Glasgow Green is a park in the east end of Glasgow, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde. Established in the 15th century, it is the oldest park in the city. It connects to the south via the St Andrew's Suspension Bridge.
History
In 1450, King James II granted the parkland to Bishop William Turnbull and the people of Glasgow. The Green then looked quite different from the Green today. It was an uneven, swampy area made up of several distinct "greens" (separated by the Camlachie and Molendinar Burns): the High Green; the Low Green; the Calton Green; and the Gallowgate Green. In the centuries that followed, the parkland was used for grazing, washing and bleaching linen, drying fishing nets, and recreational activities like swimming. In 1732, Glasgow's first steamie, called the Washhouse, opened on the banks of the Camlachie Burn.
From 25 December 1745 to 3 January 1746, Bonnie Prince Charlie's army camped in Flesher's Haugh (privately owned at the time, but would become part of Glasgow Green in 1792); Charlie demanded that the town supply his army with fresh clothing and footwear.
Famously, in 1765, the Green was the site of a historic inspiration: The inventor James Watt was strolling across it when he hit upon the idea of the separate condenser for the steam engine. This invention is credited by some as having sparked the Industrial Revolution.
In 1792, Glasgow extended the parkland to the east by purchasing an additional stretch of land, known as Fleshers' Haugh from Patrick Bell of Cowcaddens.
19th century
In the 19th century, two projects were proposed that would have intruded upon the Green. The steamship owner Henry Bell wanted a canal built from the Broomielaw to Glasgow Green with a quay terminal at the Green. This proposal was unpopular and was never implemented. Then, in 1821 and 1822, exploratory boring underneath the Green uncovered large coal deposits, after which the city's Superintendent of Work recommended a mining operation to extract to coal. At the time, the Glasgow town council voted against the plan. It was re-introduced in 1858, and this time the town council approved it, because they were looking for ways to offset the cost of purchasing land to create parks in other areas of the town. But their decision was met with such large-scale public opposition that the plan was dropped. The proposal was reintroduced twice more, in 1869 and 1888, but was rejected both times.
When the Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815, there was an economic depression, and many people were unemployed. In response, the Glasgow town council hired 324 jobless workers to remodel Glasgow Green. In 1817 and 1826, efforts were made to improve the layout of the park. Culverts were built over the Calmachie and Molendinar Burns and the park was levelled out and drained.
Meanwhile, the Green became the locus of much political activity. The Radical movement for parliamentary reform was growing, and in 1816, about 40,000 people attended a meeting on the Green to support demands for a more representative government and an end to the Corn Laws that kept food prices high.
Then, in the spring of 1820, the Green became one of the meeting places for conspirators in what was known as the "Radical War". Strikers carried out military drills on the Green before their brief rebellion was crushed. Later, James Wilson was convicted of treason for allegedly being a leader of the insurrection. He was hanged and beheaded on the Green in front of a crowd of about 20,000 people.
When Parliament passed the Reform Act of 1832, increasing the electorate from 4,329 (in 1820) to 65,000 (in 1832), over 70,000 people gathered on the Green for a demonstration, and a band from the Bridgeton area of Glasgow les a procession lead around the Green.
The Chartism movement that grew in response to the Reform Act eventually resulted in what is known as the Chartist Riot of 1848. William Ewart Gladstone's Reform Act of 1867, which increased the electorate to 230,606 (in 1868), inspired further demonstrations and meetings on the Green.
In April 1872, the “women's suffragette society,” that had formed two years earlier, held a large open-air meeting on the Green. From then on, until the late 1910s, the women's suffrage movement continued to use the Green as a meeting place.