Site Report

WoSASPIN 8772
NS 5966 6490.

(NS 5966 6490) Tolbooth Steeple (NR)
OS 25" map, (1954)

Glasgow Tolbooth was erected on the site of its predecessor in 1626. Vacated in 1814, the main building was shortly afterwards removed, but the original steeple still remains. It was repaired at considerable cost in 1842 (Gordon 1872).
R Renwick 1908; A Gordon 1872

The steeple is still standing in a good state of repair.
Visited by OS (WMJ) 5 September 1951.

NMRS Architecture Record:
ARCHITECT: Valentine Jenkins for gilding the cock etc.
REFERENCE: MITCHELL LIBRARY
Wm Graham vol.1 p.20, 145 - photograph
Glasgow in Former Times, vol 1, p81 - engraving

The Tolbooth Steeple stands in the centre of the road at the south end of High St. It stands approximately 40m high with seven stories. It is capped by an open crown spire holding 16 bells. There are entrances on the north and south side and windows on each floor, the windows on the west wall on the 4th and 5th floor have been filled in. The tower is built of random stone with faced stone corners, there is a string course ledge under each window and a decorative stonework scroll above. The interior contains a cicular, stone stairway changing to wood for the last two flights. The top storey houses a keyboard /pedals for the 16 bells. The bells are struck by a clapper to one side only, they do not have a central clapper like church bells. They are only rung at new year or to welcome Freemen of Glasgow. Some of the stonework on the crown spire looks in poor condition and the gutters need cleaning but generally the fabric looks sound, despite standing in the middle of a constant flow of traffic to within a couple of feet of its base. The building of the tolbooth was to the west of the steeple and ashlar stone has been used to make good the joining wall. I visited the steeple with Tom Brady of the City Architects Department, who have responsibility for the building and he was going to see about cleaning out the gutters and inspecting and maybe repairing stonework on the bell tower.
Derived from HS Monument Warden Report 16/01/92

NS 59660 64900 Location taken from current OS mapping of extant structure.
Entered WoSAS (HMcB) 16/08/00

Glasgow Tolbooth was situated at Glasgow Cross - the intersection between Trongate, Gallowgate, Saltmarket Street, and High Street. The Tolbooth was constructed in 1626, housing the Town Clerk's office, the council hall, and the city's prison. In 1736, John McUre's 'The History of Glasgow' described the Tolbooth Prison as consisting of 'two prison houses for prisoners of note and distinction'. Inside, the inmates are noted to have been remarkably well organised, going so far as to elect a 'provost' and producing a number of regulations of their own making as a means of running the Prison. On the 1807 Fleming Map, the Prison is represented as a large square building on the corner of High Street and Trongate, with a small square added to the eastern side representing the Tolbooth Steeple (WOSASPIN: 8772). Soon after the production of the Fleming Map, in 1814 the Tolbooth was vacated by the Council for new premises on Jail Square.
Entered WoSAS (EG) 24/08/2018