CALTON
(Caltoun, Caldton)
To the east of mediaeval Glasgow and
contiguous to it, lying on the Gallowmuir and common lands where the town's
cattle were grazed, was an area of land which became known as Blackfauld. The
name suggests a tract of land of darkened appearance and this may well have been
due to contamination by waste from early coal workings or digging for peat.
Most of the land surrounding Glasgow
belonged to the Church from a very early time until the Reformation saw it
transfer into secular hands. In Blackfauld's case, ownership eventually passed
to the Walkinshaw family by the mid-17th century as part of the more extensive
Barrowfield estate. A map of the period, dated 1650, shows Blackfauld as being
encompassed within the boundaries of four old country lones which were later to
become Ross St.., London Rd., Abercromby St. and Gallowgate.
It was the Walkinshaw family which
initiated a settlement on this western extremity of their estate in 1705, giving
it the name of Blackfauld. The major benefit to be derived from establishing a
community at this place was its proximity to Glasgow while still being outwith
the town boundaries and therefore not subject to the same Guild restrictions.
Initially, few people chose to take up the offered feus and so development was
slow. Despite this, a weaving community did gradually develop which was a source
of competition to its Glasgow neighbours. When Walkinshaw finally lost his
estates as a consequence of the support he had provided to the Jacobite cause,
Glasgow took the opportunity to end the rivalry at its doorstep and purchased
the estate in 1723. There then followed a negotiated settlement with the
Blackfauld craftsmen.
It was from this period that the area
seemed to acquire the routine use of its modern name rather than Blackfauld,
when it became known as the Calton (or Caltoun) of Glasgow. As a residual memory
from these times, the area is still known to many as "the" Calton
rather than simply Calton. This may have been a secondary name from more ancient
times though, and not an innovation - Calton may derive from the Gaelic word
"coillduin" meaning "a wood on a hill." However, Smart
(1988) indicates that the name was also generally applied throughout Scotland to
small areas of early industrial activity, and this was certainly the case with
Glasgow's Calton.
The Barrowfield property, with Calton
included, was purchased from the Town Council in 1731 by John Orr and while in
that family's possession the original village continued its slow growth, with
many of the inhabitants still being weavers. Barrowfield was erected into a
Barony by King George II in favour of John Orr in 1735, with a Baron's Court
being established in Calton and a jail built in Main St. to house the local
malefactors. However, towards the end of the 18th century what little local
authority this had provided seems to have dissipated under pressure from an
expanding population and the rapid development of industry.
Calton was the first industrial
suburb of the town, and was perhaps one of the first in the entire United
Kingdom. Local clay deposits were exploited for centuries and were used produce
bricks and pantiles as well as other goods in the new community's potteries.
This then provided a readily available source of building material for the
construction of the one and two storey houses and workshops with their red,
pantilled roofs which came to dominate the early settlement. Glasgow also
readily availed itself of local materials for building.
The Cross of Calton was situated at
the junction of its main thoroughfares, these being Main St., New St. and High
St.. Calton still did not face directly onto the Gallowgate. A strip of land
within the Royalty boundary which was comprised of the old Claythorn lands and
part of the Gallowmuir lay between the two. To gain more ready access to
Glasgow, two main routes were eventually opened up to gain entrance to the
Gallowgate; Calton Entry led south to meet New St. while Calton Mouth led to the
north end of Main St. It is recorded that Calton even had its own small loch,
lying to the north of High St., but it is now long gone with its source waters
drained off into the Clyde.
From 1791 to 1819/20 the population
grew from 11,120 (according to the Barony Parish census) to 15,616 (by
Cleland's census). Some continued attempt at civil control was exerted by the
feuars who agreed between themselves not to let their property to persons of
"bad character" but its effectiveness could only be partial in the
face of such expansion.
In fact, it should rather be said
that the Calton villages expanded, for there had developed two distinct centres
of population - the original Old Calton to the west (which was still also known
as East Blackfauld) and a New Calton to the east. This latter settlement had
grown largely to the east of Green St. and towards Mile-end, upon a portion of
Blackfauld land and part of the Broomward land to its south east. Ord (1911)
suggests that it may even have had its own village cross at the junction of
Abercromby St. and Stevenson St..
Calton was erected into a Burgh of
Barony in 1817, with its own Burgh Council and at that time the two Caltons were
merged as one. Civic buildings were built in what is now Stevenson St., from
1823-24, and these included a Council Chamber, a Police Office and Bridewell.
The Burgh motto was "By Industry We Prosper" and the coat of arms
included the depiction of three cat-like creatures each holding a shuttle in its
mouth. This was the symbol of weaving communities throughout the country and is
believed to refer to their traditional pledge that "I will eat the shuttle
ere I reveal the secrets of the craft." Its inclusion in the arms indicates
the growth in importance of the weavers within the settlement from its
inception.
These particular workers were in the
forefront of some of the earliest industrial relations conflicts as a result of
the changes which had taken place in their trade over the passed century, and
which had culminated in the Weavers Strike of 1787. As the number of weavers
declined thereafter, the number of cotton spinners increased, and the industrial
muscle of Calton was to be flexed again during the Cotton Spinners' Strike of
1837.
The Burgh had four Provosts during
its relatively brief existence; Robert Struthers (1817), Nathaniel Stevenson
(1818), Robert Bartholomew (1839) and Robert Bankier (1843). Although all four
had a street named after them in recognition of their service, only two of these
remain - Stevenson St. and Bankier St..
A Night Watch had been in service
prior to a police force being established following the introduction of the
Calton Police Act of 1819. This was "An Act for regulating the Police of
the Burgh of Calton and the Village of Mile-end, in the County of Lanark;
paving, cleansing, and lighting the streets and passages of the said district;
and for the erecting a Court House, Gaol and Bridewell or Workhouse
therein."
The Burgh took its police duties very
seriously and these are elaborated upon at length in Superintendent John Ord's
history. The only limit to the powers of the Magistrates was that they could not
try cases punishable by death or transportation. The Act also gave the Burgh
police legal jurisdiction over the village and lands of Mile-end but the Burgh's
writ did not run to its neighbour Bridgeton, unless there were exceptional
circumstances which required the police to cross the boundary.
Calton would appear to have been
subject to the same disorderly and unlawful behaviours as anywhere else. The
Police Court books provide some examples: "Thus on 14th January, 1822, John
Johnston, for whistling on the streets on Sunday, was fined half-a-crown. On 6th
May of the same year John Ballantyne, of Saltmarket, Glasgow, was fined in a
like sum for allowing three swine belonging to him to be at large on the streets
of Calton during church hours. On 17th June following, four men were each fined
in five shillings for "improper and reprehensible conduct', on the streets
by "putting the stone." On 26th August, Archibald Galla, from
Cambuslang, for having at 10.30 o'clock the previous night caused a disturbance,
resisted arrest, and caused Patrolman Connor to lose his nightcap was fined in
ten shillings." (Ord, 1911).
More serious offences were severely
dealt with; "On 22nd January of the same year, Hugh Clelland, a weaver, for
cruelty to a dog by skinning it while it was alive, was fined in twelve
shillings, failing immediate payment, thirty days' imprisonment with hard
labour. The Calton and Mile-end Bridewell book, which is still preserved, shows
that he underwent his full term of imprisonment." (Ord, 1911)
Many offences had a religious
connotation; certain actions acceptable on weekdays offended Presbyterian
sensibilities when undertaken on a Sunday and were deemed illegal. This
reflected the general situation throughout Scotland at that period. In fact, the
area also exhibited evidence of the general anti-Catholic feelings of the late
18th century in the attack on a Monsieur Bagnall's pottery in Tureen St. in
1779. Despite this, Calton actually offered sanctuary to one of the first
Catholic congregations to overtly worship since the Reformation. A small chapel
was used in the Boarhead Lone (Marshall St.) as early as 1797, and was used
until St. Andrew's Cathedral was built in 1816.
A greater tolerance of Catholics no
doubt arose from a number of factors, included in which was the immigration of
large numbers of persons from Ireland and the North of Scotland; adherents of
the old faith. Allied to this was a waning in power of the Established Church
itself through the years of Calton's foundation due to a diminution in
membership. In fact the schismatic history of the Church which contributed to
this is demonstrated nowhere more clearly than in the history of Calton's
churches. At various times Calton had edifices representing all the major, and
some lesser, religious persuasions.
The boundaries of Calton were more
closely defined during the period when it existed as an independent Burgh. Ord
(1911) lists the nine wards of the burgh, with the whole essentially lying
within an enclave of Glasgow's Royalty boundary to the north, south and west.
The eastern boundary was the village and lands of Mile-end. Calton's
independence was short-lived however, and came to an end with the Glasgow
Municipal Extensions Act of 1846 which facilitated Calton's incorporation into
Glasgow along with Bridgeton, Dalmarnock, Anderston and Gorbals. With this
incorporation came a gradual extension of Calton's boundaries to include areas
which were formerly part of Glasgow.
Now as a district of Glasgow, the
population continued to grow as dramatically as that of its one time neighbour -
to 36,244 by 1851 - and with it came a remarkable degree of deprivation,
poverty, disease and slum housing. Whereas institutions such as the University
and the Barracks could flee to the west, the majority of the inhabitants of the
Calton did not have this option open to them. The situation was alleviated to
some extent by the actions of the City Improvement Trust, but the most
significant slum clearances still lay well into the future.
Calton was photographed extensively
prior to the First World War by the then Chief Sanitary Inspector, Peter Fyfe
(1854-1940). His photographs show the much smaller scale of the 18th century
housing, towered over by the later Victorian tenements. Much of the older
housing was eventually swept away following the Great war, and it was with the
further prospective redevelopment of GEAR that the Calton was again recorded
photographically in the late 1970s. This was undertaken in a joint project by
the People's Palace and Partick Camera Club.
The face of Calton, like other areas
within the catchment of the GEAR project, changed dramatically, with the older
parts being demolished almost entirely. There remains nothing now of the
original village, but there are still some survivors in the locale from its
later history. Excellent, restored examples of late 18th century housing can be
seen at 374-8, Gallowgate (c.1780) and at 394, Gallowgate (1771). The Calton
Burying Ground (1787/1822) also originates from that period. The 19th century
is represented in St. Luke & St. Andrew's Parish Church (1836-37), St.
Mary's RC Church (1841-42), the Eastern District Police Station (1868-69) and
several examples of industrial archaeology such as White's Clay Pipe Factory
(1876-77) in Bain Square.
The district's street names have
undergone a greater than average number of changes with its incorporation into
Glasgow and the huge redevelopments by GEAR. Calton had its own Main St. which
later became Well St. and ultimately abbreviated into Claythorn Avenue. High St.
became Kirk St. when a church was built there very early on and finally
Stevenson St.. New Street became King St. and then Stevenson St. West. The
western portion of the present Millroad St., was first known as Beggars Row.
Whereas these recall a more recent past, it is only in street names like
Craignestock St. and Claythorn St. that the more ancient Calton is now
remembered.
The once ubiquitous tenements are
represented by a few survivors such as Craignestock Mansions at the junction of
London Rd and Green St.. Otherwise, the Calton is now extensively covered with
inter-war tenements and two storey housing developments of GEAR and post-GEAR
provenance. Most of the Calton's inhabitants were scattered, but remarkable
numbers have found their way back to the new houses which replaced the crowded
slums, demonstrating an affinity with their area of origination which tends to
be shared by many Glaswegians.
Calton has been transformed into a
relatively quiet suburb now, but its livelier past is revived to some extent at
the weekends when bargain hunters flood into its western extremity and the
Barras open. It is in the vicinity of this sprawling market that Calton's two
oldest pubs are located - the Saracen's Head and the Burnt Barns.
Into the story of the anonymous
masses which lived out there lives in Calton there occasionally came a few
visitors who also featured on the national stage. Included among these were the
noted churchman Thomas Chalmers who was minister to St. John's Parish from
1819-1823, and the great James Maxton who taught at St. James' Primary from
1909-1912. But the district has also produced its own notable talent on
occasion, not the least of which are, arguably, its most famous sons - Matt
McGinn and Lobey Dosser, the Sheriff of Calton Creek!
© 2005 Gordon Adams
Ord, John (1911); "The Story of
the Burgh of Calton" in "Old Glasgow Club Transactions," Volume
2.
