Glasgow feels like a Victorian city. There's a lot of buildings and architecture in the city centre that are mid-to-late nineteenth century, and for visitors the city looks and feels Victorian.
Glasgow doesn't have the medieval charm of Edinburgh's Old Town, or the quaint Georgian character of Edinburgh's New Town. Glasgow is Victorian, and that's just the way it is.
Hidden away, right in the city centre on the south side of the River Clyde, is a Georgian street of some considerable importance. It's not the only Georgian street in Glasgow. As Glasgow grew from its medieval centre and spread west, Georgian stuff happened: St. Vincent Street, West George Street, West Regent Street, Bath Street and Blythswood Square. Georgian streets still survive in Glasgow, although not always in their entirety.
But Carlton Place is different.
Carlton Place was built in the early Georgian period. It was designed to be an upmarket area of Laurieston, once part of the Gorbals, with gates at each end of Carlton Place to keep the riff-raff out. But it was too close to Glasgow's East End and many industries with tall chimneys and smells.
And so the middle classes moved out of Carlton Place, and industry moved in. But over time businesses themselves moved out, and Carlton Place became almost abandoned.
And yet, behind one of the doors of Carlton Place - Laurieston House - lies an architectural interior that would rival any Royal Palace. It is an interior of such grandness that is said to feature the finest Georgian interior in the whole country.
And the question is, why is that whole street, and especially Laurieston House, now partially derelict and in great danger of being lost forever?
7 июн 2023
