Joseph Swan's view (1829) of the chapel built by Sir George Elphinstone of Blythswood next to his house at St Ninian's Croft in the Gorbals c 1606. Elphinstone was a Glasgow burgess and provost who became Lord Justice Clerk in the reign of Charles I. A George Elphinstone (his father?) had feued the village of Gorbals in 1571, and the Elphinstone mansion and chapel were built at what became Gorbals Cross at the corner of Main Street (later Gorbals Street) and Rutherglen Loan (Ballater Street). George died c 1634 in poverty and is said to have been buried in the chapel. The estate was purchased by the town council, Hutchesons' Hospital and the Trades House.
Following Elphinstone's death, the chapel was used as a prison and courthouse and by 1829 it had been divided into small shops and houses for poor tenants. It was an abandoned ruin by the early 1870s.
Reference: Mitchell Library, GC 914.14353 SWA
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Libraries Information and Learning
Keywords:
burgesses, chapels, churches, courts, Elphinstone Chapel, Elphinstone Mansion, horses and carts, houses, Hutchesons' Hospital, jails, Lord Justice Clerks, mansions, prisons, provosts, shops, streetscenes, towers, Trades House
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