Basic Site Details Name: | University of Glasgow, main quadrangles | Town, district or village: | Gilmorehill | City or county: | Glasgow | Country: | Scotland | Parish: | | Status: | A listed | Grid ref: | | Notes: | New university buildings commissioned following purchase of High Street site of original ones by a subsidiary of the North British Railway Company (see also the previous unexecuted scheme for buildings on the Woodlands site, produced under similar circumstances). The appointment of George Gilbert Scott without recourse to a competition was highly controversial.
Main block, also quadrangle, Bute Hall, Hunterian Museum and Library.
Bute Hall Memorial Window: Building News 18 January 1901 Page 86 'A stained-glass window, erected to the memory of the late Principal Caird in the Bute Hall of Glasgow University, was unveiled on Friday. The window was designed by Mr. Dearle, of Messrs. Morris and Co., Surrey. There are four lights, the upper and the lower portions being separated by the gallery of the hall. In the upper part there are figures of four philosophers and four theologians whose works the late Principal delighted to interpret, and in the lower part are allegorical figures of the four faculties_Arts, Medicine, Law, and Divinity; while in the tracery of the window is a small figure symbolical of the Creation of Light. The prevailing colours of the ground-work, which has been kept relatively light and is foliated in design, are white, pale green, and blue. Upon this ground the figures appear in varied colours'...
| Alternative NamesThe following alternative names are associated with this building/design: | | Name | Current name? | Notes | | Gilbert Scott Building including West Range | | | | University of Glasgow Gilmorehill Campus Buildings A5 to A17 | | |
Building Type ClassificationThe building is classified under the following categories: | | Classification | Original classification? | Notes | | University | | |
Street AddressesThe following street addresses are associated with this building: | | Address | Main entrance? | Notes | | 1, Gilmorehill | Yes | | | University Avenue | Yes | |
EventsThe following date-based events are associated with this building: | | From | To | Event type | Notes | | 1860s | | | Design by J T Rochead | | 1863 | | | Site purchased for £65,000 | | September 1864 | | | G G Scott commissioned | | 4 April 1867 | | | First stone laid | | July 1867 | | | Date of drawings of scheme by Smith & Wharrie (may just have been a survey of the site) - though Scott had already been appointed by this date | | May 1868 | October 1868 | | Masons' strike caused delay in construction | | 8 October 1868 | | Foundation stone | Laid by Prince & Princess of Wales | | 1869 | | Design exhibited | Scott's design | | 7 November 1870 | | Opened | Opened, but work continued | | 1871 | 1872 | | Original scheme completed | | 1878 | 1884 | | Bute Hall and Randolph Hall completed posthumously to G G Scott's designs | | 1891 | | Design exhibited | Completion of tower - John Oldrid Scott | | 1951 | | | Development plan - not executed |
PeopleDesign and ConstructionThe following individuals or organisations have carried out design/construction work. Where architects or practices worked together, matching letters appear beside their names in the Partnership Group column. | | Name | Role | Partnership Group | From | To | Notes | | John Thomas Rochead | | | 1860s | | Unexecuted design: circumstances in which it was produced unknown, perhaps in protest at exclusion of Scottish architects from the project | | (Sir) George Gilbert Scott | | A | 1864 | 1872 | Original scheme, inspired by John Baird II's unexecuted 1840s scheme for the university rebuilding | | James Smith | | B | 1867 | | 'Proposed new college buildings' - though Scott had already been appointed by this date. | | Smith & Wharrie | | B | 1867 | | 'Proposed new college buildings' (or perhaps just a survey of the site?)- though Scott had already been appointed by this date. | | Thomas Smith Wharrie | | B | 1867 | | 'Proposed new college buildings' - though Scott had already been appointed by this date. | | William Conradi | | A | Before 1867 | Before 1876 | As resident clerk of works for George Gilbert Scott | | Edwin Morgan | | C | 1878 | 1884 | As clerk of works - executed the late G G Scott's designs (signed just before his death) for Bute Hall and Randolph Hall with J Oldrid Scott | | John Oldrid Scott | | C | 1878 | 1884 | Executed the late G G Scott's designs (signed just before his death) for Bute Hall and Randolph Hall with Edwin Morgan | | John Oldrid Scott | | D | 1887 | 1891 | Completion of spire to a modification of the late G G Scott's design; consultation on new buildings | | John Oldrid Scott | | E | 1896 | | Mural memorials to Lord Sandford and Professor Veitch | | (Sir) Frank Charles Mears | | | 1951 | | Development plan - not executed |
Related Buildings, Structures and DesignsChild StructuresThis structure or site has the following component or child structures (click on an item to view details): | | Building Name | Notes | | Glasgow University, Memorial Tablet Bute Hall | A memorial tablet, including a medallion portrait of the late Sir William Ramsay KCB FRS is to be erected in the University of Glasgow, of which he was a graduate and teacher. The University Court has arranged that the memorial, which is designed by Sir John J. Burnet, shall lie placed in a conspicuous position at the entrance to the Bute Hall. [Building News 4 July 1917 Page 17] | | University of Glasgow, New Medical Buildings | | | University of Glasgow, War Memorial Chapel and Arts Building | Built in previous open space in western court of university buildings - completing G G Scott's quadrangle. Sculptor Archibald Dawson assisted by Andrew Wilson; stained glass of chapel's four west windows by Douglas Strachan; faculty stained glass in north wall by Gordon Webster (1954) |
ReferencesBibliographic ReferencesThe following books contain references to this building: | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | Billings, R W | 1845 | The baronial and ecclesiastical antiquities of Scotland | 4V | Edinburgh | | | Brown, A L, Moss, M | 1996 | The University of Glasgow: 1451-1996 | | | p32-56 | | Gomme, Andor and Walker, David | 1987 | Architecture of Glasgow | Second revised edn | London: Lund Humphries | 1st ed (1968), pp46-47, 169-170, 177, 249 | | Grant, David | | The Office of Works and the Renovation of the Scottish Universities, 1808-89 | | | | | Grant, David | 2005 | Removal of the University of Glasgow to Woodlands Hill 1845-49 and Gilmorehill, 1853-83 | v.135 | Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, pp213-258 | | | Graves, Algernon | 1905 | The Royal Academy of Arts: a complete dictionary of exhibitors and their works… | 1905-6 | London: Graves and Bell | 1869, no 977 Goerge Gilbert Scott); 1891, no 1755 (completition of tower by John Ordrid Scott) | | Macaulay, James | 2009 | Sir George Gilbert Scott and the University of Glasgow | | (Eds) Jones, D and McKinistry, S 'Essays in Scots and English Architectural History | pp71-81 | | McKinstry, Sam and Ding, Ying Yong | 2015 | 'Hybridised' financial control in the Victorian construction Industry: George Gilbert Scott's rebuilding of Glasgow U | | In 'Accounting History' | | | Ross, A and Hume, J | 1975 | A New and Splendid Edifice: the architecture of the University of Glasgow | | | pp15-18 | | RSA | 1871 | | | | 935 (Rochead design) | | Service, Alastair | 1975 | Edwardian Architecture and its Origins | | | p211 | | Thomson, Allen | 1870 | Introductory Addresses delivered at the Opening of the University of Glasgow | i-xxvi | | | | Urquhart, G | 2000 | Along Great Western Road | | | pp64-69 | | Weir, D H, Veitch, J and Cowan, J B | 1871 | Memorials of the Old College of Glasgow | | | | | Williamson, Riches, Higgs | 1990 | Glasgow (The Buildings of Scotland) | | | pp335,339,343; plates 47-8 |
Periodical ReferencesThe following periodicals contain references to this building: | | Periodical Name | Date | Edition | Publisher | Notes | | Architect | 21 October 1887 | | | Spire | | Building News | 10 August 1883 | | | Bute Hall | | Building News | 6 July 1888 | | | Spire | | Building News | 18 January 1901 | | | p86 | | Proceedings of the Glasgow Architectural Society | | | | Criticisms of Scott's scheme |
Archive ReferencesThe following archives hold material relating to this building: | | Source | Archive name | Source catalogue no. | Notes | | Glasgow Planning Department (?) | Glasgow Town Clerk's Department Drawings | | | | Glasgow University Archives | Archval material relating to the building of the University | GB 0248, GUA BUL/6/4/1-30 | Drawings for Bute Hall etc. | | Glasgow University Archives | Archval material relating to the building of the University | GB 0248 GUA BUL/6/1/1-320 | Main building (including Smith & Wharrie scheme?) | | Glasgow University Archives | Archval material relating to the building of the University | BUL/6/5/1-20 | West wing and chapel | | Historic Environment Scotland | Listed Buildings Register | 32913 | [Main block - quadrangles, Bute Hall, Randolph Hall, Hunterian Museum, Library]
New list description 2011 covers the Gilbert scott Building including West Range, Memorial Chapel and Lion & Unicorn Staircase | | Historic Environment Scotland | Listed Buildings Register | 32926 | Professor's Square and Principal's residence | | National Monuments Record of Scotland/NMRS, RCAHMS | NMRS Photographic Archive | | D T-C 485 | | RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum | RIBA Drawings Collection | PA1739/ScGGJ, ScJ[3]/1, DR72/3 | Scott & Scott design and working drawings for Bute Hall | | RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum | RIBA Drawings Collection | PA1738/ScGGJ[23]/1, 2, 4, 5 | Randolph Memorial Hall and contract drawings for completing tower and spire, 1878 | | RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum | RIBA Drawings Collection | PA1708/ScGGS{454]/1-24 | DR10/3/1-2, DR72/1/1-7. Working drawings for fore hall to great hall; design for Great Hall. | | RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum | RIBA Drawings Collection | ScJO/1-3 | Scott Family collection, John Oldrid Scott Account Books 1873-1916 | | Strathclyde Regional Archives | Glasgow Dean of Guild | | 1/399 (spire) |
|