Pollokshaws
Pollokshaws Clock Tower
Pollokshaws is located in Glasgow council area
Pollokshaws
Pollokshaws
Location within Glasgow
Population4,295 
OS grid referenceNS562614
Community council
  • Pollokshaws and Eastwood
Council area
Lieutenancy area
  • Glasgow
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townGLASGOW
Postcode districtG43 1
Dialling code0141
PoliceScotland
FireScottish
AmbulanceScottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament

Pollokshaws (Scots: Powkshaws) is an area on the South side of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is bordered by the residential neighbourhoods of Auldhouse to the east, Eastwood and Hillpark to the south and Shawlands to the north, with the Glasgow South Western Line railway and the open lands of Pollok Country Park to the west. The White Cart Water flows through the area.[1][2]

The housing stock consists of some sandstone tenement housing, modern brick tenement-style buildings, low-rise social housing and high rise/multi-storey tower blocks. Previously eight tower blocks stood in an area known as the Shawbridge Corridor; the last of these blocks was demolished in March 2016. Four other tower blocks remain, near Pollokshaws East railway station.

According to the 2001 Census, Pollokshaws had a population of 4,295. Its residents are a mixture of working class and middle class social groups, and the area also had a large South Asian community.

History

John Maclean's casket being removed from his Pollokshaws home in November 1923

Pollokshaws was originally a village predominantly dedicated to weaving in the 17th century. A group of Flemish weavers were brought to the area in the 19th century by the landowners, the Maxwells of Pollok, on account of their exceptional weaving skills.[3]

Pollokshaws was granted a charter to become a Burgh of Barony in 1812.[4] It became a police burgh in 1858[4] and remained a burgh of Renfrewshire until 1912 when it was annexed to the City of Glasgow.[5][6][7] Though it had been an industrial area, this changed in 1957 when it was proposed as the second Comprehensive Development Area in Glasgow (the first was Hutchesontown). The area was demolished and rebuilt anew.[8][9]

View over tower blocks in the Shawbridge area, 1983
New apartments in the same area, 2017

Several residential tower blocks were built as part of the CDA plan in the 1960s.[10][11][12][13][14][15] Most of these were later demolished between 2008 and 2016 in the Shawbridge Corridor regeneration.[5][16][17][18] The blowdowns of the first two towers in July 2008 was filmed in detail by an American company and can be seen as part of the documentary series "The Detonators".[19] Low-rise, mainly private housing has replaced the blocks. A group of four towers at Shawhill remain standing going into the 2020s,[20][15] along with a single block at Cartcraigs on the southern periphery of the district.[21][22]

Landmarks

Pollokshaws Burgh Hall

Pollokshaws Burgh Hall on Pollokshaws Road, built in 1895–98 by architect Robert Rowand Anderson in the Scots renaissance style, was originally the municipal headquarters of the independent burgh before passing into the ownership of Glasgow Corporation following annexation. Now a Category A listed building, it was closed by the council in the 1990s but subsequently reopened for community use by a charitable trust.[23][24]

Sir John Maxwell School (2019

Sir John Stirling Maxwell Primary School, located on Bengal Street / Christian Street, was a standalone red sandstone building by architect John H Hamilton, completed in 1907. The site of the school was previously donated by local philanthropic landowner Sir John Stirling Maxwell, after whom it was named.[25] The school was closed in June 2011 and despite local pressure and campaigns the building was allowed to rot and stood derelict for some years.[26][27] It was demolished in 2023 after being deemed structurally unsafe beyond repair, with the council promising to save and re-use some of its features in a future project.[28]

Pollokshaws Clock Tower, located on Pleasance Street, is the surviving part of the old Town House, built in 1803. There was a ground-floor school with a court-room and a police cell above it. From 1818, the Town House building also housed a library. The Pollokshaws Burgh Charter empowered the council to hold courts for the trial both of civil actions and criminal offences. A jail to incarcerate local wrongdoers was built in 1845. After the 1912 annexation of Pollokshaws Burgh to the City of Glasgow, most of the Town House was demolished and only a public campaign managed to save the remaining Clock Tower.[29]

Round Toll on roundabout

The Round Toll is a circular building now located on the central island of the roundabout of the same name (junction of B762 Barrhead Road / Nether Auldhouse Road and B769 Pollokshaws Road / Thornliebank Road). Built around 1820 as a tollbooth, it is the only surviving example of this type of building in the area, others having been lost to road development, and a rare example of an older building in Pollokshaws following 20th century slum clearance and redevelopment. It is now Category B listed. Following the abolition of road tolls in the 1880s it served as a carriage hire premises, a pub, and latterly as a private house up until the 1950s. It was subsequently used for council storage but is now vacant and isolated on the roundabout.[30]

Sport

Pollokshaws Bowling Club was formed in 1854 and was originally across from Pollokshaws West railway station. On the club's centenary, the clubhouse and greens moved into Pollok Park rent free thanks to Sir John Stirling Maxwell.

The Pollokshaws Races, an informal horse racing event staged annually from around 1750 until 1883, took place on a racecourse to the southwest of the village, on land now occupied by Kennishead Road and Cowglen Golf Club. The races initially developed in conjunction with the local holiday, the Pollokshaws Fair, and were viewed more as an excuse for drinking and socialising rather than a serious sporting event.[31]

Pollok F.C.'s Newlandsfield Park is in the area, adjacent to Pollokshaws East railway station.[32]

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bogle's Bridge (Glasgow School of Art Archives, 1889), The Glasgow Story
  2. ↑ Glasgow's iconic bridges captured in stunning photos, Barbara McLean, Glasgow Times, 16 August 2023
  3. ↑ "Eye Spy Glasgow: In memory of the "Queer Folk"". Evening Times.
  4. 1 2 Pollokshaws Heritage Trail, Paul O'Cuinn, p4
  5. 1 2 Pollokshaws & Auldhouse illustrated guide, Scotcities
  6. ↑ Pollokshaws Panorama (Glasgow City Archives, Department of Architectural and Civic Design, 1958), The Glasgow Story
  7. ↑ Pollokshaws Townhouse (Pollok House, 1830), The Glasgow Story
  8. ↑ Clock Tower, Pollokshaws (Mitchell Library, Glasgow Collection, Bulletin Photographs, 1982), The Glasgow Story
  9. ↑ Ranald MacInnes. "Modern Times: 1950s to The Present Day: High Rise Developments". The Glasgow Story. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  10. ↑ "Tower Block UK:Pollokshaws CDA Unit 1". University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  11. ↑ "Tower Block UK: Pollokshaws CDA Unit 2 Phase 1". University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  12. ↑ "Tower Block UK: Pollokshaws CDA Unit 2 Phase 2". University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  13. ↑ "Tower Block UK: Pollokshaws CDA Unit 2 Phase 3". University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  14. ↑ "Tower Block UK: Pollokshaws CDA Unit 2 Phase 4". University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  15. 1 2 "Buildings in Glasgow: Pollokshaws". Emporis. Archived from the original on 28 February 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  16. ↑ "Tower blocks demolished in blast". BBC News. 20 July 2008. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  17. ↑ "GHA demolish Shawbridge pair". Urban Realm. 31 August 2009. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  18. ↑ "A tall order as tower blocks to be demolished". Evening Times. 11 August 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  19. ↑ "The Detonators". Discovery UK. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  20. ↑ "Tower Block UK:Pollokshaws CDA Unit 1". University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  21. ↑ "Tower Block UK: Pollokshaws CDA Unit 2 Blocks 28–30". University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  22. ↑ "33 Cartcraigs Road". Emporis. Archived from the original on 16 November 2021.
  23. ↑ Historic Environment Scotland. "2025 POLLOKSHAWS ROAD AND BENGAL STREET, POLLOKSHAWS BURGH HALL (Category A Listed Building) (LB33953)". Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  24. ↑ "About". Pollokshaws Burgh Hall. Pollokshaws Burgh Hall Trust. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  25. ↑ Glasgow, 30 Bengal Street, Sir John Maxwell Primary School, Canmore
  26. ↑ Save Sir John Maxwell School. Retrieved 16 November 2021
  27. ↑ Project. Sir John Maxwell School. South Glasgow Heritage Environment Trust. Retrieved 16 November 2021
  28. ↑ Historic Glasgow school demolished after it was declared 'structurally unsafe', Kieran Fleming, Glasgow Live, 17 August 2023
  29. ↑ Memories: Pollokshaws clock tower in 1973, Glasgow Evening Times. Retrieved 16 November 2021
  30. ↑ Historic Environment Scotland. "1 BARRHEAD ROAD, JUNCTION WITH POLLOKSHAWS ROAD AND NETHER AULDHOUSE ROAD, TOLL HOUSE FORMERLY 1 CROSS STREET (Category B Listed Building) (LB33915)". Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  31. ↑ O'Brien, Ged (2010). Inglis, Simon (ed.). Played in Glasgow: Charting the Heritage of a City at Play. London: Malavan Media. p. 79. ISBN 9780954744557.
  32. ↑ "Newlandsfield". pollokfc.com. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
  33. ↑ Jeffries, Stuart (19 December 2009). "Frankie Boyle lays into celebrity memoirs as his own is a surprise hit". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
  34. ↑ Burns Encyclopedia 27 February 2012
  35. ↑ "John Maclean's Pollokshaws". Pat's Guide. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  36. ↑ "Heroes, heroin and the ghost from Alex Norton past". Herald Scotland. 19 March 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  37. ↑ "Maxton, James [Jimmy]". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/34957. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  38. ↑ This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Gray, John Miller (1911). "Tassie, James". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 442–443.
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