Easterhouse
Encyclopedia
Easterhouse is a suburb
about 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Glasgow
city centre
, Scotland
. It was partially built on land gained from the county of Lanarkshire
as part of a boundary expansion of Glasgow before the Second World War. Building began in the mid-1950s by the then local authority, Glasgow Corporation. The goal was to provide better housing for the people of the east end living in sub-standard conditions. The area is on high ground north of the River Clyde
and south of the River Kelvin
and Campsie Fells
. It was built to house over 50,000 people but the current population (based on the 2001 census) was 26,495, of which 96.85% were born in Scotland. 172 people or 0.63% of this population were born outside Scotland, the lowest percentage in the country.
s were found in Bishop Loch, dating from around 700 BC by an archaeological dig in 1898. The Bishops of Glasgow were granted the land on which much of modern Easterhouse was built when the church of Glasgow was elevated into a bishopric in the 12th century. The remains of the bishop of Glasgow's country palace have been revealed by the West of Scotland
Archaeology
Service next to Bishops Loch (an SSI
) at Lochwood. Local oral history talks of the Bishops of Glasgow sailing in a Venetian gondola from Glasgow Cathedral to his palace at Bishops Loch. Hogganfield Loch is the source of the Molindinar Burn next to the Cathedral, so some truth may lie in this claim.
The Forestry Commission
administers land around Easterhouse under the name 'Bishops Estate', thus maintaining a link to the medieval bishops.
The far western and far northern parts of modern day Easterhouse are believed to have been administered by the prebends of Barlanark, called the 'Lands of Provan' but the boundaries of this has never been accurately defined. The 15th century mansion house, Provan Hall is a reminder of this ecclesiastical Pre-Reformation
Papal administration.
The southern and eastern parts of the area, Bartiebeith, Blairtummock, Dungeonhill, Easterhouse, Hallhill, Netherhouse and Commonhead were also part of the Bishopric although granted by Malcolm IV to the Monks of Newbattle
a little after 1162 in an un-named charter by permission of Bishop Herbert of the See of Glasgow. The lands remained under the monks until 1268 when Bishop John de Cheyan redeemed the 'lands along the Clud' (Clyde) called Kermyl (Carmyle) - most of the area now comprising modern Easterhouse were included in this grant - to sustain three chaplains to 'minister for the salvation of the Bishop's soul and also for the souls of all the faithful deceased'.
's map and manuscript of 1596 the area where the late 19th century village of Easterhouse later developed was called 'Conflat'. Variations of this name are contained in the rental book of the Baronie de Glasgow (1513–1570) when it is recorded that one 'Johannes Woyd (John Wood) was rentaller of the 18s 8d land of Conflattis. The William Forrest map of 1816 calls the area of the old village Wamnat. Like the nearby village of Whifflet
, now in Coatbridge, the term conflat probably deived from corn/wheat flats - flat land where wheat was farmed.
The village of Easterhouse was built from the late 19th century in land owned by, and south of, a farm of that name, in the immediate area around where Easterhouse railway station
stands. The village was bounded to the north by the Monkland Canal
and to the south, almost continuously with, the village of Swinton
. Contrary to the stained glass window in Morrisons, Glasgow Fort, the villagers worked in a number of industries including the canal, stone quarry at Auchinlea, coal mines at Gartloch and Bailieston but mainly in the surrounding farms and estates as agricultural workers.
Some cottages and other buildings (now a public house) can still be found on and adjacent to Easterhouse Road that were part of the 19th century village of Easterhouse. A modern corruption of the ancient Conflats name can be seen at Whamflet Avenue in Easterhouse village.
The village's name was derived from Easterhouse Farm. Easterhouse farm was opposite (to the east) to the farm called Westerhouse. Easterhouse farm was located on what is now Millenium Court and Westerhouse near where Errogie Street now stands (off Westerhouse Road). A small group of remaining trees are still present lead to the site of the farm buildings. Other farms in the area included Westerhouse, Netherhouse and Dungeonhill farms, these names are still found in local street names). Other farms, villages and country estates included West Maryston (or Merryston), Queenslie Farm, Netherhouse, Provanhall, Blairtummock and Lochwood.
Provan Hall
is the best-preserved medieval fortified country house in Scotland. The house stands on its own grounds on the edge of Auchinlea Park. The building dates from before 1460 and is one of the oldest in the Glasgow area. The original doors lead into the kitchen, a dairy and a hallway. The Kitchen boasts a fireplace capable of roasting an ox and has one of the finest examples in Scotland of a Roman style barrel vault
ed ceiling. The cross vaulting in the dairy ceiling is medieval. On the upper floor, the dining hall contains an ancient oak table and dumbwaiter. There is a collection of historic chimney pieces. The hall may have been visited by Mary, Queen of Scots while her husband, Lord Darnley was ill in St.Nicholas Hospital (Provans Lordship) in the late 16th century.
Provanhall has a boundary wall dating from 1647. The coat of arms of the Hamilton family, which at that time owned the estate, is found above the entrance arch of that wall. Across the courtyard is a later building, Blochairn House, which today is occupied by Greater Easterhouse Environmental Trust. Built by a Tobacco Lord, Blochairn House was remodeled in 1760 to resemble the plantation house on his Jamaican tobacco estate. Both Blochairn and Provanhall are category A listed by Historic Scotland (1970). The houses were served by the now Provanhall Loch, now artificially banked and part of Provanhall Park. A formal parterre
garden is to the north of both listed buildings. Provanhall is now the headquarters of the local preservation trust.
Blairtummock House and adjoining walled garden and garden house is category B listed (1990). The garden pavilion was created from a demolished Robert Adam
house on Queen Street, Glasgow. The house was built in at least four phases, late medieval (1580s), Georgian (1721), Victorian (1830s) and minor alterations in the 1960s.
As the house was enlarged, the farm land surrounding the house was developed into an estate and when the Blairtummock estate and house was purchased from the Lamberton family in 1954, for development of housing, it consisted of 103 acre (0.41682658 km²). The Lamberton family owned the Lamberton and Co Ltd engineering steel works in Coatbridge
. The Lamberton and Co Ltd works (from 1870) are now listed buildings themselves.
The house and gardens were restored in 2008-2009, partly as offices by the GEDC (Architects, Simpson and Brown, 2006). The restored building includes a modern extension replacing the 1960s alterations, so adding a fifth phase of building. The walled gardens have had the original parterre restored. The tree lined drive way to the house has been resurfaced and additional planting has restored the parkland setting of the house.
St Benedict's Church (Gillespie Kidd and Coia 1962-65) is a prominent example of modernism. It was category B listed in 1994 together with the adjoining Presbytery The church was renovated in 2005-6, given a new copper roof and function rooms. The church was built on the site of Craigend Cottage. The woodland surrounding the church, Craigend Wood, is named after this cottage and farm.
Other modern architecture includes the Easterhouse Health Centre (Davis Duncan Architects (Archial) 2002) The Bridge (Gareth Hosins Architects, 2004), Wellhouse community centre (Chris Stewart Architects, 2004) and a new College building.
The Bridge was short-listed in the RIAS
Awards, and won the Design Award from the Glasgow Institute of Architects. The Bridge was highly commended at the SURF awards in the Partnership category. The Bridge is a constructed over the waste ground which lay between John Wheatley College's new campus opened in 2001, and the Easterhouse Pool, realising local ambitions for a 'cultural campus', including Visual Statement (Dance Company), Scottish National Youth Theatre, and the Easterhouse Library, and forms an extension to John Wheatley College's Easterhouse campus, housing some its recording facilities.
Glasgow Fort
, built on the grounds of Provanhall house and park of the same name, is a large, semi-circular, traditional street style shopping centre.
sculpted from galvanized steel by noted artist Andy Scott
. The Phoenix was designed to represent the regeneration of the area and is located in a prominent location on Easterhouse road, in the grounds of the old Easterhouse farm. The Easterhouse mosaic
(1982-4) is located on Lochend Road. It covers 1500 square feet (139.4 m²) - making it the UK's biggest hand made mural and one of the largest in Europe.
The 1950-1970s housing was an improvement from the tightly packed tenements that many people moved to Easterhouse from. These tenemented dwellings had double bedrooms and interior bathrooms with a lavatory. The population peaked at over 56,843 in the early 1960s and is now around 26,000. The 2008 Scottish Public Health
Observatory report on life expectancy
, smoking
levels and unemployment
show that Easterhouse has lowers levels of life expectancy and higher levels of smoking and unemployment levels than Scotland, though both of the latter are falling by large percentages.
Easterhouse, along with other large housing projects built at that time by Glasgow Corporation, came to prominence in the wider world through its social problems and became a case study for social planners hoping to avoid the same types of problems. For example, the lack of basic amenities, such as shops, sports and other recreational grounds and cinemas, poor transport links etc.
Housing was mainly of the two/three bedroom tenement type, off a common close. The lack of variety of housing types, such as detached and semi detached house types created a somewhat monotonous and bland townscape. This along with a lack of any stable pre-existing community structure and unemployment in the area contributed to the rise of youth gang culture. This became so notorious in the 1960s that celebrities including Frankie Vaughan
became involved in community issues in an attempt to bring order and attract resources to the area. This was much to some local bemusement as it served to focus public attention on surface problems but failed to address grass root problems, such as high unemployment and the lack of facilities.
The late 1960s and 1970s saw the construction of a large indoor shopping centre, later named Shandwick Square, local area shops, Easterhouse Library, Pool and community centre, local schools (both primary and secondary) churches and in the early 1980s, the health centre (GP Surgery and Dentist).
Since the early 1980s Glasgow City council and more recently Glasgow Housing Association began a program of renovation, demolition and refurbishment of the housing stock, replacing the old style tenement housing with detached and semi-detached houses. This has attracted significant amount of privately owned property and investment into the area, including the provision of better transport links and amenities.
Housing is now mainly under local housing associations such as Easthall Park, Blairtummock and Bishops Wood.
, which is a high street style retail park. It has many well-known high street stores, including Morrisons Scottish flagship supermarket, several restaurants including Pizza Hut and Frankie & Benny's. The Fort has excellent transport links, being built at junction 10 of the M8. There is a smaller shopping centre, Shandwick Square, which contains a McDonalds Restaurant. Several small, village style shopping areas are scattered throughout the suburb.
There are two Business park
s, Glasgow and Westwood. Glasgow Business Park was built to the west of the 19th century village. Businesses located in the park include Home Scotland, Lovell Partnership Scotland, Real Radio
, Miller Homes, MFI Distribution and Iveko Ford. Queenslie has a large Industrial Park.
Local parks include Blairtummock, Provanhall. Bishopswood is a local nature reserve and SSI. Drumpellier
Country Park lies to the east of the estate in North Lanarkshire. The surrounding countryside includes 11 sites of SSI and local nature reserve, including Craigend Moss, Todds Well, Bishops Loch LNR and Gartloch woods. Other waterways and country parks around the area include Lochend Loch, Woodend Loch, Hogganfield Loch and Drumpellier
Country Park.
Leisure facilities include the Easterhouse swimming pool, sports centre, library, and an arts centre in the Bridge (see The Platform above) (which includes a lecture hall). Easterhouse has a resident artist, sponsored by the Scottish Arts Council, currently Katy Dove.
The area is served three primary schools - Provanhall, Oakwood, St. Benedict's, and one High School, Lochend Community High School.
The John Wheately College http://www.jwheatley.ac.uk/ Easterhouse campus forms, with the Bridge, the area's 'cultural campus'.
John Ogilvie. After investigation by the Roman Catholic Church
John Ogilvie was canonised by Pope Paul VI
, in 1976, and he became Scotland's first saint since the reformation
and for over 700 years.
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
about 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
city centre
Glasgow city centre
Glasgow city centre is the central business district of Glasgow, Scotland. Is bounded by the High Street to the east, the River Clyde to the south and the M8 motorway to the west and north which was built through the Townhead, Charing Cross, Cowcaddens and Anderston areas in the 1960s...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. It was partially built on land gained from the county of Lanarkshire
Lanarkshire
Lanarkshire or the County of Lanark ) is a Lieutenancy area, registration county and former local government county in the central Lowlands of Scotland...
as part of a boundary expansion of Glasgow before the Second World War. Building began in the mid-1950s by the then local authority, Glasgow Corporation. The goal was to provide better housing for the people of the east end living in sub-standard conditions. The area is on high ground north of the River Clyde
River Clyde
The River Clyde is a major river in Scotland. It is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire....
and south of the River Kelvin
River Kelvin
The Kelvin rises on watershed of Scotland on the moor south east of the village of Banton, east of Kilsyth - . At almost 22 miles long, it initially flows south to Dullatur Bog where it falls into a man made trench and takes a ninety degree turn flowing west along the northern boundary of the bog...
and Campsie Fells
Campsie Fells
The Campsie Fells are a range of hills in central Scotland, stretching east to west, from Denny Muir to Dumgoyne, in Stirlingshire. . The highest point in the range is Earl's Seat which is 578 m high...
. It was built to house over 50,000 people but the current population (based on the 2001 census) was 26,495, of which 96.85% were born in Scotland. 172 people or 0.63% of this population were born outside Scotland, the lowest percentage in the country.
History of the area
The remains of Iron Age CrannogCrannog
A crannog is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually built in lakes, rivers and estuarine waters of Scotland and Ireland. Crannogs were used as dwellings over five millennia from the European Neolithic Period, to as late as the 17th/early 18th century although in Scotland,...
s were found in Bishop Loch, dating from around 700 BC by an archaeological dig in 1898. The Bishops of Glasgow were granted the land on which much of modern Easterhouse was built when the church of Glasgow was elevated into a bishopric in the 12th century. The remains of the bishop of Glasgow's country palace have been revealed by the West of Scotland
West of Scotland
West of Scotland may refer to:*West of Scotland, an electoral region of the Scottish Parliament*Informally, an area comprising Argyll, Ayrshire, Dunbartonshire, Lanarkshire, and Renfrewshire*West of Scotland Football Club*West of Scotland Cricket Club...
Archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
Service next to Bishops Loch (an SSI
SSI
- Economics :* Standing Settlement Instructions, payment processing and settlement information about financial institutions* Strategic Sustainable Investing, an investment strategy that recognizes financial value in transitional leadership towards sustainability...
) at Lochwood. Local oral history talks of the Bishops of Glasgow sailing in a Venetian gondola from Glasgow Cathedral to his palace at Bishops Loch. Hogganfield Loch is the source of the Molindinar Burn next to the Cathedral, so some truth may lie in this claim.
The Forestry Commission
Forestry Commission
The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for forestry in Great Britain. Its mission is to protect and expand Britain's forests and woodlands and increase their value to society and the environment....
administers land around Easterhouse under the name 'Bishops Estate', thus maintaining a link to the medieval bishops.
The far western and far northern parts of modern day Easterhouse are believed to have been administered by the prebends of Barlanark, called the 'Lands of Provan' but the boundaries of this has never been accurately defined. The 15th century mansion house, Provan Hall is a reminder of this ecclesiastical Pre-Reformation
Scottish Reformation
The Scottish Reformation was Scotland's formal break with the Papacy in 1560, and the events surrounding this. It was part of the wider European Protestant Reformation; and in Scotland's case culminated ecclesiastically in the re-establishment of the church along Reformed lines, and politically in...
Papal administration.
The southern and eastern parts of the area, Bartiebeith, Blairtummock, Dungeonhill, Easterhouse, Hallhill, Netherhouse and Commonhead were also part of the Bishopric although granted by Malcolm IV to the Monks of Newbattle
Newbattle
Newbattle is a village in Midlothian, in the ancient Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Andrews, about seven miles from Edinburgh. There was an abbey there founded about 1140, being the second of the six Cistercian Monasteries established by King David I of Scotland.-Newbattle Abbey:Newbattle Abbey was...
a little after 1162 in an un-named charter by permission of Bishop Herbert of the See of Glasgow. The lands remained under the monks until 1268 when Bishop John de Cheyan redeemed the 'lands along the Clud' (Clyde) called Kermyl (Carmyle) - most of the area now comprising modern Easterhouse were included in this grant - to sustain three chaplains to 'minister for the salvation of the Bishop's soul and also for the souls of all the faithful deceased'.
Easterhouse village and the origin of name Easterhouse
In Timothy PontTimothy Pont
Timothy Pont was a Scottish topographer, the first to produce a detailed map of Scotland. Pont's maps are among the earliest surviving to show a European country in minute detail, from an actual survey.-Life:...
's map and manuscript of 1596 the area where the late 19th century village of Easterhouse later developed was called 'Conflat'. Variations of this name are contained in the rental book of the Baronie de Glasgow (1513–1570) when it is recorded that one 'Johannes Woyd (John Wood) was rentaller of the 18s 8d land of Conflattis. The William Forrest map of 1816 calls the area of the old village Wamnat. Like the nearby village of Whifflet
Whifflet
Whifflet is now a suburb of Coatbridge, Scotland, which once formed its own distinctive village. Presently located in the North Lanarkshire Council area it was originally known as wheat flats but over time the name appears to have developed into Whifflet...
, now in Coatbridge, the term conflat probably deived from corn/wheat flats - flat land where wheat was farmed.
The village of Easterhouse was built from the late 19th century in land owned by, and south of, a farm of that name, in the immediate area around where Easterhouse railway station
Easterhouse railway station
Easterhouse railway station serves the Easterhouse area of Glasgow, Scotland. It was built by the North British Railway as part of their Coatbridge Bridge and opened when the branch opened on 1 February 1871...
stands. The village was bounded to the north by the Monkland Canal
Monkland Canal
The Monkland Canal was a 12.25-mile canal which connected the coal mining areas of Monklands to Glasgow in Scotland. It was opened in 1794, and included a steam-powered inclined plane at Blackhill. It was abandoned for navigation in 1942, but its culverted remains still supply water to the Forth...
and to the south, almost continuously with, the village of Swinton
Swinton, Glasgow
Swinton is an eastern suburb of the Scottish city of Glasgow, north of the areas of Baillieston and Garrowhill and is now concurrent with the nineteenth century Easterhouse village. Easterhouse train station gives direct access to the centre of Glasgow....
. Contrary to the stained glass window in Morrisons, Glasgow Fort, the villagers worked in a number of industries including the canal, stone quarry at Auchinlea, coal mines at Gartloch and Bailieston but mainly in the surrounding farms and estates as agricultural workers.
Some cottages and other buildings (now a public house) can still be found on and adjacent to Easterhouse Road that were part of the 19th century village of Easterhouse. A modern corruption of the ancient Conflats name can be seen at Whamflet Avenue in Easterhouse village.
The village's name was derived from Easterhouse Farm. Easterhouse farm was opposite (to the east) to the farm called Westerhouse. Easterhouse farm was located on what is now Millenium Court and Westerhouse near where Errogie Street now stands (off Westerhouse Road). A small group of remaining trees are still present lead to the site of the farm buildings. Other farms in the area included Westerhouse, Netherhouse and Dungeonhill farms, these names are still found in local street names). Other farms, villages and country estates included West Maryston (or Merryston), Queenslie Farm, Netherhouse, Provanhall, Blairtummock and Lochwood.
Architecture
Auchinlea and Blairtummock parks both contain listed mansion houses.Provan Hall
Provan Hall
Provan Hall is a historic place composed of two buildings built about the 15th century and situated in Auchinlea Park, Easterhouse, Glasgow. It is owned by the National Trust for Scotland and managed by Glasgow City Council...
is the best-preserved medieval fortified country house in Scotland. The house stands on its own grounds on the edge of Auchinlea Park. The building dates from before 1460 and is one of the oldest in the Glasgow area. The original doors lead into the kitchen, a dairy and a hallway. The Kitchen boasts a fireplace capable of roasting an ox and has one of the finest examples in Scotland of a Roman style barrel vault
Barrel vault
A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault or a wagon vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve along a given distance. The curves are typically circular in shape, lending a semi-cylindrical appearance to the total design...
ed ceiling. The cross vaulting in the dairy ceiling is medieval. On the upper floor, the dining hall contains an ancient oak table and dumbwaiter. There is a collection of historic chimney pieces. The hall may have been visited by Mary, Queen of Scots while her husband, Lord Darnley was ill in St.Nicholas Hospital (Provans Lordship) in the late 16th century.
Provanhall has a boundary wall dating from 1647. The coat of arms of the Hamilton family, which at that time owned the estate, is found above the entrance arch of that wall. Across the courtyard is a later building, Blochairn House, which today is occupied by Greater Easterhouse Environmental Trust. Built by a Tobacco Lord, Blochairn House was remodeled in 1760 to resemble the plantation house on his Jamaican tobacco estate. Both Blochairn and Provanhall are category A listed by Historic Scotland (1970). The houses were served by the now Provanhall Loch, now artificially banked and part of Provanhall Park. A formal parterre
Parterre
A parterre is a formal garden construction on a level surface consisting of planting beds, edged in stone or tightly clipped hedging, and gravel paths arranged to form a pleasing, usually symmetrical pattern. Parterres need not have any flowers at all...
garden is to the north of both listed buildings. Provanhall is now the headquarters of the local preservation trust.
Blairtummock House and adjoining walled garden and garden house is category B listed (1990). The garden pavilion was created from a demolished Robert Adam
Robert Adam
Robert Adam was a Scottish neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam , Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him...
house on Queen Street, Glasgow. The house was built in at least four phases, late medieval (1580s), Georgian (1721), Victorian (1830s) and minor alterations in the 1960s.
As the house was enlarged, the farm land surrounding the house was developed into an estate and when the Blairtummock estate and house was purchased from the Lamberton family in 1954, for development of housing, it consisted of 103 acre (0.41682658 km²). The Lamberton family owned the Lamberton and Co Ltd engineering steel works in Coatbridge
Coatbridge
Coatbridge is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. The town, with neighbouring Airdrie, is part of the Greater Glasgow urban area. The first settlement of the area stretches back to the Stone Age era...
. The Lamberton and Co Ltd works (from 1870) are now listed buildings themselves.
The house and gardens were restored in 2008-2009, partly as offices by the GEDC (Architects, Simpson and Brown, 2006). The restored building includes a modern extension replacing the 1960s alterations, so adding a fifth phase of building. The walled gardens have had the original parterre restored. The tree lined drive way to the house has been resurfaced and additional planting has restored the parkland setting of the house.
St Benedict's Church (Gillespie Kidd and Coia 1962-65) is a prominent example of modernism. It was category B listed in 1994 together with the adjoining Presbytery The church was renovated in 2005-6, given a new copper roof and function rooms. The church was built on the site of Craigend Cottage. The woodland surrounding the church, Craigend Wood, is named after this cottage and farm.
Other modern architecture includes the Easterhouse Health Centre (Davis Duncan Architects (Archial) 2002) The Bridge (Gareth Hosins Architects, 2004), Wellhouse community centre (Chris Stewart Architects, 2004) and a new College building.
The Bridge was short-listed in the RIAS
Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland
The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland is the professional body for architects in Scotland. It was founded in 1916 by Robert Rowand Anderson who donated his Georgian townhouse in Edinburgh to be used as its home, where it remains to this day. It was given its first Royal charter in...
Awards, and won the Design Award from the Glasgow Institute of Architects. The Bridge was highly commended at the SURF awards in the Partnership category. The Bridge is a constructed over the waste ground which lay between John Wheatley College's new campus opened in 2001, and the Easterhouse Pool, realising local ambitions for a 'cultural campus', including Visual Statement (Dance Company), Scottish National Youth Theatre, and the Easterhouse Library, and forms an extension to John Wheatley College's Easterhouse campus, housing some its recording facilities.
Glasgow Fort
Glasgow Fort
Glasgow Fort is a large 'out of town' shopping and leisure park located in Auchinlea Park, Provanhall and adjacent to Easterhouse, Glasgow just off Junction 10 of the M8 motorway....
, built on the grounds of Provanhall house and park of the same name, is a large, semi-circular, traditional street style shopping centre.
Public Art
Public art installations include a Clydesdale horse and a PhoenixPhoenix (mythology)
The phoenix or phenix is a mythical sacred firebird that can be found in the mythologies of the Arabian, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Chinese, Indian and Phoenicians....
sculpted from galvanized steel by noted artist Andy Scott
Andy Scott (sculptor)
Andy Scott is a Scottish figurative sculptor in galvanised steel, fibreglass, and cast bronze. He is based in Maryhill, Glasgow, and specialises in public art...
. The Phoenix was designed to represent the regeneration of the area and is located in a prominent location on Easterhouse road, in the grounds of the old Easterhouse farm. The Easterhouse mosaic
Mosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
(1982-4) is located on Lochend Road. It covers 1500 square feet (139.4 m²) - making it the UK's biggest hand made mural and one of the largest in Europe.
Housing and the modern estate
Large-scale building commenced in the mid-1950s by the Corporation of Glasgow, replacing farms and country estates, to provide housing for city residents living in sub-standard accommodation in the city. The old village of Easterhouse was not developed with the new estate and declined. The old railway station was demolished (later replaced with a modern train station building), together with a small number of the houses.The 1950-1970s housing was an improvement from the tightly packed tenements that many people moved to Easterhouse from. These tenemented dwellings had double bedrooms and interior bathrooms with a lavatory. The population peaked at over 56,843 in the early 1960s and is now around 26,000. The 2008 Scottish Public Health
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
Observatory report on life expectancy
Life expectancy
Life expectancy is the expected number of years of life remaining at a given age. It is denoted by ex, which means the average number of subsequent years of life for someone now aged x, according to a particular mortality experience...
, smoking
Smoking
Smoking is a practice in which a substance, most commonly tobacco or cannabis, is burned and the smoke is tasted or inhaled. This is primarily practised as a route of administration for recreational drug use, as combustion releases the active substances in drugs such as nicotine and makes them...
levels and unemployment
Unemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
show that Easterhouse has lowers levels of life expectancy and higher levels of smoking and unemployment levels than Scotland, though both of the latter are falling by large percentages.
Easterhouse, along with other large housing projects built at that time by Glasgow Corporation, came to prominence in the wider world through its social problems and became a case study for social planners hoping to avoid the same types of problems. For example, the lack of basic amenities, such as shops, sports and other recreational grounds and cinemas, poor transport links etc.
Housing was mainly of the two/three bedroom tenement type, off a common close. The lack of variety of housing types, such as detached and semi detached house types created a somewhat monotonous and bland townscape. This along with a lack of any stable pre-existing community structure and unemployment in the area contributed to the rise of youth gang culture. This became so notorious in the 1960s that celebrities including Frankie Vaughan
Frankie Vaughan
Frankie Vaughan, CBE, DL was an English singer of traditional pop music, who issued more than 80 recordings in his lifetime. He was known as "Mr. Moonlight" after one of his early hits.-Life and career:...
became involved in community issues in an attempt to bring order and attract resources to the area. This was much to some local bemusement as it served to focus public attention on surface problems but failed to address grass root problems, such as high unemployment and the lack of facilities.
The late 1960s and 1970s saw the construction of a large indoor shopping centre, later named Shandwick Square, local area shops, Easterhouse Library, Pool and community centre, local schools (both primary and secondary) churches and in the early 1980s, the health centre (GP Surgery and Dentist).
Since the early 1980s Glasgow City council and more recently Glasgow Housing Association began a program of renovation, demolition and refurbishment of the housing stock, replacing the old style tenement housing with detached and semi-detached houses. This has attracted significant amount of privately owned property and investment into the area, including the provision of better transport links and amenities.
Housing is now mainly under local housing associations such as Easthall Park, Blairtummock and Bishops Wood.
Amenities
Shopping areas include the Glasgow FortGlasgow Fort
Glasgow Fort is a large 'out of town' shopping and leisure park located in Auchinlea Park, Provanhall and adjacent to Easterhouse, Glasgow just off Junction 10 of the M8 motorway....
, which is a high street style retail park. It has many well-known high street stores, including Morrisons Scottish flagship supermarket, several restaurants including Pizza Hut and Frankie & Benny's. The Fort has excellent transport links, being built at junction 10 of the M8. There is a smaller shopping centre, Shandwick Square, which contains a McDonalds Restaurant. Several small, village style shopping areas are scattered throughout the suburb.
There are two Business park
Business park
A business park or office park is an area of land in which many office buildings are grouped together. All of the work that goes on is commercial, not industrial or residential....
s, Glasgow and Westwood. Glasgow Business Park was built to the west of the 19th century village. Businesses located in the park include Home Scotland, Lovell Partnership Scotland, Real Radio
Real Radio
Real Radio is a network of adult contemporary independent local radio stations in England, Scotland and Wales and is operated by . Each station broadcasts local breakfast through to drive time shows and network programming in the evening and through the night...
, Miller Homes, MFI Distribution and Iveko Ford. Queenslie has a large Industrial Park.
Local parks include Blairtummock, Provanhall. Bishopswood is a local nature reserve and SSI. Drumpellier
Drumpellier
Drumpellier is a country park situated within North Lanarkshire Council, to the west of Coatbridge. The park was formerly a private estate. The land was given over to the Burgh of Coatbridge for use as a public park in 1919, and was designated as a country park in 1984 by the then Monklands...
Country Park lies to the east of the estate in North Lanarkshire. The surrounding countryside includes 11 sites of SSI and local nature reserve, including Craigend Moss, Todds Well, Bishops Loch LNR and Gartloch woods. Other waterways and country parks around the area include Lochend Loch, Woodend Loch, Hogganfield Loch and Drumpellier
Drumpellier
Drumpellier is a country park situated within North Lanarkshire Council, to the west of Coatbridge. The park was formerly a private estate. The land was given over to the Burgh of Coatbridge for use as a public park in 1919, and was designated as a country park in 1984 by the then Monklands...
Country Park.
Leisure facilities include the Easterhouse swimming pool, sports centre, library, and an arts centre in the Bridge (see The Platform above) (which includes a lecture hall). Easterhouse has a resident artist, sponsored by the Scottish Arts Council, currently Katy Dove.
The area is served three primary schools - Provanhall, Oakwood, St. Benedict's, and one High School, Lochend Community High School.
The John Wheately College http://www.jwheatley.ac.uk/ Easterhouse campus forms, with the Bridge, the area's 'cultural campus'.
Saint John Ogilvie
In 1967, Easterhouse resident, John Fagan, had a miraculous remission of stomach cancer after praying to then BlessedBeatification
Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name . Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process...
John Ogilvie. After investigation by the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
John Ogilvie was canonised by Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
, in 1976, and he became Scotland's first saint since the reformation
Scottish Reformation
The Scottish Reformation was Scotland's formal break with the Papacy in 1560, and the events surrounding this. It was part of the wider European Protestant Reformation; and in Scotland's case culminated ecclesiastically in the re-establishment of the church along Reformed lines, and politically in...
and for over 700 years.