Site location
The Pollokshaws Road Tenements site is located in South Laurieston, between Pollokshaws Road and Eglinton Street. It is bound to the north by Devon Street and to the south by Turriff Street, formerly Elgin Street. MacKinlay Street extends through the centre of the site dividing it into two sections.
Site location map
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Site development
The development of the site can be traced on historic maps. The earliest detailed map to depict the site dates from the late 18th century and shows the site to be located in a vacant plot of land away from Glasgow’s urban area. The site is located within a plot of land known as ‘Pretty Three’, just to the north of a row of roadside cottages known as ‘Muir Houses’.
Plan of the city of Glasgow, 1782
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The site remains entirely undeveloped until the early 19th century when two cottages known as Rosehill are constructed on Pollokshaws Road. There are no records detailing the exact construction date of Rosehill, however the cottages first appear on the first edition Ordnance Survey map (1857), and are thought to be 1820s to 1840s in date. Rosehill comprises two two-storey sandstone cottages with rear circular stair towers, which can be clearly seen on the 1857 map. The cottages had a large shared rear garden with trees. The rest of the site remains vacant at this time. It is possible that the site was being used for small-scale clay extraction at this time.
First edition Ordnance Survey Map, 1857
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By the late 19th century the entire site had been developed. The site was densely filled with tenement housing, pubs, churches and industrial units at this time. Queen’s Park Terrace, designed by Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson, was constructed on Eglinton Street between 1856 and 1860 and was the most distinguished of Thomson’s tenement blocks.
Second edition Ordnance Survey Map, 1892-94
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The site continued to be densely occupied until the 1960s when demolition of some of the buildings commenced. The site was finally cleared in the 1980s.
Rosehill
A building control plan, held in the Mitchell Library, shows the layout of Rosehill in 1907. The plan has proposals for the construction of new sanitary facilities in the form of washhouses and WCs attached to the cottages. The plan also shows details of planned alterations to the internal layout of the cottages, to change them from four rooms per apartment to two, possibly signalling the growth of the working class population in the area and the high density of occupation.
Early twentieth century ceramic drains and earlier sandstone slab built drains were found to the rear of the building. The ceramic drains as excavated were on a slightly different alignment from what was designed on the 1907 plan. The earlier stone-built system that the ceramic drains replaced had drained off to what we think was an outside toilet at the rear of the gardens at the rear of the building, but there was also evidence that the earliest drains may have been intended to be carried through gaps in the foundation walls to the front of the building. This is evidence of upgrading of services thoughout the lives of old buildings - almost always the result of changes in regulations by the City authorities.
Excavations have revealed the footprint of the Rosehill cottages showing the stone foundations, close, and three-quarter circular staircases. The rooms appear to be fairly small. They are likely to have been two-storey buildings, with a four-apartment flat on each floor of each building. The ground floor flats had front-door access, while the rear stairs gave access to the main doors of the upper flats. The 1907 alterations seem to show the upgrading of services to and from the buildings and the conversion or "making down" of the property to form two-room-and-kitchen flats on each level, with a new close formed at ground level from the original passageway.
1907 Building Control plan of Rosehill Cottages
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The 1913-14 Glasgow Valuation Roll states that both Rosehill cottages are owned by Mrs Jessie Donald. The northern cottage, 160/162 Pollokshaws Road, is occupied by John Kelly, Mrs. Anderson, James Bain Wylie, a clerk, and Peter Lecerf, a chef. The southern cottage, 164 Pollokshaws Road, is occupied by Mrs. Bridget Boyle, Charles O’Donnell, a labourer, and Morton Ewing, a granite polisher. The occupants would have had a lobby, kitchen and room each.
Occupants of the site
From the late 19th century to mid 20th century the site was bustling with many thriving businesses as well as being densely occupied with housing. The 1913-14 Glasgow Valuation Roll shows that the site was home to drapers, stationers, milliners, furnishers, tobacconists, hairdressers, fleshers, grocers, fishmongers, furriers, chemists, surgeons, dentists, butchers, greengrocers, umbrella makers and confectioners. Shops were predominantly located on Eglinton Street.
1953 Ordnance Survey map showing street numbers
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Industrial yards were located to the rear of tenements on both sides of MacKinlay Street. The yard to the east of MacKinlay Street was accessed via a lane off Pollokshaws Road, located just south of Rosehill. During the early 20th century all the buildings here were occupied by Mrs. Alice Orr and George W. Orr & Company, who ran a cooperage. Coopers made barrels, buckets and casks from thin strips of wood and metal. During the excavation this area was found to be a sunken cobbled courtyard, approximately 3 metres deep, which is not apparent from historic maps of the site.
Yards to the west of MacKinlay Street were accessed via a cobbled road from Devon Street. In the early 20th century the buildings were used as stables and stores, from which a contractor, coal dealer and dairy operated.
There were four public houses on the site, one on each of the four corners. These were The Glen, Devon Bar, The Gordon, and the Mill Inn.
Abbotsford Parish Church, on the corner of Devon Street and MacKinlay Street, was built in 1873 by the Free Church of Scotland for the Congregation then known as Maitland Free Church. In August 1876 the Minister and Kirk Session petitioned the Church of Scotland for admission, and on 27th June 1877 they were received into the Church of Scotland becoming Abbotsford Parish Church. On 15th June 1933, the congregation merged with that of Chalmers South Church, located just to the north on Pollokshaws Road, to become Abbotsford Chalmers Parish Church. The Devon Street Buildings were sold for commercial use, and were later demolished. The Abbotsford Chalmers building still stands today a short walk from the site.
Excavations on the site of the Abbotsford building have revealed the foundations for the tower, along with the red brick walls of the basement.
At the other end of MacKinlay Street, on the corner of Turriff Street, the Elgin Street United Presbyterian Church was constructed in the 1870s, and was dedicated for use on 12th October 1873. In 1920 the congregation joined the United Free Church of Scotland, and was later merged with the Eglinton Street United Free Church. The Eglinton Street church was sold and converted to the Bedford Cinema, and latterly the Mecca Social Club. Worship continued at the Elgin Street United Presbyterian Church until 1st March 1953 when the congregation moved and merged with Candlish Memorial Church. The site of the Elgin Street United Presbyterian Church on Turriff Street was sold for commercial use and later demolished.
If you used to live or work on the Tenements site, or nearby and have any memories or photographs of it, please get in touch with David Walker, the M74 Dig oral historian, at david@m74dig.org.uk or on 0141 4182893.
