Pollokshields Burgh Hall

The Pollokshields Burgh Hall is a municipal building at the edge of Maxwell Park, Glasgow, Scotland. The burgh hall, which was briefly the headquarters of Pollokshields Burgh Council, is a Category A listed building.[1]

Not to be confused with Pollokshaws Burgh Hall.
Pollokshields Burgh Hall
Pollokshields Burgh Hall
LocationGlasgow
Coordinates55.83891°N 4.28706°W / 55.83891; -4.28706
Built1890
ArchitectHenry Edward Clifford
Architectural style(s)Scottish Baronial style
Listed Building – Category A
Designated15 December 1970
Reference no.33411
Shown in Glasgow

History

The building was commissioned and endowed for future maintenance by the politician, Sir John Stirling Maxwell of Pollok House, as a gift for the people of Pollokshields.[2] The site he selected in Glencairn Drive had formed part of the Old Pollok Estate, which had been home to the Maxwell family for over 700 years.[3]

The burgh hall was designed by Henry Edward Clifford in the Scottish Baronial style[4] and built with dark red sandstone from the Ballochmyle Estate in Ayrshire.[5] A ceremony was held at which Maxwell laid a memorial stone to commemorate the opening of the burgh hall and also the opening of Maxwell Park, which he had also gifted to the local people, on 25 October 1890.[6] The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage facing Glencairn Drive; the main hall, which projected forward was on the left; the right bay featured a gabled porch with a round-headed doorway on the ground floor and a tower above; there was a bartizan on the right hand corner of the tower.[1]

The building was initially used as a masonic meeting place by masonic lodge no. 772[7] and was also briefly used as the headquarters of the independent burgh of Pollokshields until 1891 when the burgh was absorbed into the city of Glasgow in 1891.[2] It was extended in 1935.[1]

After functioning as a day centre for Glasgow Corporation and then, from 1975, for Strathclyde Regional Council, it was deemed surplus to requirements in 1982 and acquired the Pollokshields Burgh Hall Trust for a nominal sum in 1986.[8] Following refurbishment by the trust it reopened for community use in 1997.[8] The lower ground floor was refurbished and converted for conference use with financial support from the National Heritage Memorial Fund in the late 1990s.[9][10] The actress, Keira Knightley, attended her brother's wedding at the hall in April 2011.[11]

Architecture

The dominant external feature of the building is the 60-foot (18 m) high tower while the entrance porch exhibits the Maxwell family coat of arms flanked by two Scottish lions.[5]

  • Foundation Stone
  • The Tower
  • Maxwell Coat of Arms
  • Stained Glass Window donated by Lodge Pollok's 1st Master Morris Carswell
  • Stained Glass Window donated by Lodge Pollok's 2nd Master David R Clark

References
  1. Historic Environment Scotland. "70 and 72 Glencairn Drive, Pollokshields Burgh Hall, including lodge and gateway to Maxwell Park  (Category A Listed Building) (LB33411)". Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  2. "Pollokshields". The Glasgow Story. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  3. "Pollok House: Old Country Houses of the Old Glasgow Gentry (1878)". Glasgow West-end addresses and their occupants. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  4. "Pollokshields Burgh Hall". Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  5. "Architecture". Pollokshields Burgh Hall. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  6. "About us". Lodge Pollock Park. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  7. "No.772 on the roll of the Grand Lodge of Scotland". Lodge Pollock. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  8. "Pollokshields Burgh Hall". Discover Glasgow. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  9. "Pollokshields Burgh Hall". Pollokshields Heritage. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  10. "Financial statements for the year ended 31 July 1997". Pollokshields Burgh Hall Trust Limited. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  11. "Hollywood star Keira Knightley a bridesmaid at brother's wedding in Glasgow". Daily Record. 25 April 2011. Retrieved 19 April 2020.

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