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Dennistoun () is a mostly residential district in Glasgow, Scotland, located north of the River Clyde and in the city's east end, about east of the city centre. Since 2017 it has formed the core of a Dennistoun ward under Glasgow City Council, having previously been a component of the East Centre ward.
Aside from the smaller Haghill neighbourhood further east, Dennistoun's built environment does not adjoin any others directly, with the M8 motorway dividing it from Royston to the north, while the buildings of Glasgow Royal Infirmary and Wellpark Brewery plus the Glasgow Necropolis cemetery lie to the west (separating it from adjacent Townhead), and railway lines form the southern boundary with the Calton/Gallowgate neighbourhoods, and Camlachie (a historic district which is now largely a retail park) on the opposite side.
In 1836 the "Reformatory Institution and House of Refuge ( For Boys)", funded by public subscription, was built on the westmost part of the Whitehill estate, with its entrance gatehouse and driveway off Duke Street. It normally accommodated around 300 "juvenile offenders and neglected children" for education and training.,
Sheet VI.11.15. Surveyed: 1857, Published: 1860 The area including the estates was incorporated into the city officially in 1846. Ask the Archivist - annexed burghs, Family History at The Mitchell Library, 2020 In the 1850s, Annfield Place was built parallel to Duke Street, to the west of the Reformatory entrance.
In 1854 Dennistoun engaged the Glasgow architect James Salmon, who designed proposed development, surveyed the site, and laid it out in streets, terraces, and drives. The development area, to the north of Annfield Place, gained access off Duke Street via Westcraigs Street and Craigbank Street. The first plots in Dennistoun were feued from 1861. After Glasgow Corporation acquired the Kennyhill estate and laid it out as Alexandra Park with Alexandra Parade as its western approach, the Dennistoun suburb grew rapidly.
The Whitehill estate was developed and, just east of the Reformatory, Dennistoun Academy private school was built. Glasgow School Board took it over in 1883, and made it Whitehill state school for girls. This was demolished, and replaced in 1891 by the larger Whitehill Public School for boys, girls and infants, which later became Whitehill Secondary School.,
Sheet VI.11.15. Surveyed: 1892-3, Published: 1895
The Reformatory had been left empty for a number of years, in 1889 it was used as temporary accommodation for boys displaced when the training-ship HMS Cumberland was set on fire. With a large single storey extension added to its north, the building housed the Glasgow East-End Industrial Exhibition, which opened on 23 December 1890, to support establishment of a People's Palace in the east end of Glasgow. The East End Exhibition Buildings were converted into a 7,000 seat theatre for Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show which ran from 16 November 1891 to 27th February 1892. The large troupe included Annie Oakley and Lakota people, notably Kicking Bear.
From 1910, town plans show a skating rink in front of the Exhibition Buildings. A Palais de Danse was built on the site in 1922, but destroyed by a 1936 fire. After rebuilding, the Dennistoun Palais opened in 1938 with 1,800 capacity, the biggest dance hall in Glasgow. It closed in 1962, but was remembered in Hamish Imlach's song Cod Liver Oil and the Orange Juice.
– NS6165SW,Surveyed: 1951, Published: 1951.
Unable to attract the middle-class residents intended by its original developers, Dennistoun had established itself as a respectable working class area for families. After the Second World War, the area's Victorian tenements were refurbished and extended rather than replaced with high-rise modernist blocks as in other working-class districts such as neighbouring Calton and Parkhead, and this, coupled with proximity to the city centre and Caledonian and Strathclyde universities, has contributed to its gentrification in recent years; many of its residents are students and young professionals.
The park is home to a cast-iron Saracen Foundry-built Saracen Fountain which was given to the city after the 1901 International Exhibition and remained in Kelvingrove Park for 12 years after the exhibition. In 1914, Glasgow Corporation took the decision to re-site this magnificent piece of industrial architecture to its present location. The fountain was restored to its former glory in 2000.
Market Gallery, an artist-run contemporary art gallery, is located on Duke Street and spread over three shop units. WASPS artists' studios, a charity providing affordable studio space to support up to 750 artists, is located on Hanson Street.
The only secondary school in the area is Whitehill Secondary School which is majority fed by pupils from Golfhill Primary, Alexandra Parade Primary and Haghill Primary. As it is a non-denominational school, most of the pupils from St Denis' go to St Mungo's Academy located on Crownpoint Road, Gallowgate.
In 2007 it was decided that the two Church of Scotland congregations, Dennistoun Blackfriars and Dennistoun Central churches, would unite to form Dennistoun New Parish Church. This followed long vacancies dating from 2000 (Dennistoun Blackfriars) and 2004 (Dennistoun Central).
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