Townhead

Church of St Mungo, Townhead

It is widely accepted that near the eastern edge of modern day Townhead, is where St Kentigern, also known as St Mungo, built his church by the banks of the Molendinar Burn and thus established Glasgow. Glasgow Cathedral, dedicated to St Mungo, is roughly situated where Mungo's original church once stood. The present building dates back to the 12th century. Today, the Cathedral sits immediately outside of Townhead's boundaries and falls into the Ladywell area.

Provand's Lordship, Glasgow's oldest remaining house, was constructed from the late 15th century by Bishop Andrew, later given the surname Muirhead as part of St Nicholas Hospital, a lodging for the poor. The hospital, or more accurately a hospitium, provided accommodation for twelve poor men as well their care who contributed through work in the hospital, Bible study and a products from the gardens. The gardens were restored in 1997 and like the original St Nicolas garden, the herb grown are those known for healing properties and medicinal use.

The martyrdom of the Covenanters took place in the modern area called Townhead. The northern part of Castle Street was the town limits beyond which was called the "Howgait". Howgait was the scene of public hangings and used until 1781, when they moved to Glasgow Green. The area is now mainly taken up by Junction 15 of the M8.

The former Martyrs' Church building (moved to its current location in 1975 and then closed by members vote in 2011) contained until September 2013 the Martyrs stone, which details the executions in 1684 of James Nisbet (a farmer from Louden Parish in Ayrshire), James Lawson and Alex Wood. The stone, which originally stood in front of Townhead library, along with a large part of the once densely packed Townhead, was demolished to make way for the M8 motorway. The stone can now be found in the church wall of "The Evangelical Church" which is at the South East side of Cathedral square. Martyrs church also contained the "Martyrs church bell", which was preserved from the old Martyrs West church building until 2013 at which point, finding no new home, the bell was melted. The church of Scotland is currently seeking a buyer for the land which has planning permission for an extensive housing development and community building.

The Church of Scotland still supporting Townhead through the parish ministry of Glasgow Cathedral and by giving temporary accommodation to SIMY Community Development charity which was formally an active part of the previous church's parish care. Since closure, SIMY has become an independent, local volunteer lead charity providing youth work support, arts provision, sports coaching, life skills, outdoor education, drop in diversionary clubs and is a DofE centre. SiMY owes its survival to the support it receives from the Church, Iona Community, Townhead community council, AplusM training, Glasgow Housing Association, Glasgow Community Safety Services, Glasgow Life and a dedicated group of volunteers many of whom have grown up in the local area or work nearby.

St Mungo's Church, Parson Street (George Goldie, 1869) is Italiante-Gothic in style. 70 Parson Street is the birthplace of architect Charles Rennie MacIntosh, who also aided in the design of Martyr's School, at 17 Parson Street.

In line with post-war gentrification going on in Glasgow at the time, and in line with recommendations from the Bruce Report, the mid 1950s onward saw great change in Townhead. Like Anderston and the Gorbals, Townhead was designated a Comprehensive Development Area (CDA), which meant that much of the existing buildings would be cleared and its population rehomed.[1][2] Townhead's original main thoroughfare - Parliamentary Road, was destroyed along with most of the original street plan, upon which new housing estates - a mixture of lower density maisonette blocks and four 24-storey tower blocks replaced the old tenement housing. Whilst some Townhead residents were rehomed in the new buildings, others were moved to new estates on the outer fringes of the city. As a result, very few of the original tenements in Townhead have survived, although some of the original street names live on in the names of the tower blocks and footpaths. North of Parliamentary Road, the cleared area was devoted to a new industrial zone, which stretched towards Baird Street and the new Glasgow Inner Ring Road acting as its boundary, and comprised mainly of new industrial units. The controversial eastern flank of the ring road, which would have swung southwards along the route of Castle Street and necessitated the demolition and rebuilding of Glasgow Royal Infirmary, was abandoned and the original Victorian hospital was given an indefinite stay of execution (although the hospital was substantially expanded in the late 1970s). The artist Joan Eardley captured much of this redevelopment from her studio in Townhead.[3]

Townhead looking north east, showing part of the educational zone with the buildings of City of Glasgow College, and the tower blocks of the Townhead 'B' housing estate, built in 1967

The southern reaches of Townhead between Parliamentary Road and George Street were cleared to make way for a new educational zone, which would see several new colleges constructed such as the Central College of Commerce, Glasgow College of Food Technology and Stow College of Building and Printing. The centerpiece of this area would be the new University of Strathclyde, created out of the former Royal College of Science and Technology. Here can be found the most famous and oldest of Townhead's streets – Rottenrow. It was from this high vantage point at the top of Balmanno Brae that St. Mungo could see, south, down to the River Clyde and be forewarned of the approach of any hostile people. Rottenrow was also home to the Glasgow Royal Maternity Hospital. This hospital was demolished in 2001, and replaced by a garden.

In 1972, agreement was reached between the publishing company William Collins, Sons and the University of Strathclyde for the latter to acquire its printing works located at the eastern end of Cathedral Street which was once one of the biggest industrial complexes in Townhead. The land and buildings were turned over for academic use - a notable example being the giant warehouse building at the junction of Cathedral Street and St James's Road being converted to a new home for the Andersonian Library in 1980.

The 2010s saw the creation of the new City of Glasgow College, which was formed from an earlier amalgamation of several further education colleges in the city (Glasgow Metropolitan College). A new "supercampus" was built on the former site of Allan Glen's College on Cathedral Street, and opened in 2014. The University of Strathclyde built a new sports centre adjacent the same year.