Springburn
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|---|---|
| Inner-city district | |
.jpg) View of Springburn from aircraft looking east (2017) | |
  Springburn Location withinGlasgow | |
| Population | 12,064 (2012) |
| OS grid reference | NS607678 |
| • Edinburgh | 65 km |
| • London | 557 km |
| Council area | |
| Lieutenancy area |
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| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Glasgow |
| Postcode district | G21 |
| Dialling code | 0141 |
| Police | Scotland |
| Fire | Scottish |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| UK Parliament | |
| Scottish Parliament | |
| 55°52′59″N4°13′43″W / 55.883141°N 4.228525°W /55.883141; -4.228525 | |
Springburn (Scottish Gaelic:Allt an Fhuairainn) is aninner-city district in the north of the Scottish city ofGlasgow, made up of generally working-class households.
Springburn developed from a ruralhamlet at the beginning of the 19th century. Its industrial expansion began with the establishment of a chemical works byCharles Tennant on the newly openedMonkland Canal at nearby St. Rollox in 1799, which later became part of theUnited Alkali Company.
Later in the 19th century, the construction of railway lines through the area led to the establishment of railway works and the village became aparish in its own right. TheGarnkirk and Glasgow Railway first opened in 1831 to supply theSt Rollox Chemical Works and theEdinburgh & Glasgow Railway was opened in 1842. Later, theCity Union Line was extended to Springburn in 1871, and theHamiltonhill Branch Line opened in 1894.
Initially located outside the Glasgow boundary, the core area was eventually absorbed by the city in 1872 and other parts in 1891. In the early 21st century, it forms part of theSpringburn/Robroyston ward underGlasgow City Council.
The area's economic development has a strong historical link to heavy industry, particularly railways, with the manufacturing oflocomotives.[1] In the past, Springburn's locomotive industry had a 25% global market share.
There were four main railway manufacturing sites that located in Springburn; theNorth British Railway's (NBR)Cowlairs Works in 1841, theCaledonian Railway'sSt Rollox Works in 1856,Neilson & Company's Hyde Park Works in 1861 andSharp, Stewart & Company's Atlas Works in 1888. The latter two eventually amalgamated to become part of theNorth British Locomotive Company (NBL) in 1903. Also located in Springburn is theEastfield Running Shed, originally built by the NBR near the Cowlairs Works in 1904.
St Rollox became the largest works, and is the only one still in existence, after the collapse of the NBL in 1962 and the closure of Cowlairs in 1968. In 2007 Railcare Limited, who also owned theWolverton Works inMilton Keynes, took over operations at St Rollox, fromAlstom, who had originally acquired the works fromBritish Rail Engineering Limited in the wake of therailway privatisation. It closed in 2019.[2] The former Eastfield Running Sheds are now operated as a maintenance depot byScotRail and part of the former Cowlairs carriage sidings is now operated as a signalling and maintenance depot byNetwork Rail.
Another large industrial company that operated in Springburn was Promat UK, which manufacturedPassive fire protection materials at theGermiston Works on Petershill Road. The site is now closed.
The highest point in the district and in the City of Glasgow isSpringburn Park on Balgrayhill, 364 feet (111 metres) above sea level. The park contains theSpringburn Winter Gardens, which has lain derelict since 1983.Stobhill Hospital was later built adjacent to the park in 1904.[3][4]
The BarnhillPoorhouse at Springburn opened in 1850.Paupers who could not support themselves were sent here by the Parish and were obliged to work at jobs such as bundling firewood, picking oakum (separating tarred rope fibres) and breaking rocks. In 1905 the Glasgow Poorhouse inTownhead closed and its inmates went to Barnhill, making it the largest poorhouse in Scotland. In 1945 it was renamed Foresthall Home and Hospital and was thereafter used as a geriatric hospital and residential home. It was demolished in the late 1980s and a private housing development now stands on the site.[5]
Local football teamCowlairs were a founder member of theScottish Football League in 1890 but were bankrupt by 1896. Another local team,Northern also played in the SFL for a single season in the 1890s.Petershill was founded in 1897 and continues to play today at NewPetershill Park, a modern stadium with a 2,000 capacity, including a 562-seat stand.
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Springburn continued to see expansion during the 20th century, with housing schemes such asBalornock being developed in theInterwar period, while those in Balgrayhill,[1]Barmulloch (which also included one high-rise development at Birnie Court, part of theRed Road flats) andSighthill being constructed post-WWII.
The old urban centre of Springburn[6] was redeveloped from the early 1970s to the early 1980s. Selected as one of Glasgow's "Comprehensive Development Areas",[1] Springburn saw the demolition of 85% of buildings in the district and the construction of a sequence of housing estates which transformed the area completely. A major dual carriageway, theA803Springburn Expressway (originally designed to be the northern link to the abortedGlasgow Inner Ring Road) was completed in 1988.
The regeneration vision remained incomplete, and by the mid-1980s Springburn had become one of Glasgow's most notorious areas, exacerbated by decaying housing and lack of major employers to replace the decline in the railway industry, despite the creation ofNorth Glasgow College (nowGlasgow Kelvin College) at the former North British Locomotive Company headquarters in 1965. Since then, there has however been further efforts to regenerate the area.
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More recently the area of Keppochhill Road, which links Springburn withPossilpark, has been regenerated through the work of the West of Scotland Housing Association Ltd, many of the Victorian sandstone tenement flats in Gourlay Street, Carlisle Street and Keppochhill Road have been renovated and work continues to maintain and improve housing in the area.
New build developments in recent years has seenGlasgow Housing Association high-rise flats demolished or refurbished and new modern low rise houses built in the area. West of Scotland housing Association now has a head office based at 252 Keppochhill Road however the interest of the charitable organisation extends into Ayrshire and Lanarkshire. The most notable surviving architectural feature in this area, the formerSpringburn Public Halls, was opened in 1902 and designed by William B. Whitie, who also designed Springburn's PublicCarnegie library, which latterly formedSpringburn Museum until it was closed in 2003. Since closing in the mid-1980s, the Springburn Public Halls were allowed to fall into a state of dereliction and were demolished in December 2012. The Springburn Library building now operates as the Glasgow North Regeneration Agency Conference Centre following a £2 million refurbishment.[7]
Many social problems associated with poverty from crime to alcoholism and drug addiction have plagued the area for decades. In the 2001 UK Census, nearly half of the residents in Springburn said they did not have any formal qualifications, the fourth-highest figure in the UK, and almost two-thirds said they did not own a car, second only toShettleston; also in Glasgow.[8] That same year, it was reported that 40% of Springburn's residents were living in poverty, the area's unemployment rate was 140% higher than Scotland's average, deaths fromlung cancer was twice higher than the Scottish average and the proportion of children leaving school withoutStandard Grades was four times higher. The average household income was£13,310 and male unemployment stood at 13% – the highest level in Scotland.[9]
A study by CACI in 2010 found Springburn to be the most-feared neighbourhood in Scotland for violent crime in a national league table, with 42% of residents living in fear of violence.[10]
In 2012, the "Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation" analysis by the Scottish Government identified Springburn's Keppochhill as the third-most deprived area in Scotland behindFerguslie Park and neighbouringPossilpark.[11][12] According to a 2013 report, 51% of children in Springburn were living in poverty, the highest rate ofchild poverty in Scotland.[13][14]
Springburn is served bySpringburn railway station andBarnhill railway station in nearby Petershill, offering regular commuter services on theNorth Clyde andCumbernauld lines of the Glasgow suburban rail network. The area is also served by numerous bus routes including the First Bus 88 and 90, andM3.
People from Springburn include Scottish International footballerJames McFadden, singer (tenor)Sydney MacEwan, comedian, author and talk show hostCraig Ferguson, broadcasters and writersTom Weir MBE and his sisterMolly, politiciansPaul Sweeney,John McAllion andFrank McAveety. Springburn's former MP,Michael Martin, was the Speaker of the House of Commons from 2000 to 2009.
Other notable locals include:
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