A Short History of St Enoch Square in Glasgow
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- Опубликовано: 17 окт 2024
- Below a city centre square in the middle of Glasgow lies a saint.
Saint Thenew, or Saint Teneu, was the mother of a 6th century priest, Kentigern, regarded as the man wholly responsible for the creation of Glasgow, a city variously named over the centuries as Cathures or Glaschu, the dear green place. Kentigern later also became a saint, affectionately known as Saint Mungo. Saintishness must have ran in the family.
And long time ago what is now St Enoch Square was indeed a dear green place, sitting on the western edge of the city and noted as being 'a solitary spot in the country, surrounded by cornfields'. How times change.
The name Thenew or Teneu changed over time, as words often do, and eventually became 'enoch'. And that is why we have a St Enoch Square in Glasgow; burial place of a saint.
Of course, you'd never know that beneath your feet lay the remains of 'a 6th century Brittonic princess of the ancient kingdom of Gododdin', or Lothian, as it's now known. And you'd never know that she was buried below a medieval chapel built over her resting place. For today, for a few months each year, St Enoch Square hosts a fun fair, where kids have fun and long-departed saints throw up their bony hands in despair. Is there no respect these days!
Of all the streets, lanes, squares and byways in Glasgow, St Enoch Square has probably seen more change, demolition, and general upheaval than anywhere else.
A church was built over the old chapel and Saint Thenew's remains back in the late 18th century. For a while it was the only thing in the square. Then houses were arranged around it, and a small fountain - visible only in Sulman's Bird's-Eye View of Glasgow dating to 1864 - and what had previously been a nice spot in the countryside became something of an upmarket residential area. But times change and people move. The church lasted until 1925 before being demolished.
Then in the 1870s the railway arrived, and St Enoch Square was dominated by a huge railway hotel containing upwards of 200 bedrooms. But the railway station and the hotel only lasted about 100 years before they too were demolished. Thank you Doctor Beeching! The rubble from both was used to fill in Queen's Dock by the River Clyde.
And then - are you still paying attention? - something else was built, a massive glass and metal shopping centre, opened in 1989, and it too dominated the square, although not in as grand a way as the old hotel and station.
But the St Enoch shopping centre itself is now due for demolition, sometime in the next 15 to 20 years. What will replace it? Does anyone care? More upheaval. More demolition and building. Glaswegians could be forgiven for thinking they live in a building-site and not a city.
Meanwhile, the bones of a saint lie under the ground.
I remember when there was a bus terminus on St Enoch Square. I also *very* vividly remember when they opened the St Enoch Centre.
I remember after shopping with my parents going to afternoon tea in the St Enoch hotel. Glasgow was the most beautiful place full of stunning architecture. A college lecturer told me when in Glasgow look up, the carvings on the buildings are amazing. But then the architects and bulldozers came. And took away a lot of the beauty and left behind soleless structures.
It's always lovely to find a new video of yours in my 'suggestions' list. This one is up there with the best you've ever created. I agree totally about the desecration of what is most sacred about Glasgow. The resting place of Thenew, currently the site of a fun fair. Similar in my mind to the Molendinar Burn being used as a sewer - also Ladywell from which saints once drank, turned into a brewery. They wouldn't do that in Glastonbury now would they? The endless erasure of our architectural history and identity sickens me. The merging images of the old maps and photos that you skillfully put together, is one of the delights in these short films, even though they usually leave me feeling sad. Once destroyed, we cannot bring a building back, and so the extent of the ( ongoing ) destruction is unforgiveable. Perhaps it could be if what replaced it was more majestic and beautiful, but we all know it simply isn't. As always, your evocative music lends an invigorating backdrop to the presentation of these sorry tales of wanton havoc wreaked upon our Dear Green Place. My ancestors would weep if they could see the city now. It's as if some unseen force were treating this sacred city with utter disdain, verging on hatred.....
Thanks Eilean. Well said. The merging of different maps is made very easy by the National Library of Scotland's excellent online map facility. Whoever was responsible for putting that together needs to be recognised with some sort of award.
Glasgow seems to have been subject to more than its fair share of industrial vandalism. The construction of the M8 through the centre of the city saw the needless destruction of many fine buildings, all in the pursuit of a defunct German planning paradigm. It seems our planners and overlords have learned nothing and are hellbent on re-enacting the same mistakes all over again. Brilliant video Ed. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thanks Eddie for one of your best videos so far, I arrived in the Gorbals (Hospital street aged 0) in 1957 and for the next 13 years wandered the streets and watched the destruction of a society, a people and a way of life and all for the modernisation (enrichment) of a few elite, who cared nothing for the history, society or culture therein nor had a care for the people
(YES I am very angry).
Glasgow has lost so much and I thank you for making todays people aware what the greed of a few has cost us and all in the name of progress?
🤠
Thanks Edward. I think when you look at 20th century film footage of places like the Gorbals, you realise how these areas desperately needed to be improved as living conditions were dire. When one journalist paid the area a visit, one woman invited him inside her tenement flat to reveal she had no windows. The frames had rotted and the windows just fell out. Makes you wonder how the city council could allow such a thing. Demolition and improvement had to happen in many areas, but sadly in the process we lost many grand old structures that should have saved.
Great video ,remember the square well when I was young I had to get my bus home from the square and I always admired the hotel and I couldn’t believe the council decided to knock it down.
I was born in 1965 and I have to say I thought I'd imagined seeing the old St Enoch hotel based on photos and suchlike. Thanks for putting my mind at ease.
We're never satisfied with Glasgow and we continue to vandalise our city.
Love the music by the way gives me an Iron Maiden vibe🤘
Cheers Vinny.
Another great video Eddie, I was an agency driver for W.J. Malcolm when the St Enoch hotel was being demolished. So I feel like I should apologise for my part in the monstrosity that's replaced the lovely old building.
Cheers Colin.
Standing at the bus stop on Waterloo Street on Saturday evening with my wife, daughter and our wee granddaughters to put them on the bus home. We were right opposite the old Postman's Office ( I was in the job 30 years but only fleetingly in Waterloo Street) and my daughter came out with "Look how beautiful that building is.... Then look along there, they're just glass boxes!" I don't know what beautiful buildings they've cleared away but whatever it was, they can't be replaced. I can remember someone, possibly an architect involved in the design of one of these "cubes" , quite possibly the St Enoch centre by saying it had "Self cleaning windows" I must admit, I had Stan Laurel laughing with Olly at a table running in my head lol
Another great video Ed 👍
Cheers Jim. Yes, self-cleaning windows; that would have swung it!
Lived around the corner and saw many of those old buildings like the Alhambra Theatre and others demolished before being rebuilt as glass boxes, one of which has already been demolished and rebuilt twice.
My first job in the late 70’s was in Waterloo St , and remember well the old Post Office building ,huge impressively ornate building , which was surrounded in turn by others . I walked various routes to George Square over the years , and slowly in dismay in younger uninformed years as why all those wonderfully architecturally important places were being torn down and replaced with temporary “ plastic “ structures . It made me sad then … and still sad today . Why do we allow such morons to decide our fate ?
Incredible video, so cool to hear you have living memory of the St Enoch train station. Getting rid of the church and the train station is mental. I feel there is a pattern, a systematic need to destroy. The average life of a Glaswegian would be so much better if we managed to maintain our old architecture well, we could of be a top tourist site for the world, as we are not specialising in much else anymore. Prop to giving Mark Worst credits in the video, fyi 'Ejec'/'Ejek' was reponsible for the Gorbals Vampire piece, and is responsible for quite a few other murals in the city. Looking forward to your next video!
Many thanks. The city is full of stunning street art. It just brightens up your day.
I can just picture how great those old buildings would look if they had been cleaned up. At 86 I feel the city has lost its soul.I spent many a rainy night waiting for a bus in St Enoch square to get to Glasgow south side.
GREAT VIDEO SUPERB OLD PICS , THANKS FOR THE STORY REALLY INTERESTING !! :) LOVE THE OLD WORLD STUFF !! Exvellent !!
Great video Eddie I remember there was a tunnel you could walk through from Dunlop St , at the side of Lewis's Argyle St to Howard St under the railway there where large Iron gates and it was like going back to a Jack the Ripper setting really quite eerie dark with walls and ceiling dripping with water and a musty smell, I have been looking for photos of the gates and tunnel but cannot find any. Keep up the good work I really enjoy your videos!
Thanks John. I've not seen images of that tunnel, although certainly there were tunnels and covered areas due to the height of the railway station and tracks. The Glasgow Story is always a great source of images. This link will take you to a Glasgow Story page showing arches in Howard Street in 1955.
www.theglasgowstory.com/image/?inum=TGSE01451&t=2
Fantastic, what a brilliant video, it makes you sad to realize what is lost, what could have been, it would look amazing, now the St Enoch centre is going be pulled down, without someone like yourself doing these videos, our last beauty is lost, have subscribed 👌
Thank you.
Thank you, Ed. Now when I drive around this area of Glasgow, I see it so differently, knowing more of it's history. Love your videos 💞
Thanks Mairi.
Thanks for this video , folks in charge of Scotland ,have been making horrendous decisions for a very long time and still to this day .
Thank you Ed. Yet another interesting video. Please keep the coming.
I Remember As A Boy I Used To Deliver Milk From The Scottish Farmers Depot In Possil Rd to St Enoch's Square, And Along Argyle St, And On The Wall Leading Up To The Station Was A Big Enamel Sign, And, It Said, They Come As A Boon, And, A Blessing To Men, The Pickwick, The Owl, And, The Waverley Pen, I'm Now 82, And I've Been In Austalia 60 Years, But, I'll Always Remember That Sign In St Enoch's Square, But, What A Horrible, And Disgusting Mess They Have Made Of An Iconic Glasgow Land Mark, JIM CAMPBELL.🥴🥰🏴🏴🏴
Cheers Jim. It's funny the things we remember from long ago.
Had a wee pub below the station called the Eagle which had a stuffed eagle atop the bar.
Terminus of the Glasgow South Western Railway, the stores were in the superb Italianate building off the High Street in Bell Street.
The duke of Montrose apparently had a suite in St Enochs Hotel, handy for trips to his Arran hoose.
If they'd kept the hotel it could've been as opulant as the Grand Central Hotel at Central Station, built just a few years later and now a stunning example of just what can be done. The interior is out of this world.
I worked in McCorquodale and the eagle in was opposite us, a printers , most of the guys used the eagle in memories of Davy Munro , bill taggart , bobby McCarthy to name but a few , funny to think of this time as nostalgic it certainly wasn't at the time , but yes the planners have made a complete mess of Glasgow , Gorbals born , castlemilk raised
Another excellent video thanks Ed. You are surrounded by so much history. Thanks for sharing a part of it. I really appreciate the research and work that go into these snapshots of history.
Thanks Bryce.
LOVE YOUR MUSIC EDDIE, YOU OLD ROCKER YOU, IF THE MUSICS TOO LOUD YOUR TOO OLD.
Thanks. And as you get older your hearing loses some of those high frequencies so you have to play it even louder!
Stellar work Ed, I enjoyed this video immensely. Thank you
Thanks Michael.
St. Enoch hotel closed March 1974 and we had a farewell do in the old club at the bottom of Union Street. Vega or Viva?
Staff then either retired, died or were relocated to Central or North British hotels or indeed to summer season hotels which were just reopening like Gleneagles, Turnberry etc as well as joining the new Albany Hotel in Bothwell street.
Stories of a ghostly grey lady wandering the long corridors from the square to Dunlop Street end were abound but i never saw her in four years dayshift or nightshift.
I did however notice that my white waiter's jacket was briefly lit on and off by the very poor hall lighting as I walked along resulting in shadow and light playing on the window at the corridor. Quite disconcerting until you reached the end and realised it was your own reflection causing this ghostly apparition!
@@garynumansunconvincingwig2435 That's quite correct, head housekeeper was Miss James but no idea where she went after it closed.
Rangers FC used the hotel for meals for the players when I was there from 1970 to 1974 and we often received tickets for matches. Not sure about 1972 as I worked summer season up at Gleneagles hotel in Perthshire before returning for winters in Glasgow.
Scotland team would visit sometimes and way back through the 60's saw a lot of continental sides staying there for Glasgow matches.
What was your grandmother's name, I worked as a waiter in the restaurant and banqueting.... mind you that was a long, long time ago.
Heart breaking
What an amazing video Ed....well done 👏👏. I remember the hotel and recall that when it closed it was said to be haunted by a white (or grey ) lady.....😮😅
Many thanks David.
I;59. the photo of Abraham lincoln was taking by Scottish photographer Alexander Gardner in 8162 ' he was also a co founder of the co op retail shop . He was from Paisley 😎love this show sir 🤗
m sure the guy in the photo with Lincoln is Pinkerton, the Scot who founded the Pinkertons detective ageny.
Thanks for that Cameron. There was a lot of interesting information under the bridge about famous folk and where they were born in the Gorbals.
Absolutely right. Information panels under the bridge give a bit of history, and there's a map showing where these people, including Pinkerton, were born in the Gorbals.
Hi Ed, I remember going on holiday from st Enoch circa 1964 ish, you did said southbound routes maybe it was Girvan.
Atb
I'm not sure. The internet suggests as far south as Carlisle, but also suggests some services may actually have gone north.
I must have lived another life in Glasgow because the sadness I see when I look at those buildings being demolished is not right. They could have been used for many thing if the facade and structure was kept.
My lunch break on rumble (it’s all one word) has an interesting take on these old build and cities around the world. I saw the Edinburgh and Budapest one. Very interesting.
Thanks for your content and effort. Seems most people don’t give a shit any more.
Cheers Garry. I think we only have to look at Glasgow's Grand Central Hotel, another railway hotel built just a few years after the St Enoch Hotel, to see just how magnificent these buildings were, and how grand and majestic they can look today if properly cared for and maintained. Both the exterior and interior of the Grand Central Hotel are stunning. Next time you're in the city centre, pop in for a look.
@@EdExploresScotland been there a few times. Done the central hotel tour, really interesting. Not sure if they still do it. I would like to know more about Grahamstone village that stood there before the central was built. They let sir John Maxwell school rot so they could pull it down. People that run governments now are criminals
Love the videos mate. Anychance of doing one on ravenscraig, some of the remnants are there but it's fast disappearing. Motherwell steelworks are the only one left
Thanks Dean. I've looked at Motherwell a few times, but for some reason shied away from it. Not sure I could do it justice.
@EdExploresScotland
There's so many x steelworks in motherwell and bellshill, the old stewart n lloyds on clydsdale road still has some remnants too, also the old colliery bridge at bothwellhaugh is still there too but its buried in forest behind the fairground
Fascinating as always 😊
Cheers June.
was that your own music or is that a different ed, great video great music i do enjoy a bit of railway history
Many thanks. Yes, that's my own music, made on Cubase Elements software. I sometimes have bits of music sitting around on the computer with nowhere to go, and sometimes they find a home.
@@EdExploresScotland wow it took me back to childhood classic dark rock loved it, as a vocalist when i find a good sound i like to reach out an say well done
Hi Ed, great as always to see you. I share your loss for this immense building. I know why it was demolished at St. Enoch. It was proof of a previous humanity. It was not built in the 1800s at all. It was likely 1000 years or more that it was built; furthermore, we do not have the skill or technology yo build it either. It's supposed to be built before the advent of power tools or decent cranes. It was a marvel of ingenuity that we couldn't replicate. When are we building anything on this majestic scale? We can not. Vandalism that even the ancient Vandals would have gasped at in incredulity.
Where is the construction photographs of this huge building? Nowhere to be found.
Always enjoy the then and now video's Ed although sometimes the back story leaves us wondering Why. Soulless Indeed!
The Brutalist Architecture ( aptly named ) of the Saint James Center in Edinburgh was torn down and replaced with a Mall... a modern building with a "Swirl" on top I've heard "Affectionately" referred to as a "Dog Drop". Wonder what the shelf life will be.
Yes, the swirl was probably a major consideration in the decision-making process.
thanks ed
There is a lot of ancient folklore and history behind st Enoch square as well as other sites connected. For instance I read in a very old book I found online that there was once a old pagan well located there, as well as the old pagan well near the cathedral. The book is called The holy wells in and around Glasgow by T.C.F Brotchie written in the early 1900s. It's a fascinating book, the only link I could find to this book was via Google which led me to urban Glasgow website which has the book chapters to read.
Yes, I read an account of the well: '... a sacred well dedicated to St. Tanew... '
I'm utterly fascinated by your videos Ed, in some ways, we can look at the destruction of these fine old buildings as not only a sad loss but cultural vandalism yet, when you think of the Royal Surgeon's Halls being demolished to make way for the "new" railway station and hotel, it was another important development for Glasgow, just as important as the original place but without any shadow of doubt, the most recent wrecking ball destruction, bringing about the glass monstrosity of St. Enoch shopping centre is a bloody disgrace to the area. I'd love you to do a history of the changes of further afield in Lanarkshire and in particular 3 towns, Hamilton, Motherwell and Wishaw (the latter where I'm from) because there is some ancient history as well as the Dukes of Hamilton and Lockharts and Bellhaven families to say the least to wet your appetite if you're up for the challenge 👍
Cheers Greig. Always good to have a few potential video ideas under my belt.
The wall art of Benny Lynch is a good one, ED.
Hi Charles. There's a lot of interesting information under that railway bridge, including photos. Worth a dander.
So so sad these magnificent buildings destroyed by the city council. Once gone replaced by appalling stuctures. I stayed in Holm Street Anderson and as a boy I remembered it fondly.
Greek Thomson Church and The Egyptian Halls are going to suffer similiar fate.
They absolutely are. I often wonder what the balance is between a total lack of building maintenance and a sandstone that simply deteriorates badly over time.
It's the one station that should have been kept. I have driven trains many times across that viaduct. Best view in the City.
I was at Queen st. We used to transfer stock to Corkerhill. The line is single but I always thought it a shame when passing the old platforms at the loss of journey opportunities.
The retention of St Enoch would certainly have reduced the volume of travelers, which at times feels excessive, using Central Station.
So true about feeling like it's one permanent building site and your frustration comes across. Sad to think of what St Enoch's once was. I often wonder what happened to Thenue's bones and that she might still be there under that mess.
I suspect she probably is. Where else would you find such an important site totally disregarded. Perhaps it's time for an archaeological dig.
Actually, I've just realised that the underground line passes below the site of the old church, so a dig's out of the question.
I was there on fair Monday ,just gone,and seeing the tacky rubbish rides made my heart sink. Fair Monday used to be cracki fun (and held on the freen!)
T'was ever thus Eddie. Glasgow has a history stretching back over 250 years of demolishing old buildings to build properties that become slums within 50 years. Look at the current fad to build shiny new metal clad accommodation on Argyll Street and on the Broomielaw, they have a built-in life expectancy of 50 years! The city's planners wanted to rip the entire city centre down in the 1960's to create a soviet style grid plan of multi-storeys so we should be thankful that they only got as far as Gorbals before they were stopped. Its astonishing that cities like Edinburgh and Stirling can preserve and reuse their built environment so well but Glasgow just never, ever learns its lesson.
Glasgow looked so much cooler back then. Real quality buildings built to the highest possible standards. That looked good and functioned well.
Today's crap we churn out as society is embarrassing. Greed has completely taken over now.
Thanks Eddie, obviously the vandals of Glasgow's historical buildings want to impress our tourists with boring concrete and glass obscenities.
They can take heart in the fact that they have succeeded, the tourists then realise that they have made a mistake by their visit and move on to beautiful Edinburgh.
Even with the cut-backs they could have left it for future opening. Most old lines in Scotland have been built on.
Look up 15 min citys. Theyve architect drawings at buchannan galleries
How awfully sad that its all been lost
The best of British Rail Hotel staff were chosen to work at Gleneagles Hotel during the season.
In 1946/7, my mother (St. Enoch Hotel) met my father (Central Station Hotel) at Gleneagles Hotel and fell in love.❤
She called the city councillors "vandals" for the destruction of St Enoch Hotel and so many other beautiful buildings in the city.
The inside of the Grand Central Hotel by Central Railway Station is utterly magnificient. If you're in the area pop in. It was built just a few years after the St Enoch Hotel, and I imagine that the inside of the St Enoch Hotel was every bit as grand as this.
@@EdExploresScotland Will do - thanks.
Rebel Rebel. Same key too. ;)
... "na mair pairt or portioun of the commoun muris sal be in na tymes cuming set nor gevin in few to ony persoun or persones, bot to ly still in communitie to the weill of the haill tounschip"
and that any feuing or alienation of common land, contrary to this statute in times to come would be...
I thought you make know/like this its speaks of glasgow green maybe youve done a piece on that subject or maybe one upcoming?
There is also old legend, that St Mungo was actually Merlin the druid, and when Christianity came to the lands they transformed a lot of the old pagans to saints, supposedly that's what happened to Merlin, he came here and later became known as Mungo. Folklore or not, still intriguing
Oh to be transported back in time.
Did you get the tooth sorted out Ed, or was this recorded earlier?
Crown fitted, Rob, which has now become loose, and I fully expect it to fall out at some stage. Knowing my luck, I'll swallow it when asleep!
I never knew that part of Glasgow looked so majestic. Everything built nowadays , apart from looking terrible, is built on the cheap using cheap materials and has a working lifespan of 50 years. So said a friend of mine who was a construction manager .
Good Vlog Eddie .
Im sure its a public building within and if that is the case then its your right to film inside as its open to the public as them security Guards dont even know the law .
Id not listen to what any so called security guard sais ..They are just jobs worths but well worth going out your way via a Solicitor for advice on such , im sure with it being open to the Public then its a Public space , and your allowed to film
as long as your not harassing anyone in which clearly you are not , and all you are doing is a good job in regards
the history within Glasgow or any other city or town.Edinburgh etc .and all is good history many people like to know about .
And well done just a pity a jobsworth so called security guard spoilt your filming , and a part of the history of
the St Enoch Centre which many people dont know about myself inc .
Keep yer chin up Eddie but as said if it was myself id go see a Solicitor he / she who would either know or find out the
facts on such , its not a private building , but Public and so sure your allowed to film inside as long as your not harassing anyone sure is the law . . Awe the best meantime 👍
Cheers Stevie. It all worked out in the end as I'd probably not have got that final shot outside.
Unfortunately it's not a public building. It's a private one to which the public have a general right to access but they can be removed if the owner or their agents wish. So in this instance, the security guard would have been right to refuse permission to film without having the required permission.
Enjoyed this Ed, used to drink in a wee pub below the station, The Eagle Inn which had indeed a stuffedx
Progress eddy for progress sake! How many times have we heard that phrase historically? And who does it benefit? Not us that’s for damn sure
I think it was the great Mr Spock who once said (or will say in approx 200 years) "change is the essential process of all existence"
And 'twas Ogden Nash who said, 'Progress might have been alright once, but it's gone on too long.'
@@EdExploresScotland it was Touche Turtle who uttered the famous phrase "touche"
It sickens me that this place was flattened!
To see such a fine hotel and station i wont say demolished i say destroyed just does not make any sense. buildings such as that should be made listed so they cant ever be touched these city planners need Shot in my opinion they simply have no clue what whatsoever😢 aye its sad once a fine building as i say just destroyed.
JUST ANOTHER EXAMPLE
So much lost.
Also love the guitar on this Edd. Is this you. ?? Very early Queen and Brian May vibes.
Many thanks. Yup, yours truly. Failed rock star!
Striving for money rather than improvement
😁😁
A good informative video.
Great architectural buildings (with character) gone.
No doubt the so called "city fathers" want to make money using the local taxation system from the modern monstrosities, that will replace the "lifeless" St. Enoch Centre.
The illustrations that are abound for the St. Enoch area are horrendous.
The Anderston Quay area illustrations aren't any better.
Glasgow City is becoming a soulless, characterless place.
It is a city that is feeling "sorry for itself".
When are you doing GCC tribute to downtown Gaza?…. also known as Sauchiehall Street! 😡
Corporate greed and civic vandalism. Two sides of the same coin.
WHAT? Are you *kidding me?* they're really gonna demolish St Enoch's? They literally just put in the cinema and the bowling alley! Also there's a Changing Places toilet in St Enoch's, and those things are few and far between. They can flatten the eyesore at the top of Buchanan Street, behind the concert hall but they should leave St Enoch's how it is.
It was in the newspapers, so it must be true! 👍
@@EdExploresScotland I don't read newspapers, that's for intelligent people, not idiotic defective overgrown children like me.
I believe buchanan galleries is in line for 'modernisation' too. Apparently there was a train station there too once upon a time...
@@JamalZakaria - Part of me thinks Glasgow's a two-minute town: everything lasts just two minutes then it's replaced with something else.
@@EdExploresScotland treating a defective like it is beneath you is not necessary.