Sighthill, Glasgow
Encyclopedia
Sighthill is a Housing estate
Housing estate
A housing estate is a group of buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Accordingly, a housing estate is usually built by a single contractor, with only a few styles of house or building design, so they tend to be uniform in appearance...

 in the Scottish
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...

 city 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...

. It is situated 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....

.

Sighthill is part of the wider Springburn
Springburn
Springburn is an inner city district in the north of the Scottish city of Glasgow, home to various working and middle-class households.Springburn developed from a small rural hamlet at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Its industrial expansion began with the establishment of a chemical...

 district in the North of the city. The area is bordered to the North by Cowlairs
Cowlairs
Cowlairs is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow, part of the wider Springburn district of the city. It is situated north of the River Clyde. Cowlairs F.C. represented the area...

, to the East by the Springburn Bypass road
A803 road
The A803 is a road in central Scotland. It runs from Glasgow to Champany Corner .-Route:Beginning at Springburn in Glasgow, the A803 passes through the towns of Bishopbriggs, Kirkintilloch, Kilsyth, Banknock, Haggs, Bonnybridge, Falkirk, Laurieston, ending east of Linlithgow.It connects to the...

, to West by the Glasgow to Edinburgh via Falkirk Line
Glasgow to Edinburgh via Falkirk Line
The Glasgow to Edinburgh via Falkirk Line is a mainline railway line linking Glasgow and Edinburgh via Falkirk in Scotland. It is the principal route out of the four rail links between Scotland's two biggest cities, hosting the flagship "Shuttle" service between and .- Places served :The route...

 running into Queen Street Station
Queen Street station
Queen Street station can refer to:*Cardiff Queen Street railway station*Glasgow Queen Street railway station*Queen Street Station, a transit center in Lancaster, Pennsylvania...

 and to the South by the Townhead
Townhead
-Location:Townhead has no fixed boundaries. In ancient times it was the undeveloped area north of the cathedral and town. If we use this description then it is bordered to the west by the area of Cowcaddens, to the north by Sighthill and the east by Royston and south by Merchant City...

 interchange of the M8 Motorway. The area is split into two sub-areas, Pinkston to the south and Fountainwell to the north.

The district is primarily residential and originally consisted of ten 20-storey slab tower blocks, seven 5-storey mainsonette blocks and five rows of tenements.

History

Designed by Crudens Ltd, the scheme was built by Glasgow Corporation Housing Department between 1964 and 1969 on the 'Soda Waste
Solvay process
The Solvay process, also referred to as the ammonia-soda process, is the major industrial process for the production of soda ash . The ammonia-soda process was developed into its modern form by Ernest Solvay during the 1860s...

' at Pinkston and Fountainwell Farm, near the cemetery. The former was derelict ground on which the United Alkali Company
United Alkali Company
United Alkali Company Limited was a British chemical company formed in 1890. Producer of soda ash by the Leblanc process and used in the glass, textile, soap, and paper industries. It became one of the top four British chemical companies merged in 1926 with Brunner Mond, Nobel Explosives and...

's St.Rollox Chemical Works, founded by Charles Tennant
Charles Tennant
Charles Tennant was a Scottish chemist and industrialist. He discovered bleaching powder and founded an industrial dynasty.- Biography:...

 and at one time the largest chemical manufacturer in the world, used to dump waste chemicals (particularly Hydrogen sulfide
Hydrogen sulfide
Hydrogen sulfide is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless, very poisonous, flammable gas with the characteristic foul odor of expired eggs perceptible at concentrations as low as 0.00047 parts per million...

, a byproduct of the Leblanc process
Leblanc process
The Leblanc process was the industrial process for the production of soda ash used throughout the 19th century, named after its inventor, Nicolas Leblanc. It involved two stages: Production of sodium sulfate from sodium chloride, followed by reaction of the sodium sulfate with coal and calcium...

) until its closure in 1964. The Chemical Works was located on the north bank of 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...

, immediately east of Port Dundas
Port Dundas
Port Dundas is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, located to the north of the city centre. It lies to the north of Cowcaddens, and to the west of Sighthill, with Hamiltonhill and Possilpark to the north-west.-History:...

, where the current Pinkston area of Sighthill is now located.

The neighbourhood later suffered from stigma as high rise living went out of fashion and suffered from low demand since the mid 1970s, despite its attractive proximity to the city centre.

Because of its low occupancy rate, Sighthill was selected in the late 1990s, along with nearby Red Road
Red Road (flats)
The Red Road Flats are a high-rise housing complex which lies between the districts of Balornock and Barmulloch in the north east of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It consists of eight multi-storey blocks. Two are "slabs", much wider in cross-section than they are deep. Six are "points" — more of a...

, as a temporary housing location for refugees and asylum seekers. As a result, Sighthill has one of the most diverse ethnic makeups in Scotland.

In 2005, letting was suspended in the Fountainwell side of Sighthill as new landlords, Glasgow Housing Association considered the estate's future. The decision was eventually made that Fountainwell should be demolished. The first two blocks were demolished in July 2008 with the three remaining Fountainwell blocks following in November 2009.

The future of the five remaining Pinkston blocks is however still undecided. After a campaign by local residents, at least two of the Pinkston blocks will be retained and refurbished by Glasgow Housing Association
Glasgow Housing Association
Glasgow Housing Association is one of the largest social landlords in the UK, with more than 50,000 tenants and 26,500 factored homeowners across Glasgow....

 in the long-term, with three being demolished or sold to private developers.

Sighthill cemetery is located to the North of the estate and originally opened in 1840. Within it stands the memorial to John Baird
John Baird (revolutionary)
John Baird was a Scottish revolutionary. A weaver by trade, he was brought up in the village of Condorrat...

 and Andrew Hardie
Andrew Hardie (radical)
Andrew Hardie was second-in-command of the Radical Forces who marched on Scotland's Carron Ironworks in the "Radical War" of 1820.He was sentenced to death and was executed in Stirling on September 8, 1820 along with John Baird. In his speech on the scaffold he declared himself "a martyr to the...

, the leaders of the 1820 Radical War
Radical War
The Radical War, also known as the Scottish Insurrection of 1820, was a week of strikes and unrest, a culmination of Radical demands for reform in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland which had become prominent in the early years of the French Revolution, but had then been repressed...

 otherwise known as the 1820 Insurrection.

The Sighthill Park hosts the first astronomically aligned stone circle
Stone circle
A stone circle is a monument of standing stones arranged in a circle. Such monuments have been constructed across the world throughout history for many different reasons....

 built in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 for 3,000 years, by the Glasgow Parks Department Astronomy Project guided by Duncan Lunan
Duncan Lunan
Duncan Alasdair Lunan, who hails from Troon, born on the 24 October 1945 is a Scottish author, with emphasis on astronomy, spaceflight and science fiction, as well as astronomer, science reporter, and teacher...

. This project is prominent on the highest point of the hill included in the park itself; it is yet to be completed, but a campaign to obtain its completion is underway.

Fountainwell

In order of Demolition
  • Eagle Heights (2-4 Fountainwell Place) Cruden 1 (Demolished: 13 July 2008)
  • Barony Heights (16-18 Fountainwell Place) Cruden 2 (Demolished: 13 July 2008)
  • Tennant Heights (37-49 Fountainwell Avenue) Cruden 3 (Demolished: 30 November 2009)
  • Phoenix Heights (6-8 Fountainwell Square) Cruden 5 (Demolished: 30 November 2009)
  • St. Rollox Heights (2-4 Fountainwell Terrace) Cruden 4 (Demolished: 30 November 2009)


It should be noted that Sighthill Primary School was also demolished after the tower blocks.

Pinkston

  • Huntingdon Heights (17-19 Pinkston Drive)
  • Crawfurd Heights (31-35 Pinkston Drive) (To be retained)
  • Hartfield Heights (32-34 Pinkston Drive)
  • Pinkston Heights (3-5 Pinkston Drive) (To be retained)
  • Parson Heights (16-18 Pinkston Drive)

External links

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