Online Talk: A Bird’s-Eye View of the Development of Glasgow University: The Gilbert Scott Building

Wednesday 22nd June 2022 | 7.30pm BST | via Zoom

Taking Thomas Sulman’s 1864 bird’s-eye view of Glasgow as a starting point, this talk will explore a pivotal period in the history of development of both the city and the University. As Sulman’s balloon drifted above the city, the University was already planning its flight from the congested and polluted High Street site to the then rural Arcadia of Gilmorehill.

Using contemporary 19th-century photographs, engravings and paintings, Nick Haynes will guide us around the extraordinary complex of 17th-, 18th- and 19th- century buildings in the Old College, and set the scene for the construction of Scotland’s largest Gothic building on Gilmorehill.

Nick Haynes is a historic environment consultant, author and amateur photographer, who has recently joined property consultancy Montagu Evans as their Heritage Partner for Scotland. In 2013 he wrote the book Building Knowledge – An Archtectural History of Glasgow University, following the story of the Old College buildings in the High Street, through Gilbert Scott’s great palace of learning on Gilmorehill, to the newer adjoining campus at Hillhead.

Free, booking required, donations welcome. 

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