Sandyford is an area of Glasgow, Scotland. It is north of the River Clyde and forms part of the western periphery of the city centre. Formerly the name of a ward under Glasgow Town Council in the first part of the 20th century, it is within a continuous area of fairly dense urban development bordering several other neighbourhoods whose mutual boundaries have blurred over time, and is possibly less well known than all of the places which adjoin it, particularly Anderston and Finnieston.
History The area was a country estate outside Glasgow and north of the former burgh of AnderstonIndustrial Revolution: 1770s to 1830s: Neighbourhoods: Anderston, The Glasgow Story centred around Sandyford House until the mid-19th century,map of Kelvingrove area (1832), Glasgow West-end Addresses and their Occupants 1836-1915Sandyford House, 4 Sandyford Road, Glasgow West-end Addresses and their Occupants 1836-1915 when the expansion and industrialisation of the rapidly growing city spread westwards, with Sauchiehall Street, on which Sandyford House stood,OS Six-inch 1st edition, 1843-1882, Explore georeferenced maps (National Library of Scotland) becoming one of the primary thoroughfares (at that time the western end of Sauchiehall Street was known as Sandyford Street, its name changing in the early 1900s).Glasgow, Bart PO 1900, Explore georeferenced maps (National Library of Scotland) A street plan was laid out and filled mostly with Neo-Georgian terraced townhousesCity Views: Somerset Place, Sauchiehall Street (Glasgow University Library, Special Collections, Wylie Collection, Allan & Ferguson, 1843), The Glasgow StoryCity Views: Royal Crescent, Glasgow (Glasgow University Library, Special Collections, Wylie Collection, Allan & Ferguson, 1843), The Glasgow Story in a continuation of development which had taken place further east at Blythswood Hill,Industrial Revolution: 1770s to 1830s: Neighbourhoods: Blythswood, The Glasgow Story the mansion itself being demolished by 1850. The Park district to the north was laid out in a similar period and in a similar style. To the east, as traffic to and from the city increased, a major road junction developed at Charing Cross.
By the turn of the 20th century, the area was entirely built upon with all available space directly north of the river at Lancefield, Finnieston and Kelvinhaugh taken up by warehouses, engineering works and dockyards,OS 25 inch Scotland, 1892-1905, Explore georeferenced maps (National Library of Scotland) with the housing for the workers in those industries at Anderston and Yorkhill, as well as those streets in Sandyford north of St Vincent Street, becoming increasingly crowded.Second City of The Empire: 1830s to 1914: Neighbourhoods: Anderston, The Glasgow Story But further north, the area around Sauchiehall Street largely retained its original character as a home for the middle classes, with upmarket (and upwind of industrial smog) developments at Kelvingrove on the southern fringe of the park of the same name helping to maintain the area's prestige as a leafy suburb close to the heart of Glasgow. In 1911, the large Mitchell Library was completed, adjoining the existing St Andrew's Halls for public functions (opened 1877).St Andrew's Halls (Glasgow University Archive Services, Building Photographs, 1920), The Glasgow StorySt. Andrew's Halls (Mitchell Library, Theatre Collection, 1907), The Glasgow Story Churches in the area included Kent Road UP Church,Kent Road UP Church (Burrell Collection Photo Library, 1875), The Glasgow Story Sandyford UP Church (later Highlanders' Memorial UF Church),Sandyford UP Church (Glasgow University Library, Theology, 1875), The Glasgow Story Berkeley Street UP Church (later the site of a dance hall)Berkeley Street UP Church (Burrell Collection Photo Library, 1875), The Glasgow Story and Trinity Church at Claremont Street.Trinity Church, Clairmont Street, Sandyford, Glasgow West-end Addresses and their Occupants 1836-1915 Kent Road Public School was within the neighbourhood,Kent Road School (Glasgow City Archives, Department of Education, 1916), The Glasgow Story with Finnieston Public School a short distance away to the south.Finnieston Secondary School (Glasgow City Archives, Department of Education, 1970), The Glasgow Story
Much changed in the latter 20th century. Many of the townhouses in the area around Sauchiehall Street were converted to office use, with one block demolished and replaced by a modernist office block out of keeping with the rest of the architecture other than in its height;The Buildings of Scotland: Glasgow (page 290), Elizabeth Williamson, Anne Riches, Malcolm Higgs, 1990, the decline of traditional industries led to economic hardship across the city, and locally around Argyle Street; the St Andrews Halls suffered a major fire and were converted to an extension of the Mitchell Library; everything to the east of the library was disconnected (at least visually) from the city centre by the construction of the M8 motorway, with the majority of the old Anderston tenements also disappearing as a Comprehensive Redevelopment Area with brutalist apartments and tower blocks overlooking the motorway in their place;The New Anderston (Mitchell Library, Glasgow Collection, Bulletin Photographs, 1980), The Glasgow Story and in the southern portion of Sandyford around Kent Road, several blocks of tenements considered sub-standard due to sanitation issues (i.e. outside or shared toilets) were demolished and replaced by a small playpark;OS National Grid Maps, 1944-1967, Explore georeferenced maps (National Library of Scotland) and the Kent Road School was also demolished in 1973, replaced by new buildings for Woodside Secondary School previously located further north at Woodlands. Dalian House, a civic building for Strathclyde Regional Council completed south of the Mitchell Library in 1990, showed a respect for the design of the remaining older buildings surrounding it by being prohibited from exceeding their height.Dalian House (Mitchell Library, Glasgow Collection, 2003), The Glasgow Story
21st Century In the early 21st century, the area's profile changed again, with Woodside Secondary closing in 1999 and Glasgow Gaelic School moving into the buildings in 2006, while the majority of 'gap sites' were filled by new blocks of apartments (including a conversion of Kent Road UP Church), resulting in a variety of building styles and ages being found among the small number of streets in the area. The neighbourhood includes the former Trinity Church building which was previously known as the Henry Wood Hall while home to the Royal Scottish National Orchestra until 2012, after which it became a church once again;The Tron at Kelvingrove, The Tron ChurchFinal curtain as orchestra bows out of historic city church base, Evening Times, 29 May 2012 and a large modern Sikh temple, the Central Gurdwara Singh Sabha (completed 2016), next to their smaller, older facility in the same street.Sikh Temple (Mitchell Library, Glasgow Collection, 2003), The Glasgow Story
Owing to its location between the tourist areas of Glasgow city centre, the West End (centred on Byres Road) and the entertainment venues at the SEC Centre, a large number of hotels are present among tenements near to Kelvingrove Park, mostly on Sauchiehall Street. There are also several established restaurants and bars,Bar Crawls: Glasgow - The Sauchiehall Street Saunter, The List, 18 November 2011Seven of the best bars in Finnieston: Take a trip into Glasgow's 'new west end', Glasgow Live, 20 January 20175 of the best pubs in Glasgow’s Finnieston, The Scotsman, 30 January 2018 a provision which increased markedly in the 2010s as the wider area (usually marketed as Finnieston) around Argyle Street became more popular as a destination in its own right.Why Glasgow's Finnieston neighbourhood is now up there with London's Shoreditch, Evening Times, 23 November 2015Is This Part of Glasgow Really 'the Hippest Place in Britain'?, Vice, 11 April 2016
The local Sandyford Post Office is also in this area on Argyle Street, and further west is The Church of Scotland Sandyford Henderson Memorial Church; which includes Finnieston, Kelvinhaugh and Yorkhill within its parish borders but none of the former Sandyford Town Council ward which instead falls under the parish of the Anderston-Kelvingrove Parish Church.Anderston Kelvingrove Parish Church gets noticed, Secret Scotland, 1 October 2018 In medical circles, the name is familiar as Sandyford Central, the headquarters of a NHS facility that mainly provides services relating to sexual health and has expanded to branches elsewhere in the city.Where are our Services, NHS Sandyford
There are three railway stations in the vicinity of Sandyford: and on the Argyle Line connecting with , and Charing Cross on the North Clyde Line connecting with . Finnieston railway station just off Argyle Street was once the nearest, but this closed in 1917; a century later, the local community council shared its plans regarding a possible reopening of the station seeking input from residents.
See also Sandyford murder case
Notes
References
External links Kent Road Photos