St Vincent Street
St Vincent Street in Glasgow forms a small square, St Vincent Place, in its last and easternmost block. George Square, Glasgow’s main market, can be seen on the right. From here, the street runs west for about 1.7 km through the Blythswood Hill area. St Vincent Street is named to commemorate a victory of Sir John Jervis in February 1797 off Cape Saint Vincent at the southwestern tip of Portugal (Anglo-Spanish War 1797-1808).
This street is marked by a number of notable monuments. It crosses Buchanan Street, Glasgow’s main shopping street, on the left. First on the corner is a modernist corner building containing a James Pringle Weavers clothing store. This is joined to the right by the Clydesdale Bank Head Office, the Citizen Building, the Anchor Line Building and finally, to the right of little Anchor Lane, The Counting House next to George Square.
Clydesdale Bank Head Office
The building at 30 St Vincent Place was erected in 1870-73 as the headquarters of the Clydesdale Bank by architect John Burnet Senior in Venetian Renaissance style. The sculptures and figures are by John Mossman and Grassby.
Citizen Building
24 St Vincent Place was built from 1885-1887 for publishers James Hedderwick & Sons and was designed by architect T L Watson. The Glasgow Evening Citizen (first published in 1864) was published here and an associated printing works was also established. The building facade was executed in red Ballochmyle sandstone, one of the first of its kind in Glasgow. The richly ornamented façade in Dutch Renaissance style is crowned by a corbelled clock with two faces and a small octagonal tower with a curved dome. Today the building houses The Citizen bar and dining rooms.
Anchor Line Building
Built in 1906-07 by architect James Miller, the Anchor Line Building at 12-16 St Vincent Place shows his predilection for white architecture and its influence of American Classicism. For the grand facade he used Doulton Carrara. The owner was the Scottish Travel Agency Anchor Line which was most known for its trans-atlantic routes and had huge models of the RMS Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth in the shop windows. Today the building houses “The Anchor Line” bar and restaurant which displays a graphic and photo archive about its history. Find historic images of the interior and exterior at Canmore.
The Counting House
The former Glasgow Head Office of the Bank of Scotland sits on the corner of George Square and St Vincent Place and was designed by architect John Thomas Rochead (1814–78) in the years 1867–70. His impressive design in Italian Renaissance Barryesque palazzo style set the tone for this side of George Square and several later buildings copied its style. The entrance is flanked by two massive Atlantes sculptures and crowned by a Bank of Scotland crest which is flanked by carved symbolic figures – all of which were sculptured by William Mossman II (1824–84). Today the building houses the Wetherspoon pub “The Counting House“.
For this streetline image you can find print products at RedBubble.
The material available in our archives would allow for creating a continuous streetline of St Vincent Street westwards to Holland Street. Other documented streets in Glasgow include Buchanan Street, Sauchiehall Street, Argyle Street, Trongate or Cochrane Street. Feel free to contact us if you are interested in processing.
