![]() Sauchiehall Street looking eastwards from carpark location | |
Former name(s) | Sauchie-haugh Road [1] Sandyford Street (western section, until 1900s) |
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Type | Commercial/Transport |
Maintained by | Glasgow City Council Transport Scotland |
Length | 2.5 km (1.6 mi) 11.7º from east-west |
Location | Glasgow |
Postal code | G2 3 / G3 7 |
Nearest Glasgow Subway station | Buchanan Street subway station |
Other | |
Known for | Buchanan Galleries, Cameron Memorial Fountain, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, St Andrew House, Glasgow, Cineworld, Glasgow, Willow Tearooms, Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow Dental Hospital and School, Beresford Hotel, King's Theatre, Glasgow, The Garage, Glasgow |
Sauchiehall Street ( /ˌsɔːkɪˈhɔːl,ˌsɒkɪ-,ˈsɔːkɪhɔːl,ˈsɒkɪ-/ ) [2] is one of the main shopping streets in the city centre of Glasgow, Scotland, along with Buchanan Street and Argyle Street.
Although commonly associated with the city centre, Sauchiehall Street is over 1.5 miles (2.4 km) in length. At its central west end is Charing Cross, followed by the Category-A listed crescents and terraces which lead up to Park Circus, finally meeting Argyle Street in the West End in front of Kelvingrove Park and the Kelvingrove Museum, where they merge to form Dumbarton Road, continuing through Partick.
Sauchiehall is a corruption of the Scots sauchie hauch; sauchie "abounding in willows" and hauch "river-meadow; level ground beside a river". [3] [4] Hauch can be mistaken for the Scots haw, pronounced the same, meaning hall. [3]
At its height, from 1880 to the 1970s, Sauchiehall Street was one of the most famous streets in Glasgow, and known internationally, due to its panoply of entertainment venues, galleries and high quality stores.[ citation needed ] The desire of wealthy merchants from 1800 onwards to own property on the outskirts of the city meant that Blythswood Hill and Garnethill started to be developed as part of the 'New Town of Blythswood'. Its first major developer was William Harley [5] [6] of Bath Street fame, who also planned and developed Blythswood Square [7] in the 1810s onwards. As a consequence, the meandering country road from the cathedral to Partick through the willows, and between these hills, acquired the name of the Saughie-haugh road. The first terraces of townhouses were built in the 1810s by William Harley. [6] After it was widened in the 1840s it was named Sauchiehall Street and attracted more villas, tenement housing from 1860s, shops and eventually offices. A few of the original villas remained as of 1896, and lastly the 1960s, according to the Ordnance Survey map of Central Glasgow. [1] [6]
Over time, the street became home to a number of notable buildings. This included the Glasgow Empire Theatre which was opened in 1897 at 31–35 Sauchiehall Street. The theatre played host to big names such as Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Dorothy Lamour, Jack Benny and Danny Kaye before it closed on 31 March 1963. The Royalty Theatre was also situated on Sauchiehall Street, opening in 1879 and showing operas, comedies and plays up until its lease ran out in 1913. Afterwards, during the First World War, it was purchased by the YMCA to become a hostel for soldiers and sailors. The building lived out the rest of its days after the war as the Lyric Theatre, before it was demolished in the late 1950s. [8]
By the early 1900s the street contained theatres, picture houses, ballrooms, clubs, hotels, restaurants, art galleries and departmental stores such as Pettigrew & Stephens, Copland & Lye, Trerons, with theatres in adjacent streets, including the Kings Theatre in Bath Street, Theatre Royal in Hope Street and the Pavilion Theatre, in Renfield Street, and Glasgow Art School in Renfew Street. [9] [10]
Glasgow's first "skyscraper", the Art Deco style Beresford Hotel, was built further along Sauchiehall Street in 1938 for the Empire Exhibition, Scotland 1938. It later became offices for ICI and then a hall of residence for Strathclyde University before being converted into private apartments. Its "moderne" architecture was novel when it was built and the original mustard-coloured stonework with red fins was rather unkindly described as "custard and rhubarb architecture". [11]
In 2014 Sauchiehall Street was the subject of the documentary TV series The Street. [12]
In September 2019, a £7.2 million investment by Glasgow City Council as Sauchiehall Street Avenue was completed to help regenerate part of central Sauchiehall Street creating a multifunctional service verge, two-way cycle lane, two lane carriageway along with plantation of trees, shrubs and free wireless internet through the street.
At the eastern end of Sauchiehall Street is the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall and Buchanan Galleries, one of the largest city centre redevelopments in the UK. [13] Sauchiehall Street formerly linked directly to Parliamentary Road at its eastern end, which continued through Townhead to the Glasgow Royal Infirmary.
The section from West Nile Street to Rose Street was pedestrianised in 1972, with the easternmost part, linking to Buchanan Street, pedestrianised in 1978. The central part of the street consists of remaining retailers, the McLellan Galleries and the Willow Tearooms, designed in 1903 by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, which has been restored to its original artistic designs and is open to the public as a tea room, restaurant and Mackintosh venue centre. [14] Nearby in Renfrew Street is the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
At the western end of the city centre section of the street, towards Charing Cross, there are restaurants, bars and student-oriented clubs. Landmarks in this area of the street, or near to it, include the former Beresford Hotel, Glasgow School of Art in Renfrew Street, the Glasgow Film Theatre in Rose Street, CCA Glasgow, the former McLellan Galleries, the Royal Highland Fusiliers Museum and the Glasgow Dental Hospital and School. [15]
Charles Rennie Mackintosh was a Scottish architect, designer, water colourist and artist. His artistic approach had much in common with European Symbolism. His work, alongside that of his wife Margaret Macdonald, was influential on European design movements such as Art Nouveau and Secessionism and praised by great modernists such as Josef Hoffmann. Mackintosh was born in Glasgow, Scotland and died in London, England. He is among the most important figures of Modern Style.
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.
Cowcaddens is an area of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It sits directly north of the city centre and is bordered by the newer area of Garnethill to the south-west and Townhead to the east.
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.
The city of Glasgow, Scotland, has many amenities for a wide range of cultural activities, from curling to opera and from football to art appreciation; it also has a large selection of museums that include those devoted to transport, religion, and modern art. In 2009 Glasgow was awarded the title UNESCO Creative City of Music in recognition of its vibrant live music scene and its distinguished heritage. Glasgow has three major universities, each involved in creative and literary arts, and the city has the largest public reference library in Europe in the form of the Mitchell Library. Scotland's largest newspapers and national television and radio companies are based in the city.
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.
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.
Catherine Cranston, widely known as Kate Cranston or Miss Cranston, was a leading figure in the development of tea rooms. She is nowadays chiefly remembered as a major patron of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret MacDonald, in Glasgow, Scotland. The name of Miss Cranston's Tea Rooms lives on in reminiscences of Glasgow in its heyday.
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.
The city of Glasgow, Scotland is particularly noted for its 19th-century Victorian architecture, and the early-20th-century "Glasgow Style", as developed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
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.
Argyle Street is a major thoroughfare in the city centre of Glasgow, Scotland.
Glasgow City Centre is the central business district of Glasgow, Scotland. It is bordered by the Saltmarket, High Street and Castle Street to the east, the River Clyde to the south, and the M8 motorway to the west and north. It is made up of the areas of Garnethill, Blythswood Hill, and Merchant City, though parts of Cowcaddens, Townhead, Anderston and Calton also fall within its boundaries.
Cineworld Glasgow Renfrew Street is a cinema on Renfrew Street, Glasgow, Scotland, located in the north-east of the city centre. It is adjacent to Buchanan Bus Station and the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, as well as being close to Sauchiehall Street and Buchanan Galleries. At 62 m (203 ft) tall, the building is currently the tallest cinema in the world.
Glasgow Art Club is a club in Glasgow for artists and non-artists interested in creating art and the 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. It has ranges 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.
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. The Blythswood district, and its grid of streets, became a Conservation Area in 1970, because of its important architectural and historic buildings.
Kelvingrove is a neighbourhood in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated north of the River Clyde in the West End of the city, and directly borders Kelvingrove Park to the north and the grounds of the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum to the west. Its other boundaries are not precisely defined, but roughly correspond to Sauchiehall Street to the south opposite the Sandyford neighbourhood, and the Charing Cross area to the east.
Sandyford is an area of Glasgow, Scotland. It is north of the River Clyde and forms part of the western periphery of the city centre. Formerly the name of a ward under Glasgow Town Council in the first part of the 20th century, it is within a continuous area of fairly dense urban development bordering several other neighbourhoods whose mutual boundaries have blurred over time, and is possibly less well known than all of the places which adjoin it, particularly Anderston and Finnieston.
Media related to Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow at Wikimedia Commons