Blythswood Square is the Georgian square on Blythswood Hill in the heart of the City of Glasgow, Scotland. The square is part of the 'Magnificent New Town of Blythswood' built in the 1800s on the rising empty ground west of a very new Buchanan Street. These open grounds were part of the vast Lands of Blythswood stretching to the River Kelvin acquired by the Douglas-Campbell family in the 17th century. [1] The Blythswood district, and its grid of streets, became a Conservation Area in 1970, because of its important architectural and historic buildings.
The square is one of the largest residential developments on Blythswood Hill on over 35 acres (14 ha) of ground. [1] [2]
The square's land is part of 10 acres purchased from the Campbells of Blythswood in the 1790s by a calico-printer in Anderston who developed them as Willow Bank. In 1802 the land and mansion of Willow Bank were bought by "The Great Improver", William Harley, a Glasgow textile manufacturer and merchant. On the 10 acres Harley created and opened his Willowbank/Blythswood Pleasure Gardens with views over the Clyde and miles around. He also owned some of the hill to its north which he named as Garnethill. In 1804 Harley purchased directly from the Campbells 35 acres of Blythswood land immediately west of the new Buchanan Street, and became the prime developer of the New Town of Blythswood connecting to his land at the top of Blythswood Hill. [1] [2]
A street plan for the square was drawn up for William Harley by James Gillespie Graham, who was also architect for the Campbells, [3] [1] [2] but it is thought the facades were ultimately designed by John Brash. [4]
The four Georgian terraces forming the square are Category A listed buildings and were completed in the 1820s by the trustees and successors of William Harley. Harley also developed his new business establishments at the east end of Bath Street, supplying piped water for Glasgow's citizens, creating the first indoor public baths in Scotland, and pioneering the largest and first hygienic milk dairy in Europe. [1] [2] [5]
In 1895 the townhouse at no 5 became the home of the Lady Artists' Club, formed by the Glasgow Society of Lady Artists in 1882, being the first lady artists' club in Britain[ citation needed ] and the first residential club for women in Britain[ citation needed ]. The clubhouse was sold in 1971 to the Scottish Arts Council but the Glasgow Society of Lady Artists continues today. The neighbouring house at the corner of Blythswood Street was the home of 21-year old Miss Madeleine Smith who was tried in the High Court in 1857 of poisoning her lover with arsenic. The trial was reported around the world; the jury reaching their conclusion that the charge against her was Not Proven. [2]
From the 1900s the houses increasingly became offices and clubs, including on the eastern side the Royal Scottish Automobile Club, which was restyled by architect James Miller in 1923. [6] [7] In 2009 the Royal Scottish Automobile Club's premises opened as the 5 star Blythswood Square Hotel. [8]
The Blythswood Square Proprietors association own and maintain the square's gardens in the central area. In past decades the gardens were open to office workers at lunchtimes, and are now available for use on a hire basis. [9]
George Square is the principal civic square in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of six squares in the city centre, the others being Cathedral Square, St Andrew's Square, St Enoch Square, Royal Exchange Square, and Blythswood Square on Blythswood Hill.
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: Argyle Street, and Sauchiehall Street.
Garnethill is a predominantly residential area of the city of Glasgow, Scotland with a number of important public buildings.
The McLellan Galleries are a major exhibition space in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, situated behind a frontage of shops and offices in Sauchiehall Street.
This article is intended to show a timeline of the history of Glasgow, Scotland, up to the present day.
Madeleine Hamilton Smith was a 19th-century Glasgow socialite who was the accused in a sensational murder trial in Scotland in 1857.
James Gillespie Graham was a Scottish architect, prominent in the early 19th century.
The Merchant City, a new name introduced through urban renewal by the Scottish Development Agency and the city council in the 1980s is one part of the metropolitan central area of Glasgow. It commences at George Square and goes eastwards reaching Glasgow Cross, in the centre of Glasgow, Scotland. The eastern fringe of the Merchant City contains part of Glasgow's original medieval street plan, which stretches northwards towards neighbouring Townhead.
Blythswood Hill, crowned by Blythswood Square, is an area of central Glasgow, Scotland. Its grid of streets extend from the length of the west side of Buchanan Street to Gordon Street and Bothwell Street, and to Charing Cross, Sauchiehall Street and Garnethill. Developed from 1800 onwards, its Georgian and Victorian architecture is a Conservation Area. It started as the "Magnificent New Town of Blythswood", becoming a part of the city-centre's business and social life.
Sauchiehall Street became one of the main shopping streets in the city centre of Glasgow, Scotland, along with Buchanan Street and Argyle Street.
The Willow Tearooms are tearooms at 217 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, Scotland, designed by internationally renowned architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh, which opened for business in October 1903. They quickly gained enormous popularity, and are the most famous of the many Glasgow tearooms that opened in the late 19th and early 20th century. The building was fully restored, largely to Mackintosh's original designs, between 2014 and 2018. It was re-opened as working tearooms in July 2018 and trades under the name "Mackintosh at The Willow". This follows a trademark dispute with the former operator of The Willow Tearooms which was resolved in 2017. That name is now used at tearoom premises in Buchanan Street and was additionally used at the Watt Brothers Department Store in Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow between 2016 and its closure in 2019.
Baron Blythswood, of Blythswood in the County of Renfrew, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 24 August 1892 for Sir Archibald Campbell, 1st Baronet, the former Member of Parliament for Renfrew, with remainder failing heirs male of his own to five of his younger brothers and the heirs male of their bodies.
St. Enoch Square is a public square in Glasgow, Scotland, situated south of the junction of Buchanan Street and Argyle Street, two of the city's busiest shopping streets.
The Royal Exchange Square is a public square in Glasgow, Scotland. The square lies between Buchanan Street and Queen Street, opening out Queen Street and Ingram Street to the south of George Square. It is also easily accessible from Buchanan Street on the west side of the square, through two prominent archways at Royal Bank Place. The square is a landmark due to its distinguished architecture which attracts many visitors. It is one of six squares in the city centre.
Blythswood House was a 100-room neoclassical mansion at Renfrew, Scotland, built for the Douglas-Campbell family from the considerable incomes arising from their ownership of the Lands of Blythswood in Glasgow, including Blythswood Hill, developed initially by William Harley of Blythswood Square, and earlier lands surrounding Renfrew and Inchinnan.
William Harley (1767–1830) was a Scottish textile manufacturer and entrepreneur who is known for his early contributions to the city of Glasgow, including the development of the New Town of Blythswood, covering Blythswood Hill, and pioneering hygienic dairy farming.
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 composed of the areas of Garnethill, Blythswood Hill and Merchant City as well as parts of Cowcaddens, Townhead, Anderston and Calton.
Glasgow Art Club is a club for artists and non-artists interested in the creation and enjoyment of art - all illustrative arts, sculptures, poetry, prose, plays, music, song, choreography and dance. To advance, promote and encourage the arts in all forms. Each year it has a range of exhibitions, events and concerts, open to the public for their enjoyment; and, subject to club events, a number of its rooms are available as venues for social occasions.
St. Vincent Street, is one of the major streets in the city centre of Glasgow, Scotland. It was formed in the early 1800s as part of the residential New Town of Blythswood developed by William Harley of Blythswood Square. St. Vincent Street was named to commemorate the victory of Sir John Jervis, on 15 February 1797, off Cape Saint Vincent, Portugal. when the Royal Navy defeated the Spanish fleet which was on its way to join Napoleon's French fleet. The first part of the street, from George Square to Buchanan St, containing numbers up to 41, is named St Vincent Place.
St Silas Church is an evangelical Anglican church in the Woodlands area of Glasgow, Scotland, adjacent to Kelvingrove Park and the University of Glasgow. The congregation was founded in 1864 and holds to the theology of the Thirty-nine Articles in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. The church is a category B listed building