The 1870s saw Glasgow prosper as never before. The population had risen from 83,769 in 1801, to 565,150 in 1871. The City Improvement Trust was busy rebuilding parts of the central area, while new suburbs were springing up all around. The provision of facilities for these new areas was keeping everyone busy, not least the religious and educational authorities.
The former was chiefly the responsibility of the three main Protestant Churches, the established Church of Scotland, the Free Church, and the United Presbyterian Church. The rivalry among these three was intense, and no new suburb was allowed to appear without a building for each of them.
Bridgeton and Dalmarnock by this time were fully built over with mills and factories of all kinds, and the housing for their workers. In the 1870s seven new churches were built in the area in addition to those already there. (Adapted from F. Worsdall, The City that Disappeared, p 94)
The scale of this 19th century building legacy is reflected in the listing of companies and connected churches in the 1950-51 Directory of the Glasgow Battalion of Boys’ Brigade; a decade before the comprehensive redevelopment of the city got underway, and with it the often unnecessary demolition of much of Glasgow’s ecclesiastical architectural heritage.
Of course, while there are is a wide range of other factors that contribute to the loss of iconic buildings, it is the scale of the systematic destruction of the mid to late 20th century that is noteworthy.
GLASGOW CHURCH BUILDINGS THAT HAVE DISAPPEARED (Under construction)
Newhall Parish Church, Bridgeton
Shearer Memorial Church, Hutchesontown