Part Three

St. PATRICK'S R.C. CHURCH
 With its close proximity to the Clyde and the need for cheap labour, Anderston during the 1830’s was an ideal location for Irish immigrants. Within a short period of time, the influx of Irish and Highland incomers exacerbated the critical problems of overcrowding as well as the already poor housing conditions prevalent throughout the area.

A great deal of antagonism was displayed specifically towards the Irish immigrants who, were viewed with suspicion and mistrust throughout central Scotland. Weavers in particular, were vehement in their objection to the Irish incomers whose very presence threatened the security of jobs, and often resulted in the lowering of wages. Despite the fierce opposition to Irish Catholic emancipation, the Rev. Gavin Struthers, minister of Anderston Relief Church, appears to have had a more enlightened attitude towards the Irish settlers. Against all the odds he was a staunch supporter of their emancipation and integration into the local community.

Roman Catholicism in Anderston, like most of Glasgow, had small beginnings. For example, in 1780 records indicate that there were only a few Roman Catholics who had neither priest nor chapel. From the 1830's onwards, thousands of Irish settlers were arriving in Glasgow annually. Prior to the establishment of a Chapel in Anderston, people of Catholic persuasion wishing to attend Mass, had to journey to Saint Andrew's RC Cathedral on Clyde Street.

In the face of strong opposition, ground was feued from the Houldsworths, on the edge of Cranstonhill Estate, and in November 1850, St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, with seating for around eight hundred people, was opened on west side of Hill Street. The congregation of St. Patrick’s at this time was composed mainly of Irish immigrants. The first Priest to be given charge of the first Catholic Church in Anderston was Patrick Hanley, an Irishman, born in Limerick on 8th May 1818. Looking back on history, it is not unreasonable to suggest that when Houldsworth feued the property on Cranstonhill, he was perhaps, not so much sympathetic to Catholic emancipation, as he was to ensuring that his factory would be kept supplied with cheap Irish labour. During this particular period, Houldsworth employed over three hundred low-paid Irish immigrants at his mill in Cheapside Street.

The present St. Patrick's Church was erected on the site of the Blythswood Foundry, which stood on the corner of North Street and William Street. The foundation stone for 'St. Pat's', as it is affectionately known, was laid appropriately enough, on Saint Patrick's Day, 17th March 1896. The new building was completed and ready for occupancy on 2nd June 1898. A story is told regarding the opening ceremony, whether it is true or not I don't know. The congregation of St. Patrick’s was composed of two distinct factions, the native Scots, and the Irish immigrants. Apparently there was a clear division among members of the congregation during the period of the official opening. The Irish members insisted that an Irish priest should dedicate the Chapel, while the Scots wanted the priest originally detailed to oversee the ceremony. The indigenous Scots got their wish, and the church was duly consecrated. However, later that day, the Irish adherents also had the church dedicated, by their preferred priest. As earlier stated, I don't know if there is any substance to the story, but, if there is, 'St. Pat's' must be one of the few churches to have been dedicated twice on the same day!

St. Pat’s narrowly missed being swallowed up in the 1960’s redevelopment and motorway programme, making it now the oldest surviving place of Christian worship in Anderston proper. Road realignment meant that a portion of the pavement and main approach to 'St. Pat's' had to be altered. The entrance to the Chapel is but a few short steps from North Street, nowadays a busy road serving both as an off-ramp from the Kingston Bridge and a feeder road between St. Vincent Street and Argyle Street.

The Boy Scout Movement was founded in 1908. The first Catholic Scout Troop in Anderston was started in 1921, under the title 86th Glasgow Troop. The Troop reached its zenith during the 1950’s although membership seldom exceeded thirty. The boys enjoyed participating in all the usual Scouting activities such as weekend camping and football. It is claimed that a member of the 86th Glasgow Scout Troop was the first holder of the King’s Scout Award in the Glasgow area. With the advent of the 1960s, like most youth organisations, despite great efforts, the 86th Glasgow Scout Troop declined into a somewhat patchy existence, finally ceasing to operate sometime during the 1970’s.
 

St. Patrick’s RC Church, opened 1896.
This 1968 photograph, with girders in the foreground, clearly demonstrates how close construction work on the Kingston Bridge came to the church.
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St. MATTHEW’S
St. Matthew’s, founded in 1837, met in premises at 76 North Street, on the corner of William Street. A separate congregation who gathered under the auspices of West Bath Street Independent Church erected a fine gothic-style property in 1850, at 256 Bath Street, on the corner of Holland Street. When the congregation of Blythswood Est., formed in 1875, moved into the Bath Street property, the church became known as Blythswood Parish. The congregation of St. Matthew’s left their original William Street property in 1925, uniting with the congregation of Blythswood Parish to form St. Matthew’s Blythswood. A congregation who meet under the designation of Renfield St. Stephens now occupy the building.

St. Matthew’s Free:
As a result of the Disruption of 1843 a group calling themselves St. Matthew’s Free was formed. The congregation erected a church at 15 Kent Road in 1844, and seven years later, moved to 357 Bath Street. St. Mathew’s Free sponsored Finnieston Free Church, which was erected on the corner of Houldsworth/Finnieston Street, in 1857.

Cranstonhill Free
St. Matthew’s Free erected a Mission School on the north side of Main Street around 1847. Thirty years later, in 1878, the Mission Congregation opened a church under the title Cranstonhill Free, in Hill Street (Guest Street). In 1900 the church operated under the auspices Cranstonhill U.F., the designation was again changed in 1931 to Central U.F. Elizabeth Barr, daughter of the Rev. Jimmy Barr, one time Labour MP for Coatbridge, was the last minister to serve the congregation. The building was vacated in 1960 and lay derelict for many years prior to its demolition in 1968.

THE MITCHELL CONGREGATION:
Shortly after the congregation of St. Marks Free vacated their Cheapside Street premises in 1850, to move to a new site on Argyle Street, an independent group (including a faction from Wellington Street Church) who had been meeting in the Temperance Hall in Jamieson’s Lane (1852), and later in Catherine Street school (1855) erected a new building adjacent to St. Mark’s (Cheapside Street) in 1856 under the title of 'Mitchell U.P. Church’. In 1873 the 'Mitchell Congregation' erected premises at 12 Breadalbane Street under the title Sandyford U.P., changing to Sandyford U.F. in 1900. The congregation moved in 1914 to Novar Drive and became Hyndland U.F.

When the Sandyford congregation vacated the premises in 1914 another group, whose building in Kent Road was condemned, moved into the Breadalbane Street property, under the title ‘West U.F.’ The West U.F. congregation occupied the Breadalbane Street premises until 1917 and, not long after their departure, the building was converted into the Grove Cinema. Many years later the building was adapted as a boxing arena and became known as the 'Grove Stadium'. A firm of straw merchants occupied the premises before it was finally destroyed by fire during November 1969.

ANDERSTON KELVINGROVE PARISH CHURCH
Erected on a triangular wedge of land framed by Argyle Street, Cranston Street and Guest Street, the pyramid-shaped copper roof of Anderston Parish Church, opened in 1968, presented a striking feature against the otherwise unimaginative architecture of the new housing stock erected during the 1970's. With a fine suite of halls and meetingrooms the new church was designed with community service in mind. Following union with Kelvingrove Church in 1978, the designation of the church was changed to Anderston Kelvingrove Parish Church. At present, a total of fourteen former full charges, and at least three mission congregations, have, over the last century and a half, united in one way or another, to form the present Anderston Kelvingrove Parish Church.
 

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OTHER CHURCHES
It is extremely difficult to follow exactly the development of local churches due to church expansion, unions and internal disagreement. Suffice to say, that within Anderston, there were more that 30 church buildings and over 12 Mission Halls, the majority of which were either directly, or indirectly, connected in some way with each other. As well as the major churches in the area there were also a number of smaller religious denominations that played a significant role in the spiritual life and welfare of the community.

Among the churches in the area not already mentioned was the ‘Scots Independent’, a denomination founded by David Dale. Finding their premises, the ‘Candle Kirk’, in Greyfriars Wynd too small, the congregation erected larger premises in Oswald Street in 1837 under the title of the ‘Old Scots Independent Church’. This congregation were still holding meetings in the Christian Institute in Bothwell Street during the 1950’s. Other congregations included Argyle Free (Gaelic) (1847) in Oswald Street; Mains Street, United Original Secession, Blythswood Street (1837); St. John’s Episcopal in Houldsworth Street (1850); Brown Street Congregational (1830-41); The Congregation of Christian Disciples met in North Hanover Street in 1837 before moving to 41 Brown Street where they remained from 1859 until 1897. The congregation moved to Shawlands where they still meet under the designation of the Church of Christ. A faction from the Emmanuel Congregational, who originally met in Blackie Street, began holding meetings in the Mulberry Bank Hall, Finnieston (1891), they later moved to a new building in Stewartville Street, Partick.

MISSION HALLS
Among the Mission Halls in Anderston not already listed were: Anderston Free at 33 Clyde Street; Claremont U.P. in Cheapside Street; St. Vincent Street U.P. in Holm Street; Berkeley Street U.P. in Richard Street; Elgin Place Congregational at 12 Bishop Street and the Mission to Seamen in York Street.

THE SALVATION ARMY
 General Booth founded the Salvation Army Movement in 1865, but it was to be fourteen years before the Organisation took root in Scotland. Anderston has the distinction of being the birthplace of the Salvation Army north of the Border. The first Corps, or Number One Corps, as they were called, held their inaugural meetings under the leadership of Captain Black, on March 24th 1879, on a site currently occupied by housing at 643-649 Argyle Street.

The Anderston Citadel was opened on 28th May 1904, on the north side of Argyle Street (724), directly opposite Saint Mark's Church. Forming either side of the main entrance were six foundation stones, laid one on top of the other and suitably inscribed by notable people of the time. From their Citadel the 'Army' grew in strength and, in 1910, a twenty-five strong silver band was formed to lead the Praise. The average Sunday Service found the Citadel packed with well over one hundred people, plus of course the silver band and choristers. The evening Service enjoyed an even larger attendance. The Sunday school could boast a membership of over one hundred and fifty children. Many young people who emerged from the Sunday school would one day carry on the work of the Movement. Perhaps the most prominent person, in terms of rank at any rate, was John McMillan who, after devoting his life to the organisation and serving in various parts of the world, attained the rank of Chief of Staff of the entire Movement worldwide.

In the early days, the Captains of the Anderston Corps had many unusual, if not strange, methods of presenting the Gospel. I was informed of one Captain who preached from a coffin, and of another who expounded the Gospel whilst riding a bicycle. At one time the Anderston Citadel had what was considered to be the finest choir or, Songster Brigade, in the country. The sixty-five strong, mixed-choir was chosen to represent Scotland at the Crystal Palace, London, during the 1920's.

A Goodwill Centre was opened in 1925 on the corner of McAlpine Street and Broomielaw. The 'Goodwill Centres' were originally known as 'Slum Posts' reflecting the status of the areas where the work was carried out. Many of the older Anderston residents were able to recall 'The Slum Sisters', lady officers who volunteered their spare-time and service to staff the Centre. Work carried out from the Goodwill Centre mainly consisted of providing meals for the poor to scrubbing out homes for the old and infirm. The 'Slum Sisters' never missed an opportunity to give encouragement and share the Gospel with the poor and less fortunate. In later years the 'Slum Post' title was replaced with the designation 'Goodwill Centre'.

In 1927 the ‘Goodwill Centre’ relocated from the Broomielaw to the corner of Argyle Street and McAlpine Street. Redevelopment in 1967 forced the ‘Centre’ to move to a shop further up Argyle Street, near the ‘Fish Pend’. They again had to move a year or so later to the Citadel, until that too, was demolished around 1969. A new Salvation Army Scottish Headquarters, adjacent to Anderston Kelvingrove Church, was opened in 1972 on Cranstonhill. When the Movement celebrated its Centenary in Scotland, in 1979, the Anderston Corps of the Salvation Army paraded down Argyle Street, from Radnor Street, led by the brass band of 41st Glasgow Company of the Boys' Brigade, one of the Anderston Companies originally formed in 1886.

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