Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland

GLASGOW
Kelvin. The area is now 30 acres. Part of the ground
is laid out with collections of plants arranged in
natural families and orders, and there are also large
ranges of conservatories. To the NE of the main en-
trance — close to which is one of the stations of the Cen-
tral Railway — is the Kibble Crystal Palace, erected here
in 1872 and extended in 1874, and taking its name from
the donor, Mr. Kibble. There are two domes rising to
a height of about 40 feet, while the larger is about 150
feet in diameter. Originally used as a concert and
lecture hall, it is now appropriated for use as a winter
garden. The present garden, first laid out in 1842, and
enlarged in 1875, took the place of an older one formed
in 1819 off Sauchiehall Road, now Sauchiehall Street,
and that in its turn had replaced the original Botanic
Garden at the old College.
Maxwell Park (21 acres), SW of West Pollokshields,
presented to the quondam burgh by Sir John Stirling
Maxwell of Pollok in 1890, was taken over by the city
under the Extension of Boundaries Act, by which also
provision was made for the acquisition of such further
recreation grounds and public parks as might be deemed
necessary. Advantage was taken of these powers by the
purchase, in 1891, of over 90 acres at Ruchill, and 56
acres at Springburn, as well as by the provision of
smaller recreation grounds at Govanhill, at Garscube
Road (the Phoenix Recreation Ground, 1893) for the
Cowcaddens district, and at Rutherglen Road (Gorbals
Recreation Ground, 1893) for the Gorbals district — the
last two being intended mainly for children. Of the
Ruchill estate, which lies between Maryhill and Possil-
park, 53 acres are devoted to recreation purposes,
while the remaining 35 are utilized for the erection
of an infectious diseases hospital similar to the one at
Belvidere. Of the Springburn land at Balgray Hill a
small portion (£ acre) is to be feued and the rest given
over to park purposes. The band-stand in this park
was presented in 1892 by Mr. James Reid of the Hyde-
park Locomotive Works. Besides these, one or two
minor parks, about a dozen squares or open places, and
five graveyards are kept up by the Parks department,
and are open to the public.
The parks are managed by the town council, acting
as trustees under the Glasgow Public Parks Acts of
1859 and 1878. The borrowing powers of £200,000 are
exhausted. The maximum rate of assessment is 2d. per
£, and a sinking fund of ' one pound per cent, per annum
on amount of sums borrowed and owing at time ' has to
be set aside every year. The revenue and expenditure
amount to over £31,000 a year.
Monuments. — A large number of the public monu-
ments in Glasgow are collected in George Square, but
there are others in various parts of the city. In George
Square there are no fewer than twelve statues. In the
centre is a colossal figure of Sir Walter Scott, by
Ritchie, placed on the top of a fluted Doric column
80 feet high, erected in 1837. This was the first of
the many monuments erected to the ' Wizard of the
North.' On the E in the centre line of the square is a
bronze equestrian statue of Prince Albert, by Baron
Marochetti, erected in 1866, to correspond with a
bronze equestrian statue of the Queen by the same artist
on the W side. The latter originally stood at the W
end of St Vincent Place, where it was erected in 1854, but
it was removed to its present position in 1866, when that
of the Prince Consort was erected. They both stand on
granite pedestals. At the NW corner of the square is
a bronze statue of Sir Robert Peel, by Mossman, erected
in 1858. At the NE corner is a bronze statue of James
Oswald, one of the members for Glasgow in the first
parliament after the Reform Bill. It was erected in
1856, and long stood at Charing Cross, but was after-
wards removed to George Square. At the SE corner of
the square is a bronze statue of Dr Thomas Graham,
Master of the Mint, seated, by Brodie (1872). At the
SW corner is a bronze statue of James Watt, also
seated, by Chantrey (1832). Between Watt and Graham
on the S side are bronze statues of Sir John Moore and
Lord Clyde, both natives of Glasgow. The former, which
690
GLASGOW
is by Flaxman, was erected in 1819; the latter, by
Foley, in 1868. It at first stood on the W side of the
square. A little behind Sir John Moore is a bronze
statue of Burns, by Ewing, which was unveiled in 1877
in presence of some 30,000 spectators. The pedestal
has bas-reliefs. The companion statue — a little behind
Lord Clyde — is a bronze figure of Campbell, the poet,
also a native of Glasgow. The last of the statues in
the square is one of Dr Livingstone, in the middle
of the W side; all the pedestals are of granite. In
front of the Tontine Buildings in the Trongate is an
equestrian statue of William III., erected and presented
to the city in 1735 by James Macrae, a native of Glas-
gow, who had been governor of Madras. On Glasgow
Green is a sandstone obelisk, 144 feet high, to the memory
of Lord Nelson. It was erected in 1806 at a cost of
£2075. On the four sides of the base are inscribed the
names of his greatest battles. In Cathedral Square is a
bronze statue, by Mossman, of James Lumsden, Lord
Provost of Glasgow in 1843, and long honorary treasurer
of the Royal Infirmary. It is 8£ feet high, stands on
a pedestal 104 feet high, and was erected in 1862.
Near by is a bronze statue of Dr Norman Macleod, erected
in 1881; and on one side the entrance to the Necropolis
is a statue of James White, father of Lord Overtoun,
and on the other a statue of James Arthur, of Barshaw.
In front of the Royal Exchange in Queen Street is a
bronze equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington by
Marochetti, one of the finest monuments in Glasgow.
It stands on a granite pedestal, and was erected in 1844
at a cost of £10, 000. On the pedestal are four bronze
bas-reliefs, those at the sides representing the battles of
Assaye and Waterloo, while those at the end represent
the peaceful life of a peasant before he is called away to
war, and his happy return to his home and kindred at
the conclusion of peace. In niches in the Ingram Street
front of Hutchesons' Hospital are two ancient and some-
what primitive-looking statues of the brothers Hutche-
son. Near the centre of the S part of Kelvingrove Park
is a tasteful and beautiful — excepting the gilding of the
surmounting bronze figure — fountain erected in com-
memoration of the introduction of the water supply from
Loch Katrine into Glasgow, and in honour of Lord
Provost Stewart, who took a prominent part in the
carrying out of the scheme. It was inaugurated in
1872. The outer basin is 60 feet in diameter, and the
fountain, which rise's to a height of 40 feet and is richly
sculptured, is surmounted by a bronze figure by John
Mossman, representing the Lady of the Lake. There
are also bronze panels, one with a medallion portrait of
Lord Provost Stewart, the others with allegorical designs
representing the introduction of the water supply. On
a granite pedestal, a short distance off, is a bronze group,
representing a tigress carrying a dead peacock to her
lair, and her cubs greedily welcoming the prey. It was
presented to the city by John S. Kennedy, a native of
Glasgow, who made a large fortune in New York. Closs
by is a small bronze group of a girl playing with a dog,
and intended to illustrate the lines from Coleridge : —
' He prayeth best who loveth best
All things both great and small,
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all.'
There is a marble statue of Pitt, by Flaxman, in the Cor-
poration Gallery, and one, by Gibson, of Kirkman Finlay,
who did so much to develop Glasgow trade, in the Mer-
chants' Hall. The Martyrs' Memorial Fountain has been
already noticed, as well as some of the numerous monu-
ments in the Necropolis and other cemeteries.
Public Buildings — Municipal Buildings. — The City
Chambers are bounded by George Square on the W,
George Street on the N, John Street on the E, and
Cochrane Street on the S, and measure 230 feet from N
to S, and 245 from E to W. Designed in the style of
the Italian Renaissance, by Mr William Young, London,
the buildings, which were erected in 1883-89, at a cost
(including site) of £520,000, are four storeys in height
all round, with a domed tower at each corner; and over
the centre of the principal facade, which is towards Georg*