Glasgow Necropolis
My friend, Simon, since he retired, has been undertaking trips to various cities and towns around Britain, and visiting interesting buildings, churches, and photographing them.
I like that idea, and Simon's favourite city was Glasgow, so I thought I would spend just a day here, getting a feel of the city, and to ride the Subway.
Glasgow is the only UK city other than London with an underground railway, though Glasgow's is pretty much just a loop, its tunnels are of a small bore, and they have recently taken delivery of some smart new trains.
I would ride that too.
There is the cathedral, and maybe a traditional Glasgow boozer too for a pint or two of heavy or eighty shilling.
We shall see.
I lollygagged in bed until half seven, maybe later, then going down for breakfast where the choice was either linked or Lorne sausages.
I chose both, along with bacon and hash browns. And coffee.
Lorne wins by a landslide thanks to rough texture and taste. One more coffee, then off I go.
I would make for the cathedral and Necropolis beyond. I had "Maps" on my phone, so wouldn't get lost.
I walked past the bus station, then up Cathedral Street, through the University, taking my time as although it wasn't sunny, it was hot and humid.
I reach the cathedral and find there were multiple walking tours, each lead by someone with a flag on a stick, and a flock of blank-eyed people with earphones listening to every word, but not paying attention.
The cathedral is impressive, the Nave was bare with no pews or chairs, the Chancel and Quire, large and round, and filled with two tours.
Underneath St Mungo/Kentigern is buried, and the columns supporting the cathedral above made for very pleasant patterns and shapes.
The glass was stunning, but didn't have my big lens, so will return, maybe, on another occasion.
To the south is the Bridge of Sighs (another one) leading over a road and up to the Necropolis.
I won't lie, it was slog climbing up, but I made it 80% to the top, all around were memorials to the great and good and dead from 19th century civic and industrial Glasgow.
Not very Gothic on a bright summer's day, would have been much more atmospheric on a gloomy winter's afternoon.
I walked back down, back over the bridge, then taking a break, I bought an iced coffee from an independent place, sat outside to watch the world go by.
I was making for George Square, which is very picturesque, and on all four sides, huge and impressive civic buildings. Sadly, for me, it is being renovated and the whole square is hidden behind hoardings, so the buildings only half-seen.
Sigh.
Best ride the subway, then.
I walk up to Queen's Street, as I walked past the entrance the afternoon before. Then down the travelator to the foyer, bought an all day ticket for £4.60, and went down to catch a train.
The trains run of foot foot gauge, and through tunnels 11 feet in diameter, smaller than even the deep tube lines in London. And the trains themselves are far smaller than any in London.
But they are new, modern, air conditioned. I like them.
I rode to Ibrox station so to see the football stadium. I had hoped to see Ibrox and Parkhead, but Parkhead is not served by the subway, being further out from the centre.
Ibrox was hiding behind the station, so I didn't see it at first. But walking back along the street outside, I saw the floodlights and top of a stand. It stands in the middle of a huge concrete car park, isolated from the buildings surrounding it.
I took some shots and walked back to the Subway station.
I rode round the outer until I came back to Bridge Street, as I thought this the most modern and photogenic with its island platform and no screens to ruin the shots.
As luck would have it, as I got of the train, one was on the inner platform, so I got the shots I wanted in less than two minutes, and could have got on the train to take me to St Mungo station, where I hoped I would find a pub and a place for lunch.
After a half hour wandering, I came across a small bar beside the Museum of Modern Art, they supplied me with several ice cold pints of Tennents and what they described as a "posh fish supper".
The batter contained gin, and the fish came with a scallop. And it was magnificent.
I ate it all and called for another pint as dessert.
I was done in. Nearly 17,000 steps, and it being sunny, hot and humid. I walked back to the hotel, up beside Queen's Street, then up West Nile Street, diving in the entrance, going up the lift and into my ice cold room.
Phew.
I had another shower, and lots of cold water, but wasn't hungry. So I stayed in the room, listening to podcasts and watching yet more football.
Outside, there was sirens, people shouting. It all went quit when I closed my eyes and fell asleep.
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The Glasgow Necropolis is a Victorian cemetery in Glasgow, Scotland. It is on a low but very prominent hill to the east of Glasgow Cathedral (St. Mungo's Cathedral). Fifty thousand individuals have been buried here.[1] Typical for the period, only a small percentage are named on monuments and not every grave has a stone. Approximately 3,500 monuments exist here.
Following the creation of Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris a wave of pressure began for cemeteries in Britain. This required a change in the law to allow burial for profit. Previously the parish church held responsibility for burying the dead but there was a growing need for an alternative. Glasgow was one of the first to join this campaign, having a growing population, with fewer and fewer attending church. Led by Lord Provost James Ewing of Strathleven, the planning of the cemetery was started by the Merchants' House of Glasgow in 1831, in anticipation of a change in the law. The Cemeteries Act was passed in 1832 and Glasgow Necropolis officially opened in April 1833.[2] Just before this, in September 1832, a Jewish burial ground had been established in the north-west section of the land. This small area was declared "full" in 1851.
Pre-dating the cemetery, the statue of John Knox sitting on a column at the top of the hill, dates from 1825.
The first burials were in 1832 in the extreme north-east on the lowest ground and were exclusively for Jewish burials (see section below). Alexander Thomson designed a number of its tombs, and John Bryce and David Hamilton designed other architecture for the grounds.
The main entrance is approached by a bridge over what was then the Molendinar Burn. The bridge, which was designed by David Hamilton was completed in 1836. It became known as the "Bridge of Sighs" because it was part of the route of funeral processions (the name is an allusion to the Bridge of Sighs in Venice). The ornate gates (by both David and James Hamilton) were erected in 1838, restricting access onto the bridge.
Three modern memorials lie between the gates and the bridge: a memorial to still-born children; a memorial to the Korean War; and a memorial to Glaswegian recipients of the Victoria Cross.
Across the bridge the original scheme was to enter the area via a tunnel but this proved unviable. The ornate entrance of 1836 remains.
The cemetery, as most early Victorian cemeteries, is laid out as an informal park, lacking the formal grid layouts of later cemeteries. This layout is further enhanced by the complex topography. The cemetery's paths meander uphill towards the summit, where many of the larger monuments stand, clustered around the John Knox Monument.
The Glasgow Necropolis was described by James Stevens Curl as "literally a city of the dead". Glasgow native Billy Connolly has said: "Glasgow's a bit like Nashville, Tennessee: it doesn't care much for the living, but it really looks after the dead.
Glasgow Necropolis
My friend, Simon, since he retired, has been undertaking trips to various cities and towns around Britain, and visiting interesting buildings, churches, and photographing them.
I like that idea, and Simon's favourite city was Glasgow, so I thought I would spend just a day here, getting a feel of the city, and to ride the Subway.
Glasgow is the only UK city other than London with an underground railway, though Glasgow's is pretty much just a loop, its tunnels are of a small bore, and they have recently taken delivery of some smart new trains.
I would ride that too.
There is the cathedral, and maybe a traditional Glasgow boozer too for a pint or two of heavy or eighty shilling.
We shall see.
I lollygagged in bed until half seven, maybe later, then going down for breakfast where the choice was either linked or Lorne sausages.
I chose both, along with bacon and hash browns. And coffee.
Lorne wins by a landslide thanks to rough texture and taste. One more coffee, then off I go.
I would make for the cathedral and Necropolis beyond. I had "Maps" on my phone, so wouldn't get lost.
I walked past the bus station, then up Cathedral Street, through the University, taking my time as although it wasn't sunny, it was hot and humid.
I reach the cathedral and find there were multiple walking tours, each lead by someone with a flag on a stick, and a flock of blank-eyed people with earphones listening to every word, but not paying attention.
The cathedral is impressive, the Nave was bare with no pews or chairs, the Chancel and Quire, large and round, and filled with two tours.
Underneath St Mungo/Kentigern is buried, and the columns supporting the cathedral above made for very pleasant patterns and shapes.
The glass was stunning, but didn't have my big lens, so will return, maybe, on another occasion.
To the south is the Bridge of Sighs (another one) leading over a road and up to the Necropolis.
I won't lie, it was slog climbing up, but I made it 80% to the top, all around were memorials to the great and good and dead from 19th century civic and industrial Glasgow.
Not very Gothic on a bright summer's day, would have been much more atmospheric on a gloomy winter's afternoon.
I walked back down, back over the bridge, then taking a break, I bought an iced coffee from an independent place, sat outside to watch the world go by.
I was making for George Square, which is very picturesque, and on all four sides, huge and impressive civic buildings. Sadly, for me, it is being renovated and the whole square is hidden behind hoardings, so the buildings only half-seen.
Sigh.
Best ride the subway, then.
I walk up to Queen's Street, as I walked past the entrance the afternoon before. Then down the travelator to the foyer, bought an all day ticket for £4.60, and went down to catch a train.
The trains run of foot foot gauge, and through tunnels 11 feet in diameter, smaller than even the deep tube lines in London. And the trains themselves are far smaller than any in London.
But they are new, modern, air conditioned. I like them.
I rode to Ibrox station so to see the football stadium. I had hoped to see Ibrox and Parkhead, but Parkhead is not served by the subway, being further out from the centre.
Ibrox was hiding behind the station, so I didn't see it at first. But walking back along the street outside, I saw the floodlights and top of a stand. It stands in the middle of a huge concrete car park, isolated from the buildings surrounding it.
I took some shots and walked back to the Subway station.
I rode round the outer until I came back to Bridge Street, as I thought this the most modern and photogenic with its island platform and no screens to ruin the shots.
As luck would have it, as I got of the train, one was on the inner platform, so I got the shots I wanted in less than two minutes, and could have got on the train to take me to St Mungo station, where I hoped I would find a pub and a place for lunch.
After a half hour wandering, I came across a small bar beside the Museum of Modern Art, they supplied me with several ice cold pints of Tennents and what they described as a "posh fish supper".
The batter contained gin, and the fish came with a scallop. And it was magnificent.
I ate it all and called for another pint as dessert.
I was done in. Nearly 17,000 steps, and it being sunny, hot and humid. I walked back to the hotel, up beside Queen's Street, then up West Nile Street, diving in the entrance, going up the lift and into my ice cold room.
Phew.
I had another shower, and lots of cold water, but wasn't hungry. So I stayed in the room, listening to podcasts and watching yet more football.
Outside, there was sirens, people shouting. It all went quit when I closed my eyes and fell asleep.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Glasgow Necropolis is a Victorian cemetery in Glasgow, Scotland. It is on a low but very prominent hill to the east of Glasgow Cathedral (St. Mungo's Cathedral). Fifty thousand individuals have been buried here.[1] Typical for the period, only a small percentage are named on monuments and not every grave has a stone. Approximately 3,500 monuments exist here.
Following the creation of Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris a wave of pressure began for cemeteries in Britain. This required a change in the law to allow burial for profit. Previously the parish church held responsibility for burying the dead but there was a growing need for an alternative. Glasgow was one of the first to join this campaign, having a growing population, with fewer and fewer attending church. Led by Lord Provost James Ewing of Strathleven, the planning of the cemetery was started by the Merchants' House of Glasgow in 1831, in anticipation of a change in the law. The Cemeteries Act was passed in 1832 and Glasgow Necropolis officially opened in April 1833.[2] Just before this, in September 1832, a Jewish burial ground had been established in the north-west section of the land. This small area was declared "full" in 1851.
Pre-dating the cemetery, the statue of John Knox sitting on a column at the top of the hill, dates from 1825.
The first burials were in 1832 in the extreme north-east on the lowest ground and were exclusively for Jewish burials (see section below). Alexander Thomson designed a number of its tombs, and John Bryce and David Hamilton designed other architecture for the grounds.
The main entrance is approached by a bridge over what was then the Molendinar Burn. The bridge, which was designed by David Hamilton was completed in 1836. It became known as the "Bridge of Sighs" because it was part of the route of funeral processions (the name is an allusion to the Bridge of Sighs in Venice). The ornate gates (by both David and James Hamilton) were erected in 1838, restricting access onto the bridge.
Three modern memorials lie between the gates and the bridge: a memorial to still-born children; a memorial to the Korean War; and a memorial to Glaswegian recipients of the Victoria Cross.
Across the bridge the original scheme was to enter the area via a tunnel but this proved unviable. The ornate entrance of 1836 remains.
The cemetery, as most early Victorian cemeteries, is laid out as an informal park, lacking the formal grid layouts of later cemeteries. This layout is further enhanced by the complex topography. The cemetery's paths meander uphill towards the summit, where many of the larger monuments stand, clustered around the John Knox Monument.
The Glasgow Necropolis was described by James Stevens Curl as "literally a city of the dead". Glasgow native Billy Connolly has said: "Glasgow's a bit like Nashville, Tennessee: it doesn't care much for the living, but it really looks after the dead.