Lost Forever: Victoria Infirmary Cupolas Quietly Demolished
The 133-year-old cupolas were pulled down by Sanctuary Housing Association late last week. We delve into the history of this Southside architectural gem.
Image showing the extent of the demolition. Courtesy of @PastGlasgow Twitter
By Jack Howse
Victoria Infirmary has straddled the corner of Battlefield Road and Langside Road since building work began on this site in 1888. A late-Victorian Italianate masterwork, the infirmary treated the residents of Southside for 125 years before its closure in 2015. In the succeeding years, its grandeur has not diminished with its curved sandstone turrets being a prominent landmark for local residents.
The cupolas before they were destroyed. Photo courtesy of Ben Cave.
The hospital was built in response to the staggering population growth that Glasgow experienced in conjunction with the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century. At the start of the century, there were 77,000 Glasgow residents. Just one hundred years later this had increased ten-fold to three quarters of a million Glaswegians. A third of those lived south of the Clyde with only one hospital serving them. The Victoria Infirmary was built to deal with this huge population influx and the accidents and diseases that were common at that time in manufactories.
The hospital grew exponentially in its first quarter century of existence as it sought to keep up with public demand due to industrialisation and World War I. James Birdie, a playwright and the founder of the nearby Citizens Theatre, wrote that: “Almost every year something new was added to the Hospital, and these new things were often the first of their kind in Scotland. The Victoria earned the reputation of being an unaggressive, insistent pioneer.” (James Birdie was actually the pseudonym of Osborne Henry Mavor, a practicing physician in Glasgow.)
Yet these years of and growth were eradicated within a matter of last when part of the infirmary’s Eastern wing was demolished by Sanctuary, a Scottish Housing Association who took control of the site in August 2016. The cranes pulled down specifically the Eastern cupolas.
A picture of Victoria Infirmary in its early days, the far-right cupolas were demolished by Sanctuary Housing on 19th February. Courtesy of @74frankfurt on Twitter
A cupola is an architectural term for a rounded that sits atop with windows. is associated with Italian and is seen on religious . A hospital having a cupola is an architectural curio and made the hospital a site of local interest that stood in contrast to many of the other buildings around .
According to Paul Sweeney SNP MSP for Glasgow, they have been pulled down without any real plan for what will replace it:
Whilst Sanctuary Housing’s promise for affordable housing would be a welcome edition to an area which has seen a lack of housing equity in recent years, the demolition of historically significant buildings without any future plan seems ill-advised.
When the public were asked in a consultation what they would like to be done with the Victoria Infirmary site, the overwhelming response was historical preservation. It is unclear whether the cupolas have been preserved or destroyed altogether. As South Glasgow Heritage and Environment Trust point out, this is not just a serious matter for historian, but also for environmentalists:
Greater Govanhill reached out to Sanctuary Housing for comment but received no response.