TOLLCROSS METHODIST CHURCH

The founding force of Methodism in Tollcross was George Joap who organised meetings in his own cottage home as early as 1860. As adherents grew in number a room was rented at a corner of the present Corbett St and Tollcross was admitted to the 1st Glasgow Circuit in 1867.

The first church building was opened in 1872 and during the 1880s Methodism was "pioneered" in the nearby villages of Parkhead and Shettleston. It is generally accepted that Tollcross was the driving force in the spread and establishment of Methodism in this part of Glasgow's east end.

During the winter of 1911/12 the original church building was largely destroyed in a great storm, with the replacement being built on the same site in 1912. The church remained in continual use until 1976.

The fate suffered by the church was one shared by a large number of churches of differing denominations in the east end of Glasgow. With the huge exodus of population to the New Towns and the peripheral schemes church attendance fell dramatically throughout the east end.

The last service at Tollcross Methodist Church was preached by the Rev H. Haddow Tennent on the evening of 11th July, 1976. It was subsequently used as a Masonic Lodge (Lodge Larchgrove No 1518) and latterly as the venue for an occasional indoor market. It fell into a state of increasing dereliction and was finally taken down in early 1991. The remnants of the Tollcross congregation joined their brethren in Shettleston and continues to worship at Trinity Church, the product of the 1880s evangelical zeal.