Museums, archives and heritage in Glasgow

Glasgow, parliamentary and royal burgh, partly in Renfrewshire but chiefly in Lanarkshire, on river Clyde, 14 miles SE. of Dumbarton (at the commencement of the Firth of Clyde), 47½ (by rail) W. of Edinburgh, and 401½ (by West Coast route) NW. of London; parliamentary and municipal burgh, population 511,415; town (municipal and suburban), population 674,095. Glasgow is the commercial and industrial metropolis of Scotland, and claims to be the second city of the British Empire. The commercial importance of Glasgow is of comparatively modern date. At the Reformation the population was about 5000, at the Union about 12,000, and at the beginning of the 19th century about 77,000; it is now. including the neighbouring burghs, which are essentially parts of Glasgow, about 750,000. The chief natural cause of the rapid growth of Glasgow is its position within the richest coal and ironstone field in Scotland, and on the banks of a river which has been rendered, by almost incredible labour, navigable for vessels of the largest tonnage. Its industries, which are characterised by their immense variety, include textile manufactures (principally cotton, woollen, and carpets): bleaching, printing, and dyeing; chemical mfrs.; the iron manufacture., engineering, and shipbuilding. All the iron trade of Scotland is controlled by Glasgow, which is also the headquarters of the great shipbuilding industry of the Clyde. Glasgow has 4 distilleries and 6 paper mills. It is one of the three principal seaports of the United Kingdom. The harbour extends along the river for over 2 miles, and includes 2 tidal docks, one of them (the Queen’s Dock) the largest in Scotland. The foreign trade is with all parts of the world, but chiefly with India, the United States, Canada, and South America, Belgium, France, and Spain. Glasgow contains terminal stations of the 3 great trunk lines of Scotland; and its railway communications are assisted by the City Union Railway and the Underground Railway.

– John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887)

Cumbernauld Museum

North Lanarkshire Council, Buchanan Business Park, Stepps

Glasgow G33 6HR

0141 304 1975

goo.gl/irVkYO

Situated within the town’s main library, the museum tells the story of Cumbernauld and surrounding area from pre-history to the Romans and on through the 19th century, to the development of the new town in the 1960s. A studies area allows for more in-depth research or browsing of photograph albums.

Glasgow & West of Scotland Family History Society

Unit 13, 32 Mansfield Street, Partick

Glasgow G11 5QP

0141 339 8303

www.gwsfhs.org.uk

The Glasgow & West of Scotland Family History Society is a charity and is run entirely by volunteers, who give their time and talents to provide a service to assist others interested in researching their family history.

Glasgow City Archives

Mitchell Library, North Street

Glasgow G3 7DN

goo.gl/qNmRfx

Glasgow City Archives is part of Culture and Sport Glasgow which delivers cultural services on behalf of Glasgow City Council.

Glasgow Museums

200 Woodhead Road

Glasgow G53 7NN

www.glasgowlife.org.uk/museums/Pages/home.aspx

Glasgow Museums manages a collection of over a million objects and operates 9 museum venues – Kelvingrove, the Burrell Collection, Riverside, the Gallery of Modern Art, The People’s Palace, Scotland Street School Museum, St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art, Provand’s Lordship and Glasgow Museums Resource Centre – on behalf of Glasgow City Council.

Glasgow Museums Resource Centre

200 Woodhead Road, South Nitshill Industrial Estate

Glasgow G53 7NN

0141 276 9300

www.glasgowmuseums.com/venue/index.cfm?venueid=8

Glasgow Museums Resource Centre is the first publicly accessible store for the city’s museum service. It is a new purpose-built museum storage facility and visitor centre in the south side of Glasgow. Glasgow Museums Resource Centre also houses the outreach service for Glasgow Museums which offers handling and reminiscence kits for loan, and temporary exhibits for display.

Glasgow Police Museum

First Floor, 30 Bell Street, Merchant City

Glasgow G1 1LG

0141 552 1818

www.policemuseum.org.uk

At the Glasgow Police Museum you have the unique opportunity to step into the compelling and dramatic history of the United Kingdom’s oldest police force. Telling the stories of the people who served in the Glasgow Police is the principal theme of the museum. Painstaking research has uncovered interesting, little-known facts concerning the lives, careers and personalities of the characters who policed the city during 200 years of its history. Complementary to the historical exhibits, our vibrant display of worldwide police uniforms, headgear, badges and insignia is the largest in Europe.

Glasgow University Archive Services

Archive Services, University of Glasgow, 13 Thurso Street

Glasgow G11 6PE

0141 330 5515

www.gla.ac.uk/services/archives

Glasgow University Archive Services is a unique learning and corporate heritage resource that is an inspiration for all. We hold the records that document the history of the University and its management, staff and students from its foundation in 1451 to the present day. We also have one of the largest collections of historical business records in Europe and it includes much of the archive of Scottish industries such as banking, retail, distilling and shipbuilding.

Glasgow Vintage Vehicle Trust

76-136 Fordneuk Street, Bridgeton

Glasgow G40 3AH

www.gvvt.org

The Glasgow Vintage Vehicle Trust was formed at the end of 2002. There are five Trustees, each having considerable experience of large vehicle preservation.

Glasgow Women’s Library

23 Landressy Street, Bridgeton

Glasgow G40 1BP

0141 550 2267

www.womenslibrary.org.uk

Glasgow Women’s Library is a provider of information by and about women. The library collection comprises information broadly in the following sections: reference, reports, work, education, politics, feminist theory, history, violence against women, abuse, pornography issues, prostitution, lesbian lives and cultures, young women, women of colour, women in global contexts, myth, goddesses and religion, travel, peace and war, sport, fiction, poetry, literary theory, autobiographies and biographies, drama, art, architecture and older women.

Heatherbank Museum of Social Work

Glasgow Caledonian University, City Campus, Cowcaddens Road

Glasgow G4 0BA

0141 331 8637

www.gcu.ac.uk/_library/heatherbank/

Heatherbank Museum of Social Work was founded in 1975 by Colin and Rosemary Harvey. The museum exists to increase public awareness of the social welfare needs of society, particularly those who are disadvantaged. It is the only museum entirely dedicated to social work and welfare in Europe.

Holmwood House

61-63 Netherlee Road

Glasgow G44 3YG

01416 372 129

www.nts.org.uk

Holmwood House is Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson’s finest domestic design. This family home was built in 1857-8 for James Couper who, with his brother Robert, owned Millholm Paper Mills on the banks of the River Cart.

Hunterian Museum & Art Gallery, The

University of Glasgow

Glasgow G12 8QQ

0141 330 4221

www.hunterian.gla.ac.uk

The University of Glasgow’s Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery is home to one of the top five collections in Scotland, with over a million items ranging from meteorites to Mackintosh and mummies. The Hunterian is the legacy of Dr William Hunter, a pioneering obstetrician and teacher. His passion for collecting was legendary.

Collections: The Hunterian collections are extensive and wide-ranging with just over one million objects.

Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum

Argyle Street

Glasgow G3 8AG

0141 276 9599

goo.gl/5IEapd

One of the finest civic collections in Europe is housed within this Glasgow landmark. Here you can explore collections that include everything from fine and decorative arts to archaeology and the natural world. Among its many treasures is the earliest near-complete field armour in the world (the famous ‘Avant’ armour, made in Milan c1440).

Martyrs’ School

Parson Street

Glasgow G4 0PX

0141 552 2356

goo.gl/Cclmdd

Martyrs’ School is a hidden architectural gem that deserves to be better known. It is one of the earliest buildings by Glasgow’s most famous and influential architect and designer, Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928). When the school was commissioned in 1895 Mackintosh was a junior assistant with Honeyman and Keppie, having just completed his apprenticeship.

Maryhill Burgh Halls

10-24 Gairbraid Avenue

Glasgow G20 8YE

0845 860 1878

www.maryhillburghhalls.org.uk

The restored Burgh Halls recaptures the splendid historic beauty of this treasured building, and now provides the local community with a modern public hall, a cafe and heritage exhibition space.

Mitchell Library Family History Centre

Family History Centre, Level 3, The Mitchell Library, North Street

Glasgow G3 7DN

0141 2872937

goo.gl/CB5xHE

We can help you discover and learn lots of information and skills to help you trace your family history.

Museum of Transport

1 Bunhouse Road

Glasgow G3 8DP

0141 287 2720

www.glasgowmuseums.com

The museum uses its collections of vehicles and models to tell the story of transport by land and sea, with a unique Glasgow flavour. Here you will find the oldest surviving pedal cycle and the finest collection in the world of Scottish-built cars, including such world famous makes as Argyll, Arrol Johnson and Albion.

People’s Palace & Winter Gardens

Glasgow Green

Glasgow G40 1AT

0141 554 0223

goo.gl/N7nzmL

The People’s Palace is Glasgow’s social history museum and a chance to see the story of the people and city of Glasgow from 1750 to the present. You can see paintings, prints and photographs displayed alongside a wealth of historic artefacts, film and computer interactives.

Pollok House

Pollok Country Park, 2060 Pollokshaws Road

Glasgow G43 1AT

0844 493 2202

www.nts.org.uk/Property/Pollok-House

Pollok House is the ancestral home of the Maxwell family. The present house dates from around 1750 and contains one of the finest collections of Spanish art in the United Kingdom together with furniture and furnishings appropriate to an Edwardian country house.

Provand’s Lordship

3 Castle Street

Glasgow G4 ORB

0141 552 8819

www.glasgowmuseums.com/venue/index.cfm?venueid=11

At Provand’s Lordship you can step back into Glasgow’s past in the only house to survive from the medieval city. Now open to the public, Provand’s Lordship has been extensively restored to give a real flavour of life in medieval Glasgow.

Riverside Museum

100 Pointhouse Place

Glasgow G3 8RS

0141 287 4350

goo.gl/Md6PHZ

The multi-award winning Riverside Museum is home to over 3,000 objects that detail Glasgow’s rich past from its days as maritime powerhouse to a glimpse into daily Glasgow life in the early to mid 20th century. Amongst the objects on display are everything from skateboards to locomotives, paintings to prams, velocipedes to voiturettes, vintage cars to a stormtrooper.

Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Glasgow Library & Archives

Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, 232-242 St Vincent Street

Glasgow G2 5RJ

0141 227 3234

www.rcpsg.ac.uk/library

Founded in 1599, the RCPSG enjoys a history spanning four centuries.

Collections: The collection spans the 15th to the 20th Centuries, and includes many of the key medical, anatomical and surgical texts of the 16th and 17th centuries, being particularly strong in the areas of anatomy, medicine, surgery, botany and materia medica in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries.

Royal Highland Fusiliers Regimental Museum

518 Sauchiehall Street

Glasgow G2 3LW

0141 332 0961

goo.gl/6m5MUX

The building at 518 Sauchiehall Street has been the HQ of the RHF since 1960. However, the earliest part of it dates from 1825 and originally formed part of Albany Place, a terrace of townhouses extending from Garnet Street to Charing Cross. In 1903 the architect, in partnership with Charles Rennie Macintosh, was commissioned by Glasgow photographer Thomas Annan, to design an extension to the building.

Scotland Street School Museum

225 Scotland Street

Glasgow G5 8QB

0141 287 0500

www.glasgowmuseums.com/venue/index.cfm?venueid=12

Scotland Street School Museum presents the history of education in Scotland as a genuine school experience. The museum, designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh between 1903 and 1906, is also an essential destination for Mackintosh enthusiasts and all those interested in the history of design.

Collections: The three classroom reconstructions show the changing face of the schoolroom from the Victorian era through the Second World War to the classroom of the fifties and sixties. The barrel vaulted cookery room, cloakrooms, and ceramic-tiled drill hall are restored to Mackintosh’s original 1906 designs.

Shotts Heritage Centre

North Lanarkshire Council, Buchanan Business Park, Stepps

Glasgow G33 6HR

0141 304 1975

goo.gl/4VFg35

The displays include the area’s covenanting history, as well as the era of the industrial revolution and the rise and fall of local heavy industries such as mining, the railways and iron production. A rare surviving 19th century lamp post from the Shotts Ironworks has been installed at the front of the library.

Springburn Local History Centre

Springburn Leisure Centre, Kay Street, Springburn

Glasgow G21 1JY

0141 276 9357

goo.gl/LiaLon

Established in May 2003, Springburn Local History Centre (formerly known as Springburn Museum) was formed by a Glasgow Open Museum Project in partnership with former staff of Springburn Museum and local volunteers. It is dedicated to the people and history of Springburn, and showcases objects from the Glasgow Museums Collections alongside those created by students from North Glasgow College and collections owned by local people.

St Mungo Museum of Religious Life & Art

2 Castle Street

Glasgow G4 0RH

0141 553 2557

www.glasgowmuseums.com/venue/index.cfm?venueid=13

This unique museum explores the importance of religion in people’s lives across the world and across time.

Collections: Displays occupy three floors and are divided into four exhibition areas: the Gallery of Religious Art, the Gallery of Religious Life, the Scottish Gallery and a temporary exhibition space.

Summerlee Heritage Park

Heritage Way, Coatbridge

Glasgow ML5 1QD

01236 431261

www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/summerlee

Summerlee Heritage Park it is situated around the site of the 19th century Summerlee Ironworks and a restored section of a branch of the Monklands Canal.

Tall Ship at Glasgow Harbour, The

100 Stobcross Road

Glasgow G3 8QQ

0141 222 2513

www.thetallship.com

The Tall Ship operates a programme of year-round maritime themed events and activities, with specially devised talks and tours, school visits and costumed volunteer days. Explore every nook and cranny of the Glenlee, including the refurbished Captain’s cabin, with our brand new audio guide facility, a fun way to learn the history of the ship.

Tenement House, The

145 Buccleuch Street, Garnethill

Glasgow G3 6QN

0844 493 2197

www.nts.org.uk

The Tenement House provides a rare glimpse into life in Glasgow in the early 20th century, in the faithfully restored four-room house lived in by Miss Agnes Toward for over half a century. This first-floor flat is a typical late Victorian example, consisting of four rooms and retaining most of its original features such as its bed recesses, kitchen range, coal bunker and bathroom. The furniture, furnishings and personal possessions of Miss Agnes Toward, who lived here for over fifty years, present a fascinating picture of domestic life at the beginning of the 20th century.