Meadowside Granary was a complex of four interlinked

granary A granary, also known as a grain house and historically as a granarium in Latin, is a post-harvest storage building primarily for grains or seeds. Granaries are typically built above the ground to prevent spoilage and protect the stored grains o ...

buildings situated on the north bank of the

River Clyde The River Clyde (, ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the second longest in Scotland after the River Tay. It runs through the city of Glasgow. Th ...

in the

Partick Partick (, Scottish Gaelic: ''Partaig'') is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch, to the east Yorkhill and Kelvingrove Park (across the River Kelvin), and to the north Broo ...

area of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland. Constructed in four phases between 1911 and 1967, the finished construction was the largest brick building in Europe at the time. The granary closed in 1988 and was demolished in 2002; the site is now occupied by part of the

Glasgow Harbour Glasgow Harbour is a private sector urban regeneration scheme at Partick in the West End of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is not the history and development of the wider and internationally famous Glasgow Harbour from Glasgow Green to Clyde ...

re-development.

History

The first Meadowside Granary was a thirteen-storey, thirteen-bay brick building. Both it and the adjacent Meadowside Quay were built by

engineer William Alston for the Clyde Navigation Trust between 1911 and 1913. The site, on the north bank of the

at Castlebank Street,

, was formerly

Meadowside Meadowside was a association football, football ground in the Partick area of Glasgow, Scotland. It was the home ground of Partick Thistle F.C., Partick Thistle from 1897 until 1908. History Partick Thistle moved to Meadowside from Inchview Park ...

football ground, which had been the home of

Partick Thistle F.C. Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick sinc ...

from 1897 until 1908. During construction, damage was caused by a severe storm on 27 November 1912 that blew down four cranes at the site. After opening, Meadowside became the most important grain store in the United Kingdom during World War I. The granary was first extended in 1937, when a second building was added. A further extension in 1960 cost £3 million and added 50,000 tons of capacity to double the existing storage. The fourth and final building was completed in 1967 and added a further 80,000 tons at a cost of £1.5 million. High level gantries were added to link the buildings. When completed, the Meadowside complex was reputed to be the largest grain storage facility in the UK and the largest brick building in Europe, with over twenty million bricks used in its construction. Glasgow Harbour in 2007

The Upper Clyde was still a thriving port in the 1960s, but shipping declined thereafter. Meadowside was closed in 1988 and finally demolished in 2002. Port operators Clydeport was taken over in 2003 by

the Peel Group The Peel Group is a British infrastructure and property investment business, based in Manchester. In 2022, its Peel Land and Property estate extends to of buildings, and over of land and water. Peel retains minority stakes in its former ports ...

, who subsequently used the land for the first phase of the

regeneration project. The site of the granary is now occupied by residential apartments.

Notes

References

External links

* *''Meadowside Granary'', Hidden Glasgow: https://hiddenglasgow.com/granary/index.htm; this includes an overall aerial view with dates of construction for each building {{coord, 55.8690, -4.3208, display=title Buildings and structures in Glasgow Partick Granaries Brick buildings and structures in the United Kingdom Industrial buildings completed in 1913 Buildings and structures demolished in 2002 1913 establishments in Scotland 2002 disestablishments in Scotland