Glasgow Cross | |
---|---|
Location | |
Glasgow | |
Coordinates | 55°51′24″N4°14′38″W / 55.85659°N 4.24379°W |
Roads at junction | High Street Gallowgate London Road Saltmarket Trongate |
Construction | |
Type | Signal-controlled intersection |
Glasgow Cross is at the hub of the ancient royal burgh and now city of Glasgow, Scotland, close to its first crossing over the River Clyde. [1] It marks the notional boundary between the city centre and the East End
As a major junction at the gateway into the city centre, its five streets run: north up the High Street to Glasgow Cathedral, Cathedral Square and the Royal Infirmary; east along Gallowgate and London Road, close to St Andrew's Square; south on the Saltmarket to Glasgow Green and the Justiciary Buildings; [2] and west along Trongate continuing as Argyle Street towards St Enoch Square and Buchanan Street.
Its most recognisable features are the Tolbooth Steeple, the surviving part of the 17th century Glasgow Tolbooth, and the mercat cross replica commissioned in 1929 by William George Black, and designed by architect Edith Hughes. [3] [4]
Linked to the Tolbooth stood the Tontine Hotel and its Assembly Rooms, designed from 1737 by architect Allan Dreghorn [5] with adaptations in 1781 by architect William Hamilton of St Andrew's Square. The Tontine was the exchange centre of early mercantile business and the focal point of political and social gatherings. A number of artist paintings over the centuries depict Glasgow Cross, the Tolbooth and Tontine. [6] [7] In front of the Tontine was placed the equestrian statue of King William III, erected in 1734; now sited at Cathedral Square. [8] [9] After the Tolbooth Steeple, the nearby Tron Theatre, formerly the Tron Kirk, built in 1794 is one of the oldest buildings in the city. [10]
The presently disused Glasgow Cross railway station sits beneath the junction. [11]
The City Chambers or Municipal Buildings in Glasgow, Scotland, has functioned as the headquarters of Glasgow City Council since 1996, and of preceding forms of municipal government in the city since 1889. It is located on the eastern side of the city's George Square. It is a Category A listed building.
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.
The St George's Tron Church, in Glasgow, Scotland, is a Church of Scotland church in the city centre, located in Nelson Mandela Place, previously known as St George's Place, fronting Buchanan Street at West George Street, along from Queen Street Station. It should not be confused with the 17th-century Tron Church, which lies to the south-west on Trongate and was redeveloped in the 1980s as the Tron Theatre. Located right on the busiest shopping street in Scotland, the building is a significant presence, and the oldest in the area. It stands as a terminating vista for West George Street.
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 the wealthiest part of central Glasgow, Scotland. It extends from the west edge of Buchanan Street to Gordon Street and Bothwell Street, 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.
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 name to Argyle Street at Glassford Street. In modern times, it forms the notional southern boundary of the Merchant City area.
The Collegiate Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Anne, Glasgow, was founded in the middle of the sixteenth century by James Houstoun, Subdean of Glasgow and Rector of the University of Glasgow from 1534 to 1541. The church was located on the south side of Trongate. Two copies of its Latin constitution, dating from 1549, have survived in the city archives. These provide detailed information about the structure of the college and its funding. James Houstoun's original provision was for a Provost, eight canons or prebends, and three choristers, but later benefactions extended this. The prebends were supported by property scattered across the city, and in Dalry, Maybole and Rutherglen.
Cathedral Square is a public square in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Cathedral Square and precinct is situated adjacent to Glasgow Cathedral on High Street/Castle Street at John Knox Street. Nearby are many famous Glasgow landmarks such as Provand's Lordship, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, the Necropolis, the ceremonial Barony Hall of Strathclyde University, and the Glasgow Evangelical Church at the Square. It is one of six public squares and precincts in the city centre.
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.
St Andrew's in the Square is an 18th-century category-A-listed former church in Glasgow, Scotland, considered one of the finest classical churches in Scotland, and now Glasgow's Centre for Scottish Culture, promoting Scottish music, song and dance. The church is in St Andrew's Square, near Glasgow Cross and Glasgow Green, on the edge of the City's East End.
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.
A tron was a weighing beam in medieval Scotland, usually located in the marketplaces of burghs. There are various roads and buildings in several Scottish towns that are named after the tron. For example, Trongate in Glasgow and Tron Kirk in Edinburgh. Etymologically the word is derived from the Old French tronel or troneau, meaning "balance".
St Andrew's Square is a public square in the city of Glasgow, Scotland and lies to the south east corner of Glasgow Cross, close to Glasgow Green. The square is noted for its immense 18th-century classical church, St Andrew's in the Square, from which the square takes its name. The church was completed in 1758, to the designs of architect Allan Dreghorn and master mason Mungo Naismith and is among the finest of its type anywhere in Britain. The interior has lavish 18th century rococo plasterwork. The building is Category A listed. It is one of six squares in the city centre.
A tolbooth or town house was the main municipal building of a Scottish burgh, from medieval times until the 19th century. The tolbooth usually provided a council meeting chamber, a court house and a jail. The tolbooth was one of three essential features in a Scottish burgh, along with the mercat cross and the kirk (church).
Parliament Square, Edinburgh, Scotland, is located off the High Street, part of the Royal Mile. The square is not a formal square, but consists of two sections surrounding St Giles Kirk on three sides: an L-shaped area to the east and south and another area on the west side of the church called West Parliament Square. The Edinburgh Mercat Cross is located on the east side of the square while an equestrian statue of Charles II of Scotland stands in front of the entrance to the Supreme Courts of Scotland adjoining Parliament House, on the west side. The Queensberry Memorial to the 5th Duke of Buccleuch, stands in West Parliament Square.
The equestrian statue of William III in Cathedral Square, Glasgow, is a 1735 work by an unknown sculptor.
Allan Dreghorn (1706–1764) was an 18th century Scottish architect largely associated with Glasgow
The Glasgow Tolbooth was a municipal structure at Glasgow Cross, Glasgow, Scotland. The main block, which was the meeting place of the Royal Burgh of Glasgow, was demolished in 1921 leaving only the steeple standing. The steeple is a Category A listed building.