Foresthall Home and Hospital at Barnhill in Springburn, c 1970s, looking west from the Red Road Flats. Standing in extensive grounds, the grim-looking buildings were surrounded by extensive lawns bordered by attractive trees, shrubs and flowers that were maintained by the Corporation's Parks Department.
The Barony Parish Poorhouse at Barnhill opened in 1853 and an adjoining Poor Law Hospital was added in 1880. In 1898 the parish was amalgamated with City Parish and the institutions were renamed Barnhill Poorhouse and Barnhill Hospital. By 1905 Barnhill was Glasgow's only and Scotland's largest poorhouse, with 2,000 inmates. It had a fearsome reputation for the harsh conditions in which the inmates were forced to live and work.
In 1945 the institutions were renamed Foresthall Home and Hospital. When the National Health Service was set up in 1947, Foresthall was declared a "non-transferred institution" and remained under the control of Glasgow Corporation. By this time the service catered mostly for vagrants but there was also a geriatric section. During the 1980s patients were transferred to other hospitals and the buildings were demolished in 1988. A housing estate was built on the site.
Reference: 670.95.191
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Museums
Keywords:
aerial views, Barnhill Hospital, Barnhill Poorhouse, Barony Hospital, Barony Parish Poorhouse, council houses, Foresthall Home and Hospital, gardens, geriatrics, Glasgow Corporation, hospitals, housing estates, housing schemes, National Health Service, panoramas, Parks Department, poorhouses, Red Road Flats, vagrants
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