FLESHERS’ HAUGH
(Provost Haugh, Provosthaugh)
Glasgow Green
Although classed as a single park,
Glasgow Green is a composite of a number of areas which have been added
together through the centuries, many of which have retained earlier names. The
most significant of these is the Fleshers’ Haugh, an area of land largely
contained on three sides within a loop of the River Clyde, at the Green’s
eastern extremity. A "haugh" is a Scots term generally applied to
low-lying, level meadowland beside a stream or river. In far off days, and
reflecting the supremacy of the medieval Church, this particular haugh was known
as the Priest's Haugh.
In common with the rest of the Church
lands, the Priest's Haugh was lost to lay ownership following the Reformation,
and became part of the Barrowfield estate. It eventually came into the
possession of the Lord Provost of Glasgow, Sir John Bell, in 1681 and it was
from the office of the new owner that Provost’s Haugh took another name. The
alternative name of Fleshers' Haugh, and the one most commonly used today, arose
when the members of the Incorporation of Fleshers were allowed to use the
pastureland there for their animals. A flesher was the old Scots name for a
butcher, but who then undertook a wider range of tasks associated with their
trade than present practitioners would.
Perhaps the most significant event in
the Haugh’s entire history occurred in the winter of 1745-46 when Prince
Charles Edward Stuart - Bonnie Prince Charlie - reviewed his army of
Highlanders there during his retreat from Derby. For many years a thorn tree,
known afterwards as "Prince Charlie’s Tree," marked the spot where
the Prince had stood at the north-western boundary during the display. In more
recent memory, the place could still be located by a tree encircled by a wooden
seat, west of King’s Drive, but which is now gone.
In 1770, Senex (1884) reports, a Mary
Monro became the first person to be baptised by immersion in the Clyde, at
Fleshers’ Haugh. When a small congregation of Baptists became established in
Glasgow by 1776 they continued to use this location for initiation into their
religion. Religious tolerance was not a significant feature of 18th century
Glasgow and any deviation from orthodoxy was frowned upon. The relative wildness
and remoteness of the Haugh from Glasgow would have ensured some degree of
privacy during the rite. The Haugh lay outwith the Royalty of Glasgow at this
time, with only a rough access road running from Barrowfield to it, along the
eastern boundary of what was then Glasgow Green. There was also a deep ditch,
into which spring water drained, which separated the Haugh from the Green
itself.
In 1792 the Town Council acquired the
land from a descendant of Provost Bell, Patrick Bell of Cowcaddens, for the sum
of £4000. This purchase marked the culmination of a policy acquisition of
nearly 150 years standing which led the Council to extend the Green eastwards as
far as practical. The access road was removed as part of the incorporation of
the Haugh into the main Green.
Apart from being boggy in places due
to the presence of natural springs, the Haugh was also liable to flooding by the
Clyde. It was as the result of one such flood that Allan’s Pen, at the
eastern end of the Haugh, was destroyed. To help prevent further inundations
efforts were made to fill-in the more low lying areas, but it was not until the
improvements instigated by McLellan in 1826 that the ditch was filled and drains
laid to draw off the spring water.
Although a number of dug out canoes
dating back some 4,000 years have been found on the ancient banks of the Clyde
throughout Glasgow, including specimens under London St. and at Drygate,
indicating a very early use of the river, none have been found at Fleshers’
Haugh. The earliest archaeological evidence of human presence there is a Roman
Samian Ware bowl found by some workmen in 1876.
The topography was completely changed
towards the end of the 19th century with the decision to raise the Haugh’s
entire level and lay out playing fields. The spoil created from the building of
the subway was supposedly used for this purpose and at the end of the process
the level of the Haugh had been raised by an average of 20 feet. The very steep
embankments at the riverside are indicative of the major elevation which was
achieved, and for years have provided a suitable slope to roll Easter eggs.
The surrounding areas had become
highly industrialised during the 19th century and many workers south of the
river were employed in the factories of the east end of the city, and vice
versa. To facilitate travel, a road was opened up in 1900 through the King’s
Park area of the Green and Fleshers’ Haugh from Bridgeton Cross. This was an
extension of James St. and connected to the new King’s Bridge and into
Hutchesontown. The new route was named King’s Drive. Apart from the intrusion
onto the parkland, the road had the effect of separating the remaining part of
Fleshers’ Haugh from the rest of the Green, much as the earlier access road
had. In 1901 the Haugh was also bisected by a footpath leading to the Polmadie
Bridge, which provided purely pedestrian access to Polmadie via part of the
newly opened Richmond Park.
As a consequence of the land
engineering of the Victorians, and as was intended, the higher section of the
Haugh was no longer subject to flooding, although parts of the new surface still
readily achieved a very muddy consistency when it rained. This was well known to
the generations of footballers who used the playing fields. It was also one of
the problems which arose when the site was used as a venue for other occasions.
The "Shows" or
"Carnival" used the Haugh for decades at the Glasgow Fair after being
allowed to return to the Green following virtual banishment in 1870. In more
recent years the Haugh was the setting for the City’s bonfire and fireworks
display on Guy Fawkes Night, and for a concert when Wet Wet Wet played before an
audience of thousands.
Within the last few years however the
Shows and other events transferred further west to the Nelson’s Monument
vicinity to allow the redevelopment of the Haugh to take place. With the advent
of more modern recreational facilities elsewhere, the Haugh had become
chronically under-used for sports and in the main was not a particularly
attractive setting for any other activity. Change was not an easy process to
effect, and many proposals by the Council in the early 1990s were vigorously
opposed by the public on the grounds that they allowed private developers to
build on the parkland.
The situation was resolved to a
considerable extent with the receipt of £6.6 million by the city from the
Lottery Heritage Fund in 1997 for the overall redevelopment of Glasgow Green.
Part of this money was expended on the Football Centre at Fleshers’ Haugh
which was opened in November, 2001 by the manager of the national football team,
Craig Brown. This "state of the art" facility is intended to encourage
the development of footballing excellence at all levels of involvement. The main
building was constructed on the site of old changing room provision at King’s
Drive, with enclosed, floodlit football pitches of varying size and surfaces
extending to the east behind it.
© 2005 Gordon Adams
Reid, R (SENEX)(1884); "Glasgow,
Past and Present." David Robertson and Co., Glasgow
