Shawlands () is a Southside suburb 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, located two miles south 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 ...

. The area, considered the "Heart of the Southside", is known for its independent restaurants and cafés, art scene, public parks, period terraces, and red and blond sandstone tenements. Shawlands was named one of the best places to live in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in 2022 and 2023 by

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, and one of the world's coolest neighbourhoods by

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with judges describing it as "the city's best area to live and socialise”. It is located between

Pollok Country Park Pollok Country Park is a country park located between Shawlands, Crossmyloof, and Pollok in Glasgow, Scotland. In 2007, Pollok Country Park was named Britain's Best Park, and in 2008 it was named the Best Park in Europe, beating competition fro ...

– the home of the

Burrell Collection The Burrell Collection is a museum in Glasgow, Scotland, managed by Glasgow Museums. It houses the art collection of William Burrell, Sir William Burrell and Constance Burrell, Constance, Lady Burrell. The museum opened in 1983 and reopened on ...

and

Pollok House Pollok House, formerly the family seat of the Stirling-Maxwell family, is located at Pollok Country Park in Glasgow, Scotland (which also houses the Burrell Collection). Overview The house, built in 1752 and originally thought to be designed ...

– and the acclaimed Victorian park Queen's Park.

History

Shawlands grew rapidly during the 19th Century as

boomed during its time as the commercial powerhouse of the British Empire. Over time, the number of inhabitants in this largely artisanal and industrial area doubled due to the formation of significant local businesses, such as the Camphill Bakery, which opened in 1847. Following their rapid development, the villages of Shawlands (1819) and

Cathcart Cathcart (; , )
is an area of

Crossmyloof Crossmyloof (, , ) is an area on the south side of Glasgow situated between the districts of Pollokshields, Strathbungo and Shawlands in Scotland. Etymology The name is possibly derived from Gaelic ''Crois MoLiubha'', Saint (Ma)lieu's Cro ...

parts of today's Shawlands Cross Conservation Area, were absorbed into Glasgow during the city’s southward extension, having previously been within the Eastwood parish in

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Renfrewshire is located in the west central Lowlands. It borders East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire, and lies on the southern ba ...

. With improving transport infrastructure and the expansion of Glasgow southwards in this period, Shawlands developed into an important commercial centre for that sector of the city. Neighbouring districts include the areas of

Giffnock Giffnock (; ; , ) is a town and the administrative centre of East Renfrewshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies east of Barrhead, east-southeast of Paisley and northwest of East Kilbride, at the southwest of the Greater G ...

, Auldhouse, Crossmyloof,

Strathbungo Strathbungo is a mainly residential area of southern Glasgow, Scotland, bordered by the neighbourhoods of Crossmyloof to the south, Govanhill to the east and Pollokshields to the north and west. The settlement grew up as a small isolated vil ...

Langside Langside is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated south of the River Clyde, and lies east of Shawlands, south of Queens Park, west of Cathcart and north of Newlands. The district is residential and primarily middle-clas ...

Newlands Newlands may refer to: Places Australia * Newlands, Queensland, a locality in the Whitsunday Region * Newlands, Western Australia, a town in the Shire of Donnybrook–Balingup Ireland * Newlands Cross, Dublin, named after the former Newlands ...

, and

Pollokshaws Pollokshaws () is an area on the South side of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is bordered by the residential neighbourhoods of Auldhouse, Glasgow, Auldhouse to the east, Eastwood, Glasgow, Eastwood and Hillpark, Glasgow, Hillpark to the south ...

, with Shawlands itself overlapping two Council wards (

Pollokshields Pollokshields (, Scots language, Scots: ''Powkshiels'') is an area in the Southside of Glasgow, Scotland. Its modern boundaries are largely man-made, being formed by the M77 motorway to the west and northwest with the open land of Pollok Count ...

and

) and two

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

constituencies ( Glasgow Cathcart and

Glasgow Southside Glasgow Southside is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament ( Holyrood), being one of eight constituencies within the Glasgow City council area. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) ...

Cultural heritage

Within walking distance of Shawlands is Queens Park, acquired in 1857 and designed by the world-renowned

Sir Joseph Paxton Sir Joseph Paxton (3 August 1803 – 8 June 1865) was an English gardener, architect, engineer and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Member of Parliament. He is best known for designing the Crystal Palace, which was built in Hyde Park, London, Hyde ...

, also responsible for noted public parks in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

and the grounds of the Spa Buildings at Scarborough. The park was dedicated to the memory of

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

and not

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

, a common misconception given the proximity to Victoria Road. The park is steeped in history and was the site of the 16th century

Battle of Langside The Battle of Langside was fought on 13 May 1568 between forces loyal to Mary, Queen of Scots, and forces acting in the name of her infant son James VI. Mary’s short period of personal rule ended in 1567 in recrimination, intrigue, and disast ...

. The park also has allotments, a botanical glass house, public tennis courts, a public golf course, children's play areas, a boating pond and views of Glasgow. The refurbished amphitheatre holds open-air performances of Shakespeare and children's plays during summer. The park holds the annual Southside Festival, and the Wee Chill Music Festival. The Langside Halls, a

Category A listed building Category, plural categories, may refer to: General uses *Classification, the general act of allocating things to classes/categories Philosophy * Category of being * ''Categories'' (Aristotle) * Category (Kant) * Categories (Peirce) *Category (V ...

, stands on the corner of Queens Park, opposite the Corona Bar. The building was originally built for the

National Bank of Scotland The National Bank of Scotland was founded as a joint stock bank in 1825. Based in Edinburgh, it had established a network of 137 branches at the end of its first hundred years. In 1918 the bank was bought by Lloyds Bank (historic), Lloyds Ban ...

in Queen Street, and was resituated in 1901-3, to meet an evident need for a public hall on the southside. For many years, a drinking fountain constructed by the

Saracen Foundry Saracen Foundry, Possilpark, Glasgow The Saracen Foundry was the better-known name for the Possilpark, Glasgow-based foundry company W MacFarlane & Co. Ltd, founded and owned by Walter MacFarlane. MacFarlane's was the most important manufactur ...

stood in front of the Halls, but was relocated to

Glasgow Green Glasgow Green is a park in the east end of Glasgow, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde. Established in the 15th century, it is the oldest park in the city. It connects to the south via the St Andrew's Suspension Bridge. History In ...

. On the other side of Shawlands is

, one of Glasgow's most celebrated green spaces and home to

and the

. The park is Glasgow's largest park and the only Country Park within Glasgow. Its extensive woodlands and gardens provide a quiet sanctuary for both visitors and wildlife. The park is rich in

rural history In historiography, rural history is a field of study focusing on the history of societies in rural areas. At its inception, the field was based on the economic history of agriculture. Since the 1980s it has become increasingly influenced by socia ...

formerly being part of the Old Pollok Estate and ancestral home to the

Maxwell Family Clan Maxwell is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Lowlands and is recognized as such by the Lord Lyon King of Arms. However, as the clan does not currently have a chief, it is considered an armigerous clan. History Origins of the clan The clai ...

. Pollok Country Park has been successful in achieving a Green Flag Award in 2016. This has been retained every year since 2012. The Green Flag Award is the benchmark national standard for quality parks and green spaces.

Education

Shawlands Primary School has an approximate capacity of over 600 pupils and is part of the 'Shawlands New Learning Community' (which also includes Annette St Primary, Battlefield Primary, Blackfriars Primary, Cuthbertson Primary and Langside Primary) feeding to the

non denominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. The term has been used in the context of various faiths, including Jainism, Baháʼí Faith, Zoro ...

secondary school in the area,

Shawlands Academy Shawlands Academy is a state secondary school in the Shawlands area of Glasgow, Scotland. Admissions Shawlands Academy was Glasgow's designated International School and one of Scotland's most multicultural schools. It was situated in Shawland ...

, which has an approximate capacity of over 1,200 pupils. The school has just undergone an extensive renovation which has seen it transformed into Glasgow’s specialist languages centre; the ''Glasgow International School'', the first of its kind in Scotland, also houses the

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

Support Unit. It is estimated that over 50 languages are currently spoken by the school's pupils, representing the diverse multicultural pupil population. Also in Shawlands is St. Conval's Primary, a Roman Catholic School situated on Shawhill Road; St. Conval's is part of the Learning Community for

Holyrood R.C. Secondary School Holyrood Secondary School is a Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, Roman Catholic secondary school in the south-side of Glasgow, Scotland. It is notable for its comparatively large secondary school enrollment, having had over 2,000 pupils and 150 ...

situated in the Crosshill area.

Sport

Future Fitness, located on Kilmarnock Road, provides gym and aerobic exercise classes, alongside

PureGym PureGym Limited is a British chain of no-frills health clubs, headquartered in Leeds. It is Britain's largest gym chain by membership, with over 1,900,000 members registered to their gyms. PureGym also operate gyms in 8 more countries and have ...

Shawlands Arcade. The area is also home to Shawlands bowling club and Pro Judo, the largest judo club in the West of Scotland.

Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...

, Scotland's national

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

stadium is located less than from Shawlands Cross. Also just south of Shawlands is

Newlandsfield Park Newlandsfield Park is a association football, football ground in Newlands, Glasgow, Scotland. It is the home ground of West of Scotland Football League side Pollok F.C., Pollok F.C. History Pollok's first ground was at Haggs Park in the Pollok ...

, home of Pollok FC.

Transport

Shawlands has close links to the M77 and M8 motorways (accessing at Dumbreck Road). Shawlands has two main roads which converge at Shawlands Cross: Kilmarnock Road and Pollokshaws Road.Shawlands Cross (Mitchell Library, Glasgow Collection, Postcards Collection)
The Glasgow Story At the cross, the designation of the

A77 road The A77 road is a major road in Scotland. It runs in a southwesterly direction from the city of Glasgow, past the towns of Giffnock, Newton Mearns, Kilmarnock, Prestwick, Ayr, Girvan and Stranraer to the village of Portpatrick on the Irish ...

changes to Kilmarnock Road running south, with Pollokshaws Road continuing south-west as a more minor route. Bus services (the majority operated by

First Glasgow First Glasgow is the largest bus company serving the Greater Glasgow area in Scotland. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup. The company operates within the area covered by the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, a public body responsible for h ...

) in the area are frequent, running from Glasgow city centre 24 hours a day. The area is within walking distance of Crossmyloof Railway Station, Shawlands Railway Station and

Pollokshaws East Railway Station Pollokshaws East railway station is a railway station in Glasgow, Scotland, serving parts of the Pollokshaws, Auldhouse, Newlands and Shawlands neighbourhoods of the city. The station is managed by ScotRail and is located on the Cathcart Cir ...

. All stations have direct links to the city centre, terminating at

Glasgow Central Station Glasgow Central (), usually referred to in Scotland as just Central or Central Station, is one of two principal mainline rail terminals in Glasgow, Scotland. The railway station was opened by the Caledonian Railway on 1 August 1879 and is one ...

. Journey times to the city centre are under 10 minutes and services are provided by

Scotrail ScotRail Trains Limited, trading as ScotRail (), is a Scottish train operating company that is publicly owned by Scottish Rail Holdings on behalf of the Scottish Government. It has been operating the ScotRail franchise as an operator of las ...

. Shawlands is located from

Glasgow Airport Glasgow Airport, also known as Glasgow International Airport () and formerly Abbotsinch Airport, is an international airport located in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, west of Glasgow city centre. In 2019 it handled 8.84 million passe ...

and about from

Glasgow Prestwick Airport Glasgow Prestwick Airport (), commonly referred to as Prestwick Airport, is an international airport serving the west of Scotland, situated northeast of the town of Prestwick, and southwest of Glasgow, Scotland. It is the less busy of the two ...

References

{{Areas of Glasgow Areas of Glasgow