Museums & Art GalleriesThe Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery(Hunter, writing to Dr William Cullen)
In 1783 William Hunter bequeathed his substantial and varied collections to the University of Glasgow. They were 'to be well and carefully packed up and safely conveyed to Glasgow and delivered to the Principal and Faculty of the College of Glasgow to whom I give and bequeath the same to be kept and preserved by them and their successors for ever.... in such sort, way, manner and form as .... shall seem most fit and most conducive to the improvement of the students of the said University of Glasgow.' Hunter also bequeathed �8000 for the construction of a suitable museum. Designed by William Stark, the building, classical in style with a dome on top, was erected in the gardens of the College behind the High Street. The heating system was designed by James Watt. The Museum was opened to the public in 1807 'from twelve until two every day, except Sunday.' The Hunterian is thus Scotland's oldest museum. 'On entering these rooms the eye is highly gratified with the taste and elegance of the dome rising from the centre supported by eight massy stone pillars of the Corinthian order' (J. Laskey, 1813). The busts are of the poet Thomas Campbell and the painter Gavin Hamilton.
The Tall ShipBuilt in 1896, the Glenlee circumnavigated the globe four times transporting cargo around the world.
In 1922, she was purchased by the Spanish Navy who used her as a training ship until 1981. After this, she was laid up in Seville Harbour where she was largely forgotten and later sank due to vandalism. In 1992, the Glenlee was sold at auction, and purchased by the Clyde Maritime Trust. A year later she was towed back to the Clyde to begin a seven-year restoration process. In 1999, The Tall Ship was opened to the public as a visitor attraction. Today, she attracts more than 30,000 visitors a year. The s.v. Glenlee is a magical sight and her rich history, depicted on board, gives visitors a real sense of what it was like to live and work on board in her sea-faring days. As well as being one of Glasgow?s leading visitor attractions, The Tall Ship at Glasgow Harbour offers: * School tours * Function hire * Children?s birthday parties * Volunteering opportunities * Events programme 100 Stobcross Rd Glasgow G3 8QQ Tel: 0141-222 2513 Scottish Football MuseumWith over 2000 objects on display the Museum is home to the world's most impressive collection of football memorabilia.
Old Changing Room We have on display the world's oldest cap and match ticket: from the first international match of 1872. The game was was played at the West of Scotland Cricket Ground in Partick and finished in a 0-0 draw. The cap was awarded to one of three Queen's Park players who played in the first three internationals against England. We are also proud to have the world's oldest national trophy: the Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup was made in 1873. Sixteen teams entered the competition, which was won by Queen's Park FC, who beat Clydesdale 2-0 in the 1874 final.Today the winning team is presented with the original trophy, but take home an exact replica. Visitors can also see The Championship of the World Trophy: in 1888 Renton of Dunbartonshire, the Scottish Cup holders, beat West Bromwich Albion of Birmingham, the FA Cup winners, in a match dubbed as the ?Championship of the United Kingdom and the World'. In appalling weather Renton won 4-1. Display Cabinet The world's oldest football letter can be viewed outlining the first challenge match in Scotland in 1868 when Queen's Park FC wrote to Glasgow Thistle FC inviting them to play a challenge match. The early rules were very basic and the letter outlines areas that were not included. Robert Gardner, the Queen's Park match secretary, suggests in the letter that 20 a side should be played and that the game should last 2 hours! Touchdowns were also a feature of early association matches in Scotland. Hampden Park/Letherby Dr Glasgow G42 9BA Tel: 0141-616 6139 The Royal Highland FusiliersThe building at 518 Sauchiehall Street has been the HQ of the RHF since 1960. however the earliest part of it dates from 1825 and originally formed part of Albany Place, a terrace of townhouses extending from Garnet Street to Charing Cross.
In 1903 the architect, in partnership with Charles Rennie Macintosh, was commissioned by Glasgow photographer Thomas Annan, to design an extension to the building. The ground floor originally comprised Annan?s showroom and salon (now Galleries 1 and 2 of the museum.) Extensive building works have been carried out to both Albany Terrace and the former Annan studio to repair and reinstate the original building fabric.The 1904 shop-front has been re-instated as have the Glasgow Style lift and stairway. DefenceSect.56.jpg (20396 bytes) The refurbished museum was officially opened by George Robertson, The Secretary of State for Defence in February 1999, seen here with Pipe Sgt.Walker, WO2 Kerr and the Colonel of the Regiment, Major General A I Ramsay. Further celebration ensued at a dinner hosted by The Lord and Lady Provost in Glasgow City Chambers. The Royal Highland Fusiliers 518 Sauchiehall Street Glasgow G2 3LW tel: 0141 332 5639 fax: 0141 353 1493 e.mail: [email protected] The Burrell CollectionThe Burrell Collection is an art collection in the city of Glasgow, in Scotland. It is situated in Pollok Country Park on the south side of the city.
The collection was gifted to the city of Glasgow by Sir William Burrell in 1944. The gift was made on the condition that the collection was to be housed in a building 16 miles from the centre of Glasgow, to show the works to their greatest advantage, and to avoid the damaging effects of air pollution at the time. The Pollok Estate was gifted to the city in 1967 and was chosen as the site for the collection. A building designed and constructed to house the collection was opened by the Queen in 1983. The Burrell contains an important collection of medieval art, works by Degas and Cezanne, and modern sculpture. 2060 Pollokshaws Rd Glasgow G43 1AT Tel: 0141-287 2550 Fossil GroveFossil Grove is Glasgow's most ancient attraction.
A unique treasure, situated in Victoria Park in the west of the city, the fossil trees uncovered by removal of the surrounding rocks are the remains of an ancient forest, around 330 million years old. Scottish National Heritage has designated the grove a site of Special Scientific Interest. In 1887, while workmen were cutting a path through a disused whinstone quarry in Victoria Park (opened the previous year by Queen Victoria, during her Golden Jubilee year) some unusual stone structures were found. Careful excavation of the site uncovered the fossil remains were the sandstone casts of Carboniferous "Lepidodendron" trees. Carboniferous forests covered Scotland over 300 million years ago. While in some parts of the country, the trees became the coal seams which powered the Industrial Revolution, those in Victoria Park had been preserved in mud and shale which seeped into the trunks, preserving them. A building was erected to protect them from the elements. The most obvious feature of the site is the 11 fossil tree stumps, some of them up to 90 centimetres high, preserved in the position in which they once grew. A fallen trunk, about eight metres long, and other smaller fragments of branch and root, have also survived. A viewing balcony overlooks the fossils, and small displays provide information and interpret the site for visitors. Victoria Park Glasgow Phone: 0141 287 2000 Gallery Of Modern ArtThe Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) is the City of Glasgow's main gallery of contemporary art.
GoMA is the second most visited contemporary art gallery in the United Kingdom outside London, offering a thought-provoking programme of temporary exhibitions and workshops. GoMA displays work by local and international artists as well as addressing contemporary social issues through its major biannual projects. Opened in 1996, the Gallery of Modern Art is housed in an elegant, neo-classical building in the heart of Glasgow city centre. Built in 1778 as the townhouse of William Cunninghame of Lainshaw, a wealthy Glasgow tobacco lord, this building has undergone a series of different uses. It was bought in 1817 by the Royal Bank of Scotland who later moved onto Buchanan Street and then became the Royal Exchange. Reconstruction for this use was undertaken by David Hamilton between 1827 and 1832 and resulted in many additions to the building, namely the Corinthian pillars to the Queen Street facade, the cupola above and the large hall to the rear of the old house. In 1954, Glasgow District Libraries moved the Stirling's Library into the building. When library returned to Miller Street, the building was refurbished to house the city?s contemporary art collection. Currently having enthralled and inspired several million visitors over seven years, the Gallery continues to evolve, developing existing and attracting new audiences. It has a dedicated Education and Access studio, facilitating workshops and artists talks for all ages and in the basement is the Learning Library. Complete with its caf�, free Internet access terminals, multimedia, art, and general book-lending facilities, the Library complements the contemporary visual art focus of the Gallery. Exhibits include works by David Hockney, Sebastiao Salgado and Andy Warhol as well as Scottish artists such as John Bellany and Ken Currie. Outside the Gallery stands a statue of the Duke of Wellington which permanently has a traffic cone on its head. Of course, the statue is not supposed to have a traffic cone. Some years ago, a cone appeared overnight, presumably the result of a youthful prank. Although it was removed, it kept magically re-appearing and eventually the authorities gave up. It has become such a landmark that the statue and its cone have featured in tourist guidebooks. Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow, G1 3AH Tel: 0141 229 1996 Glasgow Museums Resource Centre200 Woodhead Road, South Nitshill Industrial Estate, Glasgow G53 7NN Tel: 0141 276 9300 Kelvingrove Art Gallery and MuseumKelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is Glasgow's premier museum and art gallery and has one of Europe's great civic art collections. It is located in the west end of the city, next to Kelvingrove Park and the University of Glasgow. The museum is the second most popular visitor attraction in Scotland and the most visited museum in the United Kingdom outside London.
The building of Kelvingrove was partly financed by the proceeds of the 1888 International Exhibition held in Kelvingrove Park. Opened in 1902, it was designed by Sir John W. Simpson and E.J. Milner Allen. The building is built in a Spanish Baroque style and follows the Glaswegian tradition of using red sandstone. There is a popular myth that the building was built the wrong way round and the architect committed suicide by jumping from one of the towers. This is not true. The myth probably stems from the fact that the main entrance is from Kelvingrove Park, but most visitors enter from the main street, Argyle Street. The museums collections came mainly from the McLellan Galleries and from the old Kelvingrove House Museum in Kelvingrove Park. It has one of the finest collections of arms and armour in the world and a vast natural history collection. The art collection includes many outstanding European artworks, including works by the Old Masters, French Impressionists and Scottish Colourists. The museum housed the painting Christ of St John of the Cross by Salvador Dali until 1993, when it was moved to the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art. As of 2004 Kelvingrove is closed for refurbishment and is due to reopen in 2006. Some of its collection is currently at the McLellan Galleries. Argyle Street Glasgow G3 8AG Tel: 0141 287 2699 Martyrs' SchoolMcLellan GalleriesThe McLellan Galleries are an exhibition space in the city of Glasgow. Built in 1856, the Galleries are named after their builder, Archibald McLellan (1795-1854), a coach builder, councillor and patron of the arts. Following his death, Glasgow Corporation acquired the galleries, and for a time they were known as the Corporation Halls before reverting to their founder's name. The Galleries were situated behind a frontage of shops in Sauchiehall Street and housed Glasgow School of Art from 1869 to 1899.
In the 1980s the Galleries were ravaged by fire, but re-opened in 1990 as the largest high-quality, air-conditioned, temporary exhibition space in the UK outside London. 270 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, G2 3EH Tel: 0141 565 4137 Museum Of Transport1 Bunhouse Road, Glasgow G3 8DP Tel: 0141 287 2720 People's Palace and Winter GardensThe People's Palace and Winter Gardens in Glasgow, Scotland are a museum and glasshouse situated near Glasgow Green, and were opened on 22 January 1898 by the Earl of Rosebery.
At the time, the East End of Glasgow was one of the most unhealthy and overcrowded parts of the city, and the People's Palace was intended to provide a cultural centre for the people. Lord Rosebery continued: "A palace of pleasure and imagination around which the people may place their affections and which may give them a home on which their memory may rest". He declared the building "Open to the people for ever and ever". Originally, the ground floor of the building provided reading and recreation rooms, with a museum on the first floor, and a picture gallery on the top floor. Since the 1940s, it has been the museum of local history for the city of Glasgow, and tells the story of the people and the city from 1750 to the present day. The collections and displays reflect the changing face of the city and the different experiences of Glaswegians at home, work and leisure. The building was closed for almost two years, to allow restoration work to be carried out, with the re-opening being timed to coincide with the 100-year anniversary of its first opening in 1898, and this is recorded on a plaque mounted just inside the main entrance. Renovations extended to include the Winter Gardens to the rear of the building, where the glasshouse was extensively restored and reglazed, and the gardens tidied. During the 1980s, one employee gained local fame when she became a member of the General, Municipal and Boilermakers Trade Union, after NALGO refused her admission as a blue collar worker. This was Smudge, the People's Palace cat, who ensured the building did not become home to small, unwelcome visitors. Glasgow's Lord Provost made press appeals and police searches were carried out when she disappeared for 3 weeks in 1987, eventually re-appearing none the worse for wear less than half a mile away. Glasgow Green Glasgow G40 1AT Tel: 0141 271 2951 Pollok HousePollok House is the ancestral home of the Maxwell family, located in Pollok Country Park, Glasgow.
The house was built in 1752, and is considered to be one of the most elegant family homes in Glasgow. Gifted to the City of Glasgow in 1966, it is now managed by the National Trust for Scotland and is open to the public. Displayed within the Pollok House is the finest private collection of Spanish paintings within the UK, including works by El Greco, Francisco Goya and Bartolome Esteban Murillo, along with antique furniture, silverware and ceramics. The house also has a beautiful kept garden, including a collection of over 1,000 species of rhododendrons. Pollok Country Park, 2060 Pollokshaws Road Glasgow G43 1AT Tel: 0141 616 6410 Provand's Lordship3 Castle Street, Glasgow G4 0RB Tel: 0141 552 8819 Scotland Street School Museum225 Scotland Street Glasgow G5 8QB Tel: 0141 287 0500 St Mungo Museum Of Religious Life And Art2 Castle Street Glasgow G4 0RH Tel: 0141 553 2557 CCA GlasgowThe Centre for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow presents the very best in contemporary visual art, performance, film, music, spoken word, club nights and more.
CCA is an environment where everyone can encounter experimental art or just enjoy the creative atmosphere. Whether you come to see a new work or have a cup of coffee, we want to provide the best experience possible. We have the confidence to be different and we present work that takes chances. CCA is committed to presenting a challenging and diverse artistic and educational programme across art forms. The programme focuses on three key areas: visual arts, contemporary music and film, while also remaining committed to presenting dance, performance and spoken word through ongoing partnerships with other organisations in the city and beyond. With financial assistance from the SAC Lottery fund in October 2001, CCA relaunched after a �10.5 million building development programme to redevelop the site at 350 Sauchiehall Street. Building work commenced in June 1999 the new building opened to the public in October 2001. Since that date, CCA has received over half a million visitors. The building incorporates: * five performance/exhibition spaces * an education space * two Cafe-bar / restaurant facilities * a bookshop * space for up to ten cultural tenants * Scotland's Cultural Entrprise Office headquarters * a studio flat for visiting artists and speakers The CCA was established in December 1992 at 350 Sauchiehall Street, retaining the premises as a valuable city centre location for cultural use. As one of only four such contemporary spaces in the U.K., including ICA, London, Arnolfini, Bristol and Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, as such CCA has a clearly stated national role within Scotland?s cultural infrastructure. CCA is established and recognised as one of Europe?s leading contemporary galleries, and in addition works with a range of artforms including visual arts, performance, live art, dance, music, talks and events. Recent additions to CCA?s remit include a defined music policy centred around improvised, experimental and electronic music. CCA:film concentrate on screenings of experimental and independent arthouse film and documentary film and films you may not otherwise get to see in Glasgow. By awarding CCA with Lottery funds, The Scottish Arts Council showed recognition of CCA?s contribution to Scottish culture, commitment to the young emerging Scottish artist, creation of opportunities locally, nationally and internationally for that sector. Likewise Historic Scotland?s financial support of the project illustrates the value to Scotland of the premises in terms of architectural excellence and uniqueness. In addition, the restoration of this Grade A listed building, designed by Alexander ?Greek? Thompson, within the heart of the city, illustrates that, together with the Mackintosh buildings surrounding it, this quarter of the city is a focus of architectural interest and the cultural usage of these buildings has a unique cultural tourism attraction. 350 Sauchiehall Street City Centre Glasgow G2 3JD |