History

Glasgow Green dates from 1450 when Bishop Turnbull gifted the common lands of Glasgow Green to the people of Glasgow. The park was used originally as a place to wash, bleach linen, graze livestock, dry fishing nets and to swim. The park was crossed by the Molindinar and Camlachie Burns and was originally a swampy flood plain but culverting of these dried out the land. Following the economic depression after the Napoleonic Wars, 324 jobless workers were employed to remodel Glasgow Green by the Town Council of Glasgow into the park as it is seen today.

The Doulton Fountain was originally exhibited at the Kelvingrove International Exhibition in 1888 as a celebration of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887 and British Imperial achievement. It was moved to Glasgow Green in 1890. It is the largest teracotta fountain in the world, and after years of neglect and vandalism its historical importance was recognised and it was again dismantled, restored and then relocated to its new site within Glasgow Green in front of the People's Palace in 2005.

Templeton’s Carpet Factory was designed by William Leiper and construction started in 1888. On the1st November 1889,29 women and girls were killed when the façade collapsed, but it was rebuilt and completed in 1892. The façade is based on the Doges Palace in Venice and is somewhat unusual for a utilitarian building but this was because previous proposals for a factory on the site had been rejected as they were not good enough.

In 1898 the People's Palace and Winter Gardens were opened and originally arranged with reading rooms on the ground floor, a museum on the first floor and an art gallery on the second floor. In the 1940s the building was converted to a museum dedicated to the an exhibition venue for the social history and development of the city as well as the winter gardens to the rear of the building with views over Glasgow Green.

The McLennan Arch originally formed part of the New Assembly and Concert Rooms in Ingram Street designed by Robert and James Adam and begun in 1796. The building was demolished following the General Post Office acquisition but the central arch was rescued and subsequently re-erectedat the western end of Monteith Row in 1892 at the expense of James McLennanin. The arch was moved again in 1922 to the west edge of the Green facing Charlotte Street and again in 1991 to its present position facing the Old High Court in the Saltmarket.

In 1806 the first civic monument in Britain to commemorate Nelson's victories was erected by public subscription in Glasgow Green. In 2002 restoration programme restored the monument to its original condition and repaired damage that had accumulated over the previous two hundred years.

The William Collins fountain was erected in the park in 1881 to honour Sir William Collins, a figure in the temperance movement who served as Glasgow's Lord Provost between 1877 and 1880.

In 1901 Glasgow Corporation built a tidal weir at the park straddling the River Clyde to provide a means to maintain the level of the river at different tidal states and adjust the flow rate when required. It also maintains a stable water level to prevent erosion of the river banks. The structure maintains the river as freshwater up steam and brackish down steam from the weir. There is a footpath over the weir but this is to allow access for maintenance only and there is no public access. The weir also carries two water mains over the Clyde.