

Honeyman and Keppie Honeyman and Keppie was a major architectural firm based in Glasgow, created by John Honeyman (architect), John Honeyman and John Keppie in 1888 following the death of James Sellars in whose architectural practice Keppie had worked. Their most no ...

, as Cathedral Square United Presbyterian/Barony North Church * Discharged Prisoners Aid Society (now Cathedral House Hotel), 1896, red sandstone building designed by architects Campbell Douglas and Morison *

, 1889, category A listed red sandstone building designed by Sir

John James Burnet Sir John James Burnet (31 May 1857 – 2 July 1938) was a Scotland, Scottish Edwardian architecture, Edwardian architect who was noted for a number of prominent buildings in Glasgow and London. He was the son of the architect John Burnet (arch ...

as the New Barony Church, with its interior loosely modelled on Gerona Cathedral. *

, oldest dwellings in Glasgow, Category A listed. *

reconstructed from 1914, architect James Miller, and onwards. On the site of the Robert Adam building of 1794 *

, the oldest building in Glasgow, from the late 12c onwards. Category A listed. *

garden cemetery opened in 1833 on the Merchants' Park above the Cathedral. *

St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art The St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art is a museum of religion in Glasgow, Scotland. It has been described as the only public museum in the world devoted solely to this subject, although other notable museums of this kind are the State M ...

and Friends Visitor Centre, opened in 1993, designed by architect

Ian Begg Ian Forbes Begg (12 February 1911 – 18 March 1989) was an Anglican prelate who served in the Scottish Episcopal Church as the Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney from 1973 to 1976. Biography He was born on 12 February 1911, the son of the Revere ...

, sitting in the centre of the Victorian square.

Statues of the area

There are various statues and monuments in the area including: *

King William King William may refer to: People Bimbia * William I of Bimbia * William II of Bimbia () Britain and Ireland * William of England (disambiguation), multiple kings * William I, King of Scots (–1214), also known as William the Lion German Empir ...

(joint monarch with his wife Queen Mary) from 1688. From the foundry of Can't & Lindsay, 1735. At Glasgow Cross until 1923. * Rev Dr Norman McLeod, minister of the Barony. Sculptor

John Mossman John G. Mossman (1817 in London – 1890) was one of a number of English sculptors who dominated the production and teaching of sculpture in Glasgow for 50 years after his arrival with his father and brothers from his native London in 1828. ...

, 1881. *

David Livingstone David Livingstone (; 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, and an explorer in Africa. Livingstone was married to Mary Moffat Livings ...

, physician, missionary, explorer. Sculptor John Mossman, 1879. At George Square until 1956. * James Arthur, clothing manufacturer and philanthropist. Sculptor George Anderson Lawson, 1893. * James Lumsden, stationery manufacturer, Lord Provost, and Royal Infirmary treasurer. Sculptor John Mossman, 1862. * James White, chemicals manufacturer and philanthropist Sculptor Francis Leslie, 1890. *

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

, monarch from 1837 to 1901. Sculptor Albert Hemstock Hodge, 1914. *

John Knox John Knox ( – 24 November 1572) was a Scottish minister, Reformed theologian, and writer who was a leader of the country's Reformation. He was the founder of the Church of Scotland. Born in Giffordgate, a street in Haddington, East Lot ...

, theologian, minister, reformer. Designer T Hamilton, carver Robert Forrest, 1825. In the late 1890s the sprawling

Duke Street Prison Duke Street Prison (also known as Bridewell or the Northern or North Prison) was one of eight prisons which served Glasgow and its surrounding area prior to the mid nineteenth century. An early example of the 'separate system', it was noted in ...

planned to open a new entrance and building at the edge of the square. The plans caused "indignation meetings" and a successful campaign to save the green space. Counter arguments appeared in local newspapers including an anonymous poem in the Glasgow Evening Post.: "We love it, and who shall dare. To chide us for loving Cathedral Square? We’ve cherished it long as a sacred place, We’ve shown it to strangers of every race. 'Tis bound by a thousand ties to our hearts, And we add to its treasures in fits and starts. Would you learn the spell? St. Mungo dwelt there, a sacred space Cathedral Square!"Glasgow Evening Post 25 April 1889. https://britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001965/18890425/053/0004

References

{{coord, 55.8628, -4.2361, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Squares in Glasgow Parks and commons in Glasgow