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Kelvinhaugh
Modern apartment block and supermarket off Argyle Street, 2018
KelvinhaughLocation within Glasgow
OS grid reference	NS565658
Council area	Glasgow City Council
Lieutenancy area	Glasgow
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	GLASGOW
Postcode district	G3 8
Dialling code	0141
Police	Scotland
Fire	Scottish
Ambulance	Scottish
UK Parliament	Glasgow Central
Scottish Parliament	Glasgow Kelvin
List of places UK Scotland Glasgow 55°51′51″N 4°17′35″W / 55.864086°N 4.293087°W / 55.864086; -4.293087

Kelvinhaugh is a neighbourhood in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated directly north of the River Clyde in the West End of the city.

Its boundaries are not precisely defined, but roughly correspond to the River Clyde to the south, Yorkhill to the west, Finnieston to the east and Kelvingrove to the north, the division being Argyle Street. Smaller neighbourhoods such as Sandyford and Overnewton have also been absorbed into what is a continuous area of fairly dense urban development with little to distinguish them other than in the names of some local amenities, the same issue for Kelvinhaugh in relation to the more prominent Finnieston and Yorkhill.

History

An area of flat land (this being the meaning of haugh, in contrast to the neighbouring Yorkhill which was on high ground) to the east of the mouth of the River Kelvin, Kelvinhaugh originally developed in the 19th century in connection with Glasgow's industries of shipbuilding and trading. Alexander Stephen and Sons had a yard there for 20 years from 1851 before moving across the river to their better-known facility at Linthouse. John Shearer & Sons took it over for another 30 years before moving to Scotstoun, and the yard then became the Yorkhill Quay. The A. & J. Inglis shipyard (in use 1862–1962) was a short distance to the west at Pointhouse. The collapse of these industries in the late 20th century led to a decline in the fortunes of the area (and the city), with both residential and commercial premises abandoned and the Kelvinhaugh name being used far less frequently.

The resulting gap sites in the vicinity included the large expanse of the Queen's Dock, which was filled in and became the SEC Centre in the mid-1980s, with the Clyde Auditorium being added in the mid to late 1990s and the SSE Hydro following in the early 2010s. The increasing numbers of visitors to these venues led to a marked rise in popularity for Finnieston and neighbouring areas in the early 21st century, with several new cafés, bars, restaurants and specialist stores being established and revitalising the area around Argyle Street.

At the same time, due to the proximity of the University of Glasgow and rising prices of student accommodation in traditional areas such as Kelvinbridge, Hillhead and Dowanhill, much of the vacant land in Kelvinhaugh was developed as modern student accommodation, although locals have noted that, as in other districts undergoing similar rapid change such as Partick, the increase in population has not led to a noticeable growth in community identity, since so many of the residents live there temporarily and focus most of their attentions on the University institutions, while the main thoroughfares became dirtier and harder to drive and park in. The local primary school dating from the 1880s became a private college, with its playground also being purchased for new flats.

SWG3 and other changes

The area has become familiar to live music fans for the SWG3 arts venue (converted from disused railway arch workshops, metalwork yards and warehouses) which has grown in stature in Glaswegian entertainment circles following the closure of similar venues such as The Arches in the city centre and Soundhaus in Anderston, with its patrons also attracting more custom to local businesses. In addition to a number of existing works at SWG3, in 2019 a series of vibrant murals was added to the railway arches facing onto the adjacent Clydeside Expressway dual carriageway in 2019. Two teenagers died on the same night after attending a music event at the venue in August 2023.

On the opposite side of the expressway (accessible via a pedestrian/cycle bridge), in 2017 the landmark pumphouse which once controlled entry to the Queen's Dock, and then served as a visitor attraction for Glasgow's maritime heritage featuring the Glenlee (ship), was converted into a new Clydeside distillery. In 2011, the maritime heritage centre (and the Glenlee) had moved to the new Riverside Museum on the site of the Inglis shipyard.

References

1. Kelvinhaugh, Gazetteer for Scotland
2. Home, Sandyford Henderson Memorial Church
3. New Play Equipment for Overnewton Park, Yorkhill & Kelvingrove Community Council, 9 July 2019
4. The Bleacher Lassie o Kelvinhaugh, Scots Language Centre
5. A Shipbuilding History. 1750-1932 (Alexander Stephen and Sons): Chapter 2, Grace's Guide to British Industrial History
6. John Shearer and Sons, Grace's Guide to British Industrial History
7. Glasgow, Yorkhill Quay, Canmore
8. Huge blaze causes traffic chaos, BBC News, 27 August 2005
9. Yorkhill Quay Glasgow City Archives, Clyde Navigation Trust (1924), The Glasgow Story
10. Kelvinhaugh Ferry, 1955 (Burrell Collection Photo Library, 1955 Survey), The Glasgow Story
11. Glasgow, general view, showing Queen's Dock and Yorkhill Hospital. Oblique aerial photograph taken facing north (1934), Canmore
12. ^ Queen's Dock & Yorkhill Quay, Clyde Waterfront
13. Why Glasgow's Finnieston neighbourhood is now up there with London's Shoreditch, Evening Times, 23 November 2015
14. ^ Is This Part of Glasgow Really 'the Hippest Place in Britain'?, Vice, 11 April 2016
15. ICA join student housing rush with fresh Glasgow plans, Urban Realm, 28 August 2014
16. Council reverses plans on student flats despite complaints, Glasgow Guardian, 31 October 2018
17. Dear Green Place: Gentrification and Displacement in Glasgow’s West End, Rebecca McGilveray(Columbia University), 26 March 2019
18. Finnieston regeneration: why residents in the UK's hippest place to live are unimpressed, Evening Times, 17 March 2017
19. Kelvinhaugh Primary School (1888), Virtual Mitchell
20. Steiner School re-opens after fire destroys Glasgow building, BBC News, 22 April 2013
21. Private Glasgow college criticised by inspectors, Evening Times, 28 June 2016
22. Kelvinhaugh Primary School playground to be turned into housing under new plans, Evening Times, 29 March 2019
23. Hire, SWG3
24. How a former building site became SWG3 - Glasgow's coolest arts and culture venue, Glasgow Live, 28 July 2017
25. We'll bring the haus down, Evening Times, 25 January 2012
26. Lynn Macdonald, manager and promoter at the soon-to-close Soundhaus - interview, The List, 2 February 2012
27. New murals transform Clydeside Expressway as SWG3 drafts in graffiti artists from around the world Glasgow Live, 20 September 2019
28. Families 'devastated' by teenagers' SWG3 drug deaths, BBC News, 17 August 2023
29. Oblique aerial view of Kelvinhaugh and the tall ship on the Clyde (2009), Canmore
30. Clydeside distillery opens in Glasgow, ScotchWhisky, 23 November 2017
31. Our Story, The Clydeside Distillery

External links

• Media related to Kelvinhaugh at Wikimedia Commons
• Yorkhill & Kelvingrove Community Council
• Kelvinhaugh Street, Glasgow (painting by James Morrison)

• Areas of Glasgow