Building Markings
Buildings in Rutherglen dating from the Victorian and Edwardian eras occasionally feature the year of their completion and other details carved into the stonework, typically above doorways, on gables, or near the roofline.​​
Properties from those times which could be either public buildings or dwellings, sometimes included plaques with the initials of the architect or builder.
Right, 223 Main Street. Detail from this block of late Victorian blonde sandstone tenement flats shows its date of completion: 1889
Blonde sandstone, quarried locally in and around Glasgow during the 18th and 19th centuries was used to build a variety of Victorian buildings in the town. It was commonly used in pre-1890 tenements and public buildings.
Red sandstone, imported from quarries in Dumfriesshire and Ayrshire following the expansion of the railways around 1890, has a rich reddish hue due to its high iron content, making it more durable. It became popular in post-1890 dwellings and civic buildings. Red sandstone is more resistant than blonde sandstone to industrial pollution and the prevailing climate, and was the stone used to build many of the later tenements in Rutherglen notably those in the Edwardian era (1901-1910).
Left, 66 Main Street – 1900. The framed date of construction of this red sandstone tenement building is in a contemporary Art Nouveau font. Sadly, a boiler flue now protrudes through the first '0'!
Parochial Chambers, Main Street, 1893
Rutherglen's Parochial Chambers were built as additional space for the business of the Town Hall, housing the offices of Town Clerk and providing a Council Chamber.
The date of the building's completion is shown on either side of a rectangular frame which is topped by a triangular pediment. The frame appears to be missing some detail from its centre due to weathering over time.
This detail may have been the Rutherglen coat of arms given the purpose of the building. The building's architect was J.J. Craig, Rutherglen's Burgh Surveyor at that time. Mr. Craig was the husband of Lilias Morton, daughter of James Morton, potato merchant of Stonelaw Farm.
Cambuslang Road at Farme Cross
Smith Terrace, 1875
High up on the gable end of Smith Terrace overlooking Cambuslang Road is a rectangular plaque containing the date of completion - 1875. Sitting on top of the date is a 'square and compasses' symbol, suggesting that the builder was a Freemason.
The rectangle is otherwise blank, almost as if builder intended to add more information here but for some reason, never got around to it.
Millar Terrace
Slightly to the East along Cambuslang Road, on the gable end of Millar Terrace, a virtually identical plaque contains the depiction of a beehive. This is another symbol associated with Freemasonry and represents industry and the harmony of the Lodge. The beehive symbol was also associated with the Cooperative movement where everyone plays their part for the common good. While there is no completion date evident on the building, it is probable that it was built at the same time as Smith Terrace - 1875.
41 Dalmarnock Road
The prominent 'gushet' block at the corner of Dalmarnock Road and Baronald Street has an ornate stone panel up at its roofline showing the date '1904'. Above the date are the initials 'TH' who is thought to be Thomas Hamilton, a prominent local builder who erected several red sandstone tenements in the Farme Cross area during the Edwardian construction boom. ​
This tenement block comprises flats on the upper three floors and currently, a Nisa Local store on the ground floor.
Tram Cable Hooks
Two of the properties at Farme Cross have substantial, ornate hooks bolted into their stonework. These date back to the time when the trams ran to Rutherglen. Bryan Tennant from the Glasgow Vintage Vehicle Trust told us this about these remarkable relics from Rutherglen's transport heritage:​​​
"These hooks were used to provide secure fittings to buildings to hang tram wires across a street. It was a much easier and cheaper way than providing metal poles with deep foundations to hang tram wires. Glasgow's tram routes ran along many roads lined with tenements and sometimes industrial buildings. So GCT sought permission from the building's owners to place these hooks onto their properties. Those ones are lovely and quite ornate and would have been provided by GCT working with perhaps the Saracen Foundry to produce them to a design that satisfied the building's owners. Those ones in your photos are architectural gems!"
Upper right, tram cable hook on the gable of Millar Terrace. Lower right, the fitting on 41 Dalmarnock Road which features a double hook.
