Words by Aurora Segnan
Stonework detail by Charles B Grassby on the facade of Maryhill Burgh Halls.
Maryhill Burgh Halls Trust has been taking care of the building for twelve years.
From the regeneration project, which gave new life and shape to the Halls, to the everyday maintenance jobs, we work with many contractors with different specialisms and knowledge. But what was it like back in the day? The Glasgow City Archives may have some answers!
Last year we visited the Mitchell Library and found archival material relating to the construction of the building from 1878. What we know today as the Burgh Halls complex was then divided into two separate areas referred to as the ‘Public Hall’ and ‘Police Station. However, the Maryhill Burgh minutes from the years we are interested in have long been lost, which means we cannot dive too deeply into the construction process.
By the 1870s, Maryhill had been an independent Police Burgh for about twenty years. It had its own six elected magistrates (called ‘police commissioners’) who took care of lighting, paving, cleansing, and the water and gas supplies. Initially based in a building in Fingal Street, by autumn 1874 the Burgh Commissioners bought the land at the corner of Wyndford Street (the old name for Maryhill Road) and Gairbraid Avenue to create a larger space in line with the needs of a growing population and busier burgh. That particular piece of land still belonged to Mary Hill’s descendants and was tenanted by a John Keir, a cattle dealer with five acres of land to work on. As soon as it became available, the piece of land was recognised as being the perfect location for the new municipal buildings of the Burgh.
Six architects were invited to a competition to design the new Burgh buildings with Duncan McNaughtan (1845-1912) becoming the eventual winner. The complex costed an exorbitant £15,000 and it took just about two years to complete. The construction started in mid-1876 with senior magistrate James Shaw laying the foundation and officially opened on 26th April 1878.
The Glasgow City Archives have a wonderful document from circa 1878 which lists all the contractors who were ultimately selected to complete the works with individual costs. The document is called ‘’Statement of Amounts of Accounts for Municipal Building + Public Hall at Corner of Wyndford Street and Gairbraid Avenue’’. We are still to conduct any in-depth research into the companies, but most contractors were found in the local Post Office directory. What we get is a fantastic insight into the individuals who contributed to create the iconic Maryhill Burgh Halls and into the manufacturing industry in Glasgow as a whole. Only one manufacturer appears to be from outside the city and Scotland, with the kitchen furniture coming from Sheffield.
From some quick research into newspapers of the time, we also found that some of the companies worked on multiple projects together and on other recognisable buildings in the city. For example, the slaters Mackay worked with painter Andrew Wells in the Struthers Memorial Church (then Belhaven) in Hyndland. Similarly, Wells worked with Adam & Small on the Albert Street United Presbyterian Church in Townhead. Another particularly interesting individual is Hull-born sculptor Charles Benham Grassby (1834-1910) who did some stone carving all over the city, including on the old Glasgow Herald building in Buchanan Street and on the old BBC offices in Queen Margaret Drive. Grassby’s detailed work on the Burgh Halls can be seen here.
One final note about Andrew Wells is that he is a decorative painter. In his contract there’s a breakdown of his work which details that the official rooms of the commissioners were ornate with stencilled friezes. Coincidentally, some decoration in the Main Hall can be seen in a photograph of an Old Maryhill dinner dated 1908. At the very back, above the wooden balcony, there’s a decorative freeze and some writing – the only words we can discern are ‘literature’ and ‘mining’. Sadly, we haven’t replicated any of that today.
Below is a table copied from the GCC Archive’s document with added information about the company or traders taken from post office directories from the same years. Please let us know if you have any interesting information about any of the traders.
| Job | Contractor | Address | Notes | Cost | |
| Mason Work | J & W Murray | 197 Gaibraid Street | John Murray, Rockview House, Maryhill (contractor, quarrymaster, brickmaker) | £5058 4s 9d | |
| Digging Work | James Elder | 209 St Vincent Street | James Elder, 3 South Apsley Place (civil engineer, surveyor) - Burgh surveyor, 1880-1887 | £327 10s 10d | |
| Wright | Archibald MacFarlane | 38 Arlington Street | Archibald Macfarlane, 40 Arlington Street (wright, builder) | £2,470 | |
| Slating Work | A & D Mackay | 35 Oswald Street | Daniel Mackay, 296 St Vincent St (slater, slate merchant) & Alexander Mackay, St Andrews Road, Pollokshaws (slate merchants) | £315 10s | |
| Plumbing | Nevay & Menzies | 121 Main Street | Alexander Nevay, 152 Main Street (plumber, gasfitter) & Robert Menzies, 8 Kingston Place (plumber) | £380 14s 9½d | |
| Plasterering | James Steel Junior | 65 Bath Lane | James Steel Jr, 56 Hill Street (modeller, plasterer) | £743 8s 10d | |
| Smith Work | James Croll | 200 & 202 Rottenrow | James Croll, 1 North Ure Place (smith, machine maker) | £255 7s 1d | |
| Stone Carving | Charles B Grassby | 37 Bothwell Street | Charles B Grassby, 38 Belmont Place, Hillhead (monumental builder, sculptor) | £96 14s 6d | |
| Gasfitting | R.C. Murray | 4,7,9 Carlton Court, Bridge Street | manufacturing, tinsmith, coppersmith, plumber, zinc worker, gasfitter, bellhanger, hotel/ship/street lamp maker | £54 | |
| Painting | Andrew Wells | 206 West George Street | Andrew Wells, 13 Nelson Terrace, Hillhead (house and church decorator) | £160 | |
| Tiling | Strathie, D. & Co | 193 Sauchiehall Street | David Strathie, 42 Cambridge Street (mosaic and encaustic paving tile layers and wall decorators; depot for Minton, Hollins & Co, patent flooring and encaustic tiles) | £29 10s | |
| Heating & Ventilation | James Combe & Sons | 59 Cathedral Street | William Combe, 22 Dundas Street (heating and ventilating engineers, hot-house builders) | £250 4s | |
| Glass | Adam & Small | 201 St Vincent Street | Stephen Adam, 4 Cathkin Terrace, Mount Florida (glazier, glass-stainer, decorator) | £150 | |
| SUNDRIES | |||||
| Grates, Gasalier & Coronae | James Brown | not found | £93 4s 3d | ||
| Gasalier | James Gray, Son & Co | 115 Union St & 51 Gordon St | (furnishing ironmongers, electro plates and cutlery merchants) | £46 | |
| Furniture | Alexander Cree & Co | 34 Bothwell Street/75 Port Street | Alexander Cree, 30 St Vincent Crescent (upholsterers, cabinetmaker) | £120 | |
| Venetian Blinds | Falconer & McKinnon | 112 Bothwell Street | D. Falconer (449 St Vincent Street) | £32 10s | |
| Street Lamps | Turner Brothers | 119 & 121 Bothwell Street | Budhill Iron Works of David Turner (148 Bellfield Street) | £55 | |
| Kitchen Furnishing | Longden & Co | 15 Furnace Hill, Sheffield | Based at Phoenix Foundry (iron funders, manufacturers of stove grates, cooking and heating apparatus, stair balusters, fence railing, case hardened and grain rolls, and castings for heavy mill work) | £27 | |
| Beams for Main Staircase | Oak Foundry | Black Street | architectural ironfounders, sanitary engineers | £3 | |
| Wood Mantlepiece | Angus Mckay | 43 Robertson Lane | Cabinetmaker | £8 10s | |
| Chairs | Alexander & Howell | 108 St Vincent Street | Art house furnishing of William Alexander (Elmbank, Lenzie) & Edward Howell (Inglebank, Lenzie) | £13 6s | |
Maryhilll Burgh Halls is a wonderful and incredible asset, representative of the unique history of the local Burgh. It’s more than bricks and mortar - they are expression of Maryhill’s own identity, belonging and pride in this fantastic area. If you wish to support us as we keep taking care of the Halls, you can donate at this link or at the donation boxes located at reception.
The Statement of Accounts is held at the Mitchell Library by Glasgow City Archives and is referenced as H-MAR/5/54. This is just one of the documents connected to the Burgh years that is in safekeeping at the archives, there’s still a lot to discover about the wonderful Maryhill!
Thank you so much to the archivists at Glasgow City Archives who are always very helpful and patient.