Scotstoun () is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, west of Glasgow City Centre. It is bounded by Garscadden and Yoker to the west, Victoria Park, Jordanhill and Whiteinch to the east, Jordanhill to the north and the River Clyde (and Braehead beyond) to the south. At the heart of Scotstoun lies Scotstounhill, an enclave of late Victorian and post-war housing centred on Scotstounhill railway station. Scotstoun (along with the Kvaerner Govan shipyard) is home to BAE Systems Surface Ships (formerly Yarrow Shipbuilders), and to the Glasgow Warriors rugby team.
History
Scotstoun was until the early 1860s the site of the Oswald family estate, which was centred on Scotstoun House.
[ OS Six-inch 1st edition, 1843–1882, Explore georeferenced maps (National Library of Scotland)][ Scotstoun House (Glasgow University Library, Special Collections, Dougan Collection, 1870), The Glasgow Story][ Anniesland Road (Mitchell Library, Glasgow Collection, Postcards Collection, 1900s), The Glasgow Story] By 1861 the westward expansion of the Clyde
shipbuilding yards had reached Scotstoun with the opening of the Charles Connell and Company shipyard in 1861 and the new Yarrow Shipbuilders yard in 1906.
[ Yarrow's Shipyard (Glasgow City Archives, Photographic Series, The Glasgow Story] This led to the break-up of the estate, as portions were sold off for housing, to create Victoria Park and for further industrial development (
iron,
engineering and shipbuilding) along the river,
[ Clyde Structural Iron Co (Mitchell Library, Glasgow Collection, 1910), The Glasgow Story][ Elderslie Dock and Shipyard (Glasgow City Archives, Photographic Series, 1932), The Glasgow Story] with companies such as the Coventry Ordnance Works and
Albion Motors (1903)
[ Albion works 1914 (Museum of Transport), The Glasgow Story][ Albion Works (Burrell Collection Photo Library, 1955 Survey), The Glasgow Story] locating in the area.
The southern part of Scotstoun is characterised by late 19th/ early 20th century adjoining the old shipyards;[ Harland & Wolff (Glasgow City Archives, Photographic Series, 1932), The Glasgow Story] to the north, and dating from a similar period, is a grid-like estate of mainly terraced cottage style villas with distinctive English styling in wide tree-lined streets, an early example of Ebenezer Howard-type garden suburb town planning.
The west of the area at Scotstounhill has four (formerly six) high rise tower blocks, the Kingsway flats,
Current amenities
Today parts of Scotstoun is a conservation area, part of which lies in the Jordanhill School catchment, and is popular with families seeking fine period houses with gardens close to the heart of the West End. The local primary school and church
[ Scotstoun UF Church (Mitchell Library, Glasgow Collection, Postcards Collection, 1910), The Glasgow Story] lie in the north of the area. South of the main road through the area are tenements, a mixture of privately owned and social housing. To the west of the area is a new housing project of houses and flats. Some of the high rise tower blocks were demolished to make way for the new housing project by Glasgow Housing Association. Several tower blocks are still standing behind the new housing complex. There was formerly a fine red sandstone school, Victoria Drive Secondary, which opened in 1909 and was closed and demolished in 1998.
[ Victoria Drive Secondary School (Glasgow City Archives, Department of Education, 1970s), The Glasgow Story] Scotstoun's finest B listed building, the former Scotstoun West church, was mysteriously destroyed by fire then replaced with a
Cala Homes development of flats in the 1990s.
Scotstoun is also the site of Scotstoun Leisure Centre
Scotstoun Sports Campus is an international sports venue, hosting both squash and the table tennis events during the 2014 Commonwealth Games as well as synchronised swimming events at the 2018 European Championships, co-hosted with Berlin.
Formerly, Scotstoun Showground had no internal corridor under the stand, which meant you had to go outside down the back of the stand to the showers and back which often provided entertainment for the residents of Danes Drive.
A brand new community centre was opened on Balmoral Street on 18 June 2011, called "The Heart of Scotstoun Community Centre".[ Welcome to our community, Heart of Scotstoun] A community cafe opened on Dumbarton Road in 2016 called Cafe Taste that works closely with the local community and provides ethical employment.
Part of Scotstoun is a designated conservation area and has an active residents association called Scotstoun Conservation Area Residents Association. Scotstoun Community Council is active in the area and represents the whole of Scotstoun (other than a small part of Scotstounhill with G13 postcode).[ Welcome, Scotstoun Community Council] The community council meets on the last Thursday of every month (except July and December) at the Heart of Scotstoun community centre. These meetings are open to the public.
Scotstoun Primary School
Scotstoun Primary School is a
primary school built by the Renfrew Landward School Board in 1905 on Earlbank Avenue.
[ Scotstoun Primary School (Glasgow City Archives, Department of Education), The Glasgow Story] The building differs from those built by the Glasgow School Board in many respects, notably in the inclusion of its distinctive towers.
The current head teacher is Emma McGill. Scotstoun Primary is part of the Knightswood New Learning Community.
See also
External links
