BRIDGETON CROSS

It is still a common local expression for someone to say that they are going "down to the Toll" when talking about Bridgeton Cross. This is an example of an earlier name persisting in common parlance, because Bridgeton Cross was indeed a Toll point earlier in its history. Before Bridgeton's foundation, the only route through the area was the road to Dalmarnock and its ford. As trade along the road developed and Bridgeton opened up a toll point was established across Dalmarnock Road, and later Main St, where these two roads met at the Camlachie Burn. There was a ford over the Burn here, and Barrowfield Bridge no doubt was built to facilitate crossing. Up until c.1870 the place was known as Barrowfield Toll. It was the slum clearance activities of the City Improvement Trust which led to the formation of Bridgeton Cross in the early 1870s. Many of the original buildings at the Toll were taken down and replaced by white ashlar tenements. The north end of the area was widened, and to add a finishing and distinctive touch, a 50 feet high cast iron pavilion was erected in 1875 in pride of place in the open centre space. This "Umbrella" as it came to be known, no doubt because of its appearance and the shelter it provided from rain, was made by the Sun Foundry.

In fact, the title Bridgeton Cross is somewhat misleading as the original cross of the village lay at the junction of Dale St and Reid St. Hugh Macintosh (1902) states that this fact was referred to in the now lost minute book of the Bridgeton Feuar Court, and himself saw the actual cross marked in stones set in the roadway. The Camlachie Burn marked the divide between Bridgeton and Calton and the site of the present Bridgeton Cross actually lay within the boundary and jurisdiction prior of Calton to 1847.

The Cross is the meeting point of seven thoroughfares with the Umbrella sitting on an island surrounded by roads radiating out from this hub. London Road to the west was originally known as Barrowfield Road, being the route from Glasgow to that estate. From Green St to the Cross it later became known as Canning Street, named after the 19th century Prime Minister, George Canning. In the 1920s it gained its present name. Orr St was named after John Orr of Barrowfield. It did not always extend as far north as it currently does, only to Broad St. beyond which it became Sister St. Olympia St has its name from the cinema there, but was previously Charles St. In the 19th century it was a notorious gathering place for the "roughs" of Calton and Bridgeton. New London Road leading east was laid out along an old path as an alternative approach to Glasgow, relieving the congested Gallowgate. Dalmarnock Street became Dalmarnock Road. Main Street was laid out as Barrowfield St when the village was founded but changed its name very soon after.

The line of James St was partially built upon earlier but only opened up as a street in the 1870s. It was built on the lands of the old Bridgeton Green which had been given to the villagers by John Orr in 1785 to be used for washing, bleaching and drying clothes. It was reached by Green St (later Mackeith St). The Green was sold to the City Improvement Trust for redevelopment and it was at this time that the Camlachie Burn which flowed through the Green's north end was covered and the new buildings constructed at the Cross. 

The 1890s saw the construction of many of the other buildings around the Cross which have contributed so much to its character. The tenements and station of the North British Railway Company were built c.1892 and the red stone Bridgeton Cross Mansions facing into the Cross were finished in 1899. The Savings Bank of Glasgow opened their highly ornate branch at the corner of Landressy St in 1902. It was not until later that the Cross acquired another two notable features in the Olympia Theatre (1911) and the Salvation Army Citadel (1927).