Pollokshaws

File:John Maclean's casket being removed from his Pollokshaws home.jpg casket being removed from his Pollokshaws home in November 1923]]

Pollokshaws was originally a village predominantly dedicated to weaving in the 17th century. A group of Flemish weavers were brought to the area in the 19th century by the landowners, the Maxwells of Pollok, on account of their exceptional weaving skills.{{cite web|url=https://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/lifestyle/13278230.eye-spy-glasgow-in-memory-of-the-queer-folk/|title=Eye Spy Glasgow: In memory of the "Queer Folk"|website=Evening Times}}

Pollokshaws was granted a charter to become a Burgh of Barony in 1812.[https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=32321&p=4 Pollokshaws Heritage Trail], Paul O'Cuinn, p4 It became a police burgh in 1858 and remained a burgh of Renfrewshire until 1912 when it was annexed to the City of Glasgow.[http://www.scotcities.com/cathcart/pollokshaws_auldhouse.htm Pollokshaws & Auldhouse illustrated guide], Scotcities[https://www.theglasgowstory.com/image/?inum=TGSA00986&t=2 Pollokshaws Panorama (Glasgow City Archives, Department of Architectural and Civic Design, 1958)], The Glasgow Story[https://www.theglasgowstory.com/image/?inum=TGSH00030&t=2 Pollokshaws Townhouse (Pollok House, 1830)], The Glasgow Story Though it had been an industrial area, this changed in 1957 when it was proposed as the second Comprehensive Development Area in Glasgow (the first was Hutchesontown). The area was demolished and rebuilt anew.[https://www.theglasgowstory.com/image/?inum=TGSA00904&t=2 Clock Tower, Pollokshaws (Mitchell Library, Glasgow Collection, Bulletin Photographs, 1982)], The Glasgow Story{{Cite web|url=https://www.theglasgowstory.com/story/?id=TGSFF13|title=Modern Times: 1950s to The Present Day: High Rise Developments|author=Ranald MacInnes|website=The Glasgow Story|access-date=11 November 2018}}

File:Tower Block UK photo glw2-31 (Shawbridge 1983-1).jpg

File:Flats on Shawbridge Street (geograph 5453890).jpg

Several residential tower blocks were built as part of the CDA plan in the 1960s.{{cite web |url=https://www.towerblock.eca.ed.ac.uk/development/pollokshaws-comprehensive-development-area-unit-1|title=Tower Block UK:Pollokshaws CDA Unit 1 |publisher=University of Edinburgh|access-date=23 January 2019 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.towerblock.eca.ed.ac.uk/development/pollokshaws-comprehensive-development-area-unit-2-phase-1|title=Tower Block UK: Pollokshaws CDA Unit 2 Phase 1|publisher=University of Edinburgh|access-date=23 January 2019 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.towerblock.eca.ed.ac.uk/development/pollokshaws-comprehensive-development-area-unit-2-phase-2|title=Tower Block UK: Pollokshaws CDA Unit 2 Phase 2|publisher=University of Edinburgh|access-date=23 January 2019 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.towerblock.eca.ed.ac.uk/development/pollokshaws-comprehensive-development-area-unit-2-phase-3|title=Tower Block UK: Pollokshaws CDA Unit 2 Phase 3|publisher=University of Edinburgh|access-date=23 January 2019 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.towerblock.eca.ed.ac.uk/development/pollokshaws-comprehensive-development-area-unit-2-phase-4|title=Tower Block UK: Pollokshaws CDA Unit 2 Phase 4|publisher=University of Edinburgh|access-date=23 January 2019 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.emporis.com/complex/101013/pollokshaws-glasgow-united-kingdom|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228003938/https://www.emporis.com/complex/101013/pollokshaws-glasgow-united-kingdom|url-status=usurped|archive-date=28 February 2019|title=Buildings in Glasgow: Pollokshaws|publisher=Emporis|access-date=27 February 2019 }} Most of these were later demolished between 2008 and 2016 in the Shawbridge Corridor regeneration.{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7516267.stm|title=Tower blocks demolished in blast |work=BBC News|date=20 July 2008 |access-date=17 February 2019 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.urbanrealm.com/news/1721/GHA_demolish_Shawbridge_pair_.html|title=GHA demolish Shawbridge pair |website=Urban Realm|date=31 August 2009|access-date=17 February 2019 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/13288271.a-tall-order-as-tower-blocks-to-be-demolished/|title=A tall order as tower blocks to be demolished|work=Evening Times|date=11 August 2014 |access-date=17 February 2019 }} The blowdowns of the first two towers in July 2008 was filmed in detail by an American company and can be seen as part of the documentary series "The Detonators".{{cite web|url=https://www.discoveryuk.com/series/the-detonators/|title=The Detonators|publisher=Discovery UK|access-date=15 April 2021}} Low-rise, mainly private housing has replaced the blocks. A group of four towers at Shawhill remain standing going into the 2020s,{{cite web|url=https://www.towerblock.eca.ed.ac.uk/development/pollokshaws-comprehensive-development-area-unit-1|title=Tower Block UK:Pollokshaws CDA Unit 1|publisher=University of Edinburgh|access-date=23 January 2019 }} along with a single block at Cartcraigs on the southern periphery of the district.{{cite web |url=https://www.towerblock.eca.ed.ac.uk/development/pollokshaws-comprehensive-development-area-unit-2-blocks-28-30|title=Tower Block UK: Pollokshaws CDA Unit 2 Blocks 28–30|publisher=University of Edinburgh|access-date=23 January 2019 }}{{Cite web |url=https://www.emporis.com/buildings/147615 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211116230344/https://www.emporis.com/buildings/147615 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=16 November 2021 |title=33 Cartcraigs Road |work=Emporis}}

File:Pollokshaws Burgh Hall (geograph 2658809).jpg ]]

Pollokshaws Burgh Hall on Pollokshaws Road, built in 1895–98 by architect Robert Rowand Anderson in the Scots renaissance style, was originally the municipal headquarters of the independent burgh before passing into the ownership of Glasgow Corporation following annexation. Now a Category A listed building, it was closed by the council in the 1990s but subsequently reopened for community use by a charitable trust.{{Historic Environment Scotland|num=LB33953|desc=2025 POLLOKSHAWS ROAD AND BENGAL STREET, POLLOKSHAWS BURGH HALL|cat=A|access-date=6 August 2020}}{{cite news |title=About |url=https://pollokshawsburghhall.co.uk/about/ |access-date=6 August 2020 |work=Pollokshaws Burgh Hall |publisher=Pollokshaws Burgh Hall Trust}}

File:Sir John Maxwell School, Pollokshaws, Glasgow. Scotland.jpg

Sir John Stirling Maxwell Primary School, located on Bengal Street / Christian Street, was a standalone red sandstone building by architect John H Hamilton, completed in 1907. The site of the school was previously donated by local philanthropic landowner Sir John Stirling Maxwell, after whom it was named.[https://canmore.org.uk/site/160821/glasgow-30-bengal-street-sir-john-maxwell-primary-school Glasgow, 30 Bengal Street, Sir John Maxwell Primary School], Canmore The school was closed in June 2011 and despite local pressure and campaigns the building was allowed to rot and stood derelict for some years.[https://www.sirjohnmaxwellschool.com/ Save Sir John Maxwell School]. Retrieved 16 November 2021[https://sghet.com/project/sir-john-maxwell-school/ Project. Sir John Maxwell School]. South Glasgow Heritage Environment Trust. Retrieved 16 November 2021 It was demolished in 2023 after being deemed structurally unsafe beyond repair, with the council promising to save and re-use some of its features in a future project.[https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/historic-glasgow-school-demolished-after-27534405.amp Historic Glasgow school demolished after it was declared 'structurally unsafe'], Kieran Fleming, Glasgow Live, 17 August 2023

Pollokshaws Clock Tower, located on Pleasance Street, is the surviving part of the old Town House, built in 1803. There was a ground-floor school with a court-room and a police cell above it. From 1818, the Town House building also housed a library.

The Pollokshaws Burgh Charter empowered the council to hold courts for the trial both of civil actions and criminal offences. A jail to incarcerate local wrongdoers was built in 1845. After the 1912 annexation of Pollokshaws Burgh to the City of Glasgow, most of the Town House was demolished and only a public campaign managed to save the remaining Clock Tower.[https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/lifestyle/13508679.memories-pollokshaws-clock-tower-in-1973/ Memories: Pollokshaws clock tower in 1973], Glasgow Evening Times. Retrieved 16 November 2021

File:Toll house, Pollokshaws - geograph.org.uk - 3413436.jpg

The Round Toll is a circular building now located on the central island of the roundabout of the same name (junction of B762 Barrhead Road / Nether Auldhouse Road and B769 Pollokshaws Road / Thornliebank Road). Built around 1820 as a tollbooth, it is the only surviving example of this type of building in the area, others having been lost to road development, and a rare example of an older building in Pollokshaws following 20th century slum clearance and redevelopment. It is now Category B listed. Following the abolition of road tolls in the 1880s it served as a carriage hire premises, a pub, and latterly as a private house up until the 1950s. It was subsequently used for council storage but is now vacant and isolated on the roundabout.{{Historic Environment Scotland|num=LB33915|desc=1 BARRHEAD ROAD, JUNCTION WITH POLLOKSHAWS ROAD AND NETHER AULDHOUSE ROAD, TOLL HOUSE FORMERLY 1 CROSS STREET|cat=B|access-date=6 August 2020}}

Pollokshaws Bowling Club was formed in 1854 and was originally across from Pollokshaws West railway station. On the club's centenary, the clubhouse and greens moved into Pollok Park rent free thanks to Sir John Stirling Maxwell.

The Pollokshaws Races, an informal horse racing event staged annually from around 1750 until 1883, took place on a racecourse to the southwest of the village, on land now occupied by Kennishead Road and Cowglen Golf Club. The races initially developed in conjunction with the local holiday, the Pollokshaws Fair, and were viewed more as an excuse for drinking and socialising rather than a serious sporting event.{{cite book |last1=O'Brien |first1=Ged |editor1-last=Inglis |editor1-first=Simon |editor1-link=Simon Inglis |title=Played in Glasgow: Charting the Heritage of a City at Play |date=2010 |publisher=Malavan Media |location=London |isbn=9780954744557 |page=79}}

Pollok F.C.'s Newlandsfield Park is in the area, adjacent to Pollokshaws East railway station.{{cite web|title=Newlandsfield|url=http://pollokfc.com/newlandsfield|publisher=pollokfc.com|access-date=3 February 2013}}

• Frankie Boyle - comedian{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/dec/19/frankie-boyle-celebrity-memoirs|title=Frankie Boyle lays into celebrity memoirs as his own is a surprise hit|first=Stuart|last=Jeffries|newspaper=The Guardian |date=19 December 2009|via=www.theguardian.com}}
• Elizabeth 'Betty' Burns - Illegitimate daughter of Robert Burns is buried in the Kirk Lane Cemetery.[http://www.robertburns.org/encyclopedia/ParkorBurnsElizabeth1791-1873.701.shtml Burns Encyclopedia] 27 February 2012
• Jack McLean, Glasgow columnist
• John MacLean - early 20th century socialist{{cite web|url=https://www.glasgowwestend.co.uk/people/johnmaclean.php|title=John Maclean's Pollokshaws|publisher=Pat's Guide|access-date=15 April 2021}}
• Alex Norton - actor{{cite news |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15166431.Heroes__heroin_and_the_ghost_from_Alex_Norton_past/ |title=Heroes, heroin and the ghost from Alex Norton past |date=19 March 2017 |access-date=4 January 2018 |newspaper=Herald Scotland}}
• James Maxton - political activist{{Cite ODNB|id=34957|title=Maxton, James [Jimmy]}}
• James Tassie - 18th century gem engraver{{EB1911|wstitle=Tassie, James|volume=26|pages=442–443|first=John Miller|last=Gray|authorlink=John Miller Gray}}

• Glasgow tower blocks

{{reflist}}

• {{commons category-inline}}
• [http://www.pollokshaws.org.uk Pollokshaws Heritage Group] for a full history of Pollokshaws
• [https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=32321&p=0 Pollokshaws Heritage Trail], Pollokshaws Heritage Group / Glasgow City Council
• [http://www.gerryblaikie.com/southglasgow/pollokshaws_auldhouse.htm Pollokshaws & Auldhouse Illustrated Guide]

{{Areas of Glasgow}}

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Category:Burghs

Category:Areas of Glasgow