Glasgow Cathedral as viewed from the north side of Cathedral Square.Glasgow Evangelical Church - in Cathedral Square, GlasgowKing William III & II, of Orange, statue in Cathedral Square, Glasgow, with St Mungo Museum back left.Postcard view from Cathedral Square, Glasgow of the Royal Infirmary and Glasgow CathedralDavid Livingstone statue, Cathedral Square, GlasgowProvand's Lordship on Castle Street facing on to the corner of Cathedral Square.The Bridge of Sighs - looking to Cathedral Square, GlasgowGlasgow Cathedral from the Bridge Of SighsJohn Knox memorial statue on the top of the Necropolis, Glasgow
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,[1] hampered access to the Infirmary, with its small Infirmary Square, and Cathedral. The new City Improvement Trust, under architect and city superintendent John Carrick,[2] 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 at the Drygate. The street covered over the Molendinar Burn. Cathedral Square Gardens opened in 1879 was formed by Carrick[2] and landscaped by Duncan McMillan. In 1890 a decorative fountain, the Steven Fountain, was placed in the centre,[3] the same year as the Doulton Fountain [de] in Glasgow Green. As well as being a restful place the square has been used for political gatherings.[4][5]
Discharged Prisoners Aid Society (now Cathedral House Hotel), 1896, red sandstone building designed by architects Campbell Douglas and Morison[12][13]
Barony Hall, 1889, category A listed red sandstone building designed by Sir John James Burnet[14][15] as the New Barony Church, with its interior loosely modelled on Gerona Cathedral.
David Livingstone, physician, missionary, explorer. Sculptor John Mossman, 1879. At George Square until 1956.
James Arthur, clothing manufacturer and philanthropist.[26][27] Sculptor George Anderson Lawson, 1893.
James Lumsden, stationery manufacturer, Lord Provost, and Royal Infirmary treasurer.[28] Sculptor John Mossman, 1862.
James White, chemicals manufacturer and philanthropist[29] Sculptor Francis Leslie, 1890.
Queen Victoria, monarch from 1837 to 1901. Sculptor Albert Hemstock Hodge, 1914.
John Knox, theologian, minister, reformer. Designer T Hamilton, carver Robert Forrest, 1825.[30]
In the late 1890s the sprawling Duke Street Prison 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!"[31]
References
^"Castle Street". www.theglasgowstory.com. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
^ ab"John Carrick". Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
