Kelvingrove Park Heritage Trail
Kelvingrove Park Heritage Trail 33-35

 


Kelvingrove Park Heritage Trail includes 35 sites of interest.  If you visit the Kelvingrove Park and use the map available to download here it will take you approximately 1 hour 30 minutes to follow the Heritage trail from Kelvingrove Museum to The Kelvinway Bridge.
33. Radnor Bowling and Tennis Pavillion, Croquet Lawns and Pavilion (1922)

Radnor Bowling and Tennis Pavillion, Croquet Lawns and Pavilion  
 		 Kelvingrove Bowls and Tennis are by far the busiest in Glasgow, in that usage figures are almost twice as high as other Council facilities. Not surprisingly the bowling greens are particularly popular with university students.

Radnor Bowling Pavilion comprises of a red brick, symmetrical building with grey sandstone dressings, interlocking pitched and piended slate roofs with red-tiled ridge and finials. It comprises a raised octagonal central block with lower, 3-bay pitched-roof wings with verandas. A disabled ramp has been added on the south-east side.
The greens to the West are known as Kelvingrove Old and are used more or less exclusively for Croquet by the Scottish Croquet Association for competition and club days.


34 Kelvinway Gate Piers at Sauchiehall Street (1913-1914)

Kelvinway Gate Piers at Sauchiehall Street  As indicated earlier, there are two pairs of 19th century, drum gate-piers guarding each end of Kelvin Way, one at the junction with University Avenue and this set at the Sauchiehall Street entrance.

The masonry columns comprise alternating bands of polished and vermiculated ashlar which rise into a curved and moulded stone cope supporting a decorative wrought-iron lamp bracket and lantern on a circular plinth.

The gate-piers are believed to have formed part of Woodlands Road entrance to Woodlands House and perhaps been the gate-piers at the Eldon Street entrance to the Park which were removed when the railway tunnel was pushed through the Park in 1897. Category C(S) Listed


35. The Kelvinway Bridge (1913-14)

The Kelvinway Bridge  This is effectively the end of the Kelvingrove Heritage tour and returns you to the Museum grounds, where toilet facilities and refreshments are available.

The Kelvinway Bridge is a large red sandstone, single arch bridge with rusticated quoins and deep channelled ashlar piers. The bridge features some of the most photographed statues in Glasgow.

The sculptures are symmetrically-placed allegorical bronze figures flanking bronze lanterns. The figures represent Philosophy and Inspiration (north-west), War and Peace (north-east), Navigation and Shipbuilding (south-east) and Commerce and Industry (south-west). 
These majestic figures were the result of a competition adjudicated by George Frampton, who supervised the original sculptural work for Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, and won by Paul Raphael Montford in 1914.

The Bridge Engineer was Alex B McDonald. Railings to the bridge abutments were added in the same year. Due to spiralling costs, there was a delay of about ten years before the figures were added to the bridge. £3,800 for the statuary was authorised in 1922.

Ironically, the figure ‘War’ was severely damaged by bombing during the Second World War and repaired by Benno Schotz in 1951.

It is felt that the Kelvinway and Bridge ultimately has the potential for restoration as a “Victorian Street” as part of a package of tourist attractions linked to the park, art galleries and university.
Category 'B' Listed

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