Glasgow was probably founded in the 6th century when St Mungo built a church at a place called Glas Gu. (It means green place). A fishing settlement at the green place eventually grew into a small town. and was given a bishop in 1115, indicating it was a fairly important settlement by that time. The church in Glasgow was replaced by a cathedral in 1136. The cathedral burned in 1172, but it was rebuilt. Then in the years 1175-78 (the exact date is not known), the king gave Glasgow a charter. (A charter was a document granting the townspeople certain rights). n In the Middle Ages Glasgow had a weekly market. From 1190 it also had a fair, which was held each July. In the Middle Ages, a fair was like a market, but it was held only once a year and people would come from a wide area to buy and sell at one
Yet Dominican friars (known as black friars because of the colour of their costumes) came to Glasgow in 1260. The friars were like monks and took vows of chastity and poverty but instead of withdrawing from society, they went out to preach. There were also hospitals in Glasgow run by the Church. In them, monks would care for the sick as best they could. A hospital for lepers was founded south of the Clyde in 1350. In the late Middle Ages Glasgow slowly grew more important. In 1410 the wooden bridge across the Clyde was replaced with a stone one. Glasgow did not have stone walls, but it did have stone gates.
As a sign of its growing importance, Glasgow in 1451 Glasgow was allowed to have a university. The Papal document that founded the university described Glasgow as a ‘place of renown, where the air is mild and victuals are plentiful’. A grammar school was founded in Glasgow in 1460. Meanwhile, in 1454, Glasgow was made a royal burgh. Then in 1492, Glasgow was given an archbishop.
In 1674 the first cargo of tobacco arrived in Glasgow. It soon became one of Glasgow’s most important imports. Once colonies were founded in North America and the West Indies Glasgow benefited from its position on the west of Scotland. However, Glasgow, like all towns at that time, was dirty and unsanitary. Some attempt was made to improve things in 1685 when the authorities forbade people to leave piles of dung outside their houses. (There was, of course, a great deal of horse dung as well as dung from animals on their way to the market or the slaughterhouse).
By the beginning of the 18th century, Glasgow probably had a population of about 12,000 and it grew rapidly. By the end of the century, the population of Glasgow had reached 84,000. By the standards of the time, it was a large town. In the 1720’s Daniel Defoe described Glasgow: ‘Glasgow is, indeed, a very fine city, the four principal streets are the fairest for breadth, and the finest built that I have ever seen in one city together. The houses are all of stone and generally equal and uniform in height’. He also said ‘It is the cleanest and most beautiful, and best city in Britain, London excepted’.
Many more buildings were erected in Glasgow in the 19th century. The Stock Exchange was built on Buchanan Street in 1875. Also in 1875, the Fish Market was built. Mitchell Library was built in 1877. The City Chambers were built in 1888. Queens Cross Church was built in 1897 by Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928). The same man also built the Glasgow School of Art Building in 1909.
Transport also improved in Glasgow in the 19th century. In 1845 the first horse-drawn buses began running in Glasgow. From 1872 they were replaced by horse-drawn trams. After 1898 the trams changed to electricity. (The first electricity-generating station in Glasgow was built in 1893). Queen Street station was built in 1842. Buchanan Street station was built in 1849. The central station followed in 1879. Glasgow gained an underground railway in 1896. In the mid-19th century, Glasgow was described as ‘possibly the filthiest and unhealthiest of all the British towns. There were outbreaks of cholera in Glasgow in 1849 and 1854. The first time 3,777 people died. The second time 3,885 died.
However, conditions in Glasgow improved in the later 19th century. In 1859 Glasgow gained a piped water supply. In 1893 the first electric streetlights were switched on in Glasgow, but they only slowly replaced gas. Also in the late 19th century, a network of sewers was built in Glasgow. n Furthermore the Albert Bridge was built in 1871. A pedestrian tunnel under the Clyde was built in 1895. In 1898 the Peoples Palace opened on Glasgow Green. Major industries in Glasgow in the 19th century included shipbuilding, Cotton, engineering, carpet making, pottery, and glass. In the late 19th century, the port’s facilities were greatly improved by building docks and new quays. The tonnage of ships built in the city rose from 20,000 in the year 1850 to 5000,000 in 1900. In 1888 an International Exhibition of Science and Art were held in Glasgow. The Kelvingrove Art Gallery opened in 1901.
