Invented in the 1810s, the heavy coffin-shaped mortsafe was placed over the wooden coffin after interment and left there until the body had decomposed enough to no longer be suitable for dissection. The watchhouse would be occupied for the same period of time.
A cast iron mortsafe and stone watchhouse in the Cadder Parish Churchyard on the outskirts of Glasgow.
These features were designed to thwart the body-snatchers of the early 1800s who would steal the recently buried to sell to local medical schools.
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The remains of what I think is part of the old Meadowside Ferry port. The Meadowside Ferry was one of around ten different ferry routes which used to criss-cross the Clyde in Glasgow. It connected Govan Wharf with the former Meadowside Shipyard, Quay and Granary, all of which are now gone. This ferry ceased operating in 1966, along with the Govan Ferry and the Finnieston Vehicular Ferry.
This is not the typical view most people associate with East Kilbride. This is because in 1947, this relatively small village was selected as the site of Scotland's first New Town, which aimed to help ease the over-crowding created by Glasgow's housing shortage. This changed the area dramatically, and it's now not only dominated by post-war Modern architecture, its also Scotland's 6th largest locality by population.
Kirk Wynd in East Kilbride to the southeast of Glasgow, lined with late 18th century and early 19th century dwelling houses, and with a 19th century church tower in the distance. The church itself was built in 1776, but the tower wasn't added until 1818.
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Allason's time at Greenbank was brief as his business suffered greatly in the American War of Independence and he had to give the house up when he was made insolvent in 1784.
#glasgow #clarkston #greenbankhouse #architecture #glasgowhistory
Greenbank House in Clarkston, near Glasgow. Possibly designed by Allan Dreghorn, this house was built in 1764 for Robert Allason.
Allason had started his working life as a baker's apprentice in the Gorbals, but when on to become one of the Glasgow Virginia merchants who made fortunes from trading tobacco and slaves.
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#glasgow #clarkston #greenbankhouse #architecture #glasgowhistory
I love the fact this weigh station has been left in place in the new park at the Govan Graving Docks in Glasgow. Installed in 1889, it was originally at the entrance to the Harbour Workshop. It even still has the stone tramways on either side of it to make it easier for horse-drawn vehicles to travel over the surrounding setts.
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#glasgow #streethistorian #govan #govangravingdocks #glasgowhistory
This memorial was created by John McArthur, and is one of a pair of identical memorials. The other is in Elder Park on the south side of the Clyde.
The SS Daphne Memorial in Victoria Park in the west of Glasgow. It was erected in 1996 in memory of the 124 people, many of whom were little more than boys, who died when the SS Daphne capsized during its launch from the Alexander Stephen and Sons shipyard in Linthouse on the 3rd of July 1883.
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This Is My Glasgow