ST.
THOMAS’ METHODIST CHURCH
600,
Gallowgate, Calton
What
was to become St. James’s Burgh Church of Scotland at 216, London Road,
Calton, is believed to have been one of the many Wesleyan Methodist chapels
built at the instigation of the Reverend Valentine Ward. It was
constructed in 1816 on the south side of what was then Great Hamilton Street.
This was a part of Calton Green, then being feued by Glasgow Town Council as
part of the general improvements to Glasgow Green itself and the development of
prestigious housing at Monteith Row.
The Calton society had committed themselves to the costs prior to the economic depression which followed on from the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 and, like many other churches at the time, soon found themselves to be financially over-extended. Eventually the building had to be sold off, and it was acquired by the Town Council in 1820, which established its new Burgh Church in the premises.
The displaced Great Hamilton Street Methodists found themselves a less costly home in Green Street, Calton. This Green Street Chapel was built in 1811 as a Lancastrian School. It was one of many such educational establishments founded by the Quaker Joseph Lancaster which utilised the monitorial system of tuition whereby older students taught younger students. The school did not continue beyond a few years, and by 1820 the building had become vacant. Part of it was used as a temporary police station and court-house after Calton was elevated to the status of a Burgh of Barony in 1817, and this role continued until new Burgh buildings were constructed in Stevenson Street in 1823-24. The society remained in Green Street until 1851.
By 1851 they were able to acquire more commodious accommodation – this time at the expense of the Established Church. St. Thomas’ in the Gallowgate had been built in 1822 as a Chapel of Ease to St. John’s Burgh Church of Scotland in Calton. No longer required by the diminished congregations following the Disruption of 1843, it was eventually acquired by the Methodists to become St. Thomas’ Wesleyan Methodist Church, giving its name to Wesleyan Street at its eastern boundary. The church would also appear at some point in its history to have been given the nickname the “Potters’ Kirk.” It seems likely that this arose from some of its adherents being associated with that trade which thrived in the immediate area. The old Green Street buildings were sold to Great Hamilton Street Reformed Presbyterian Church the following year.
A Wesleyan Methodist mission initiated by the Calton society which had been operating in Landressy Street built themselves a church, Bridgeton Central Hall, at the junction of Landressy Street and James Street, in 1926. In 1962 the members joined that of St. Thomas’. Their Hall remained in existence until the following decade when it was demolished along with a mass of other buildings in Bridgeton.
The St. Thomas’ society flourished for well over a century, participating in the Union of 1932, but then like so many others, it succumbed to the drastic decline in population and general dereliction of the area. It closed in 1973 with the site being sold to the City for redevelopment. Both the building and Wesleyan Street itself have now disappeared beneath the grounds of the Crownpoint sports complex. The members distributed themselves amongst other congregations, both Methodist societies and otherwise, with some finding a new home at Trinity, now Shettleston Methodist Church.
Trinity Methodist Church (1977); “Trinity Methodist Church, Shettleston. 75th Anniversary, 1902-1977.” Commemorative booklet. Glasgow, Harmas Design & Publicity.
© 2005 Gordon Adams
