6 days ago
The beautiful Glasgow buildings all designed by one man
So, if the same name keeps cropping up, you tend to notice – it can be a hint as to this person's significance to the history of the city.
This happened recently with the name Honeyman. It wasn't a name I had heard much before, but once I started digging it didn't take long to understand why different researchers would be interested in this person who would turn out to have made quite a mark on the city's landscape.
John Honeyman was born at 21 Carlton Place in Glasgow on August 11, 1831. He obtained an arts degree from the University of Glasgow and trained as an accountant for a year in London. Upon his return to Scotland, he apprenticed as an architect with Alexander Munro and by the early 1860s had set up his own practice.
While he would design buildings for locations across Scotland, there is a particularly high number in Glasgow, ranging from churches and schools to commercial offices and private villas.
Lansdowne Church (Image: Glasgow City Archives)
Perhaps the most famous Honeyman building in the city, the Lansdowne United Presbyterian Church was built on Great Western Road at the Kelvin Bridge.
Upon its opening in 1863, this Gothic Revival church was described by this newspaper's sister title the Glasgow Herald as 'a notable ornament.' Still standing proudly today, the church is now known as the Lansdowne Parish Church and boasts A-listed status.
Over his career Honeyman would build 16 churches in Glasgow, including the Italianate baroque-style United Presbyterian Church by Cathedral Square (1878-80) and the Classical renaissance-style Westbourne Free Church in Westbourne Gardens (1880-81).
Rockvilla School, c1964 (Image: Glasgow City Archives)
Honeyman designed three schools as part of the School Board of Glasgow's big push to build in the late 19th century.
Between 1874 and 1877 came Tureen Street School in Calton, Henderson Street School in Woodside and Rockvilla School in Hamiltonhill.
The latter was a particularly grand imposing building, sitting atop a hill at the corner of Dawson Street and Possil Road.
While the building has gone, standing at this same corner you can still see the two gated entrances with the words 'Boys' and 'Girls' etched into the rock, indicating the school's separate entrances.
The Ca'd'Oro in 1978 (Image: Glasgow City Archives Special Collections)
It's hard to believe this beautiful Venetian Renaissance-style building began life as a furniture warehouse for the firm F & J Smith.
A feast for the eyes, there was something for everyone thanks to the different styles of windows, the cast iron detailing and the decorated columns across multiple floors.
Over the years it has hosted a ballroom, gallery, bakery, tearoom and several restaurants – including the Ca' D'Oro in 1927, by which name the building is now largely known.
Sadly, a fire in 1987 destroyed much of the building although the cast iron frame survived and the building was later restored, gaining A-listed status along the way.
Notwithstanding the variety of commissions, most of Honeyman's buildings were domestic in nature. For example, another A-listed building in his Glasgow roster is the classical villa Craigie Hall. Featuring Italianate detailing and Ionic columns, this two-story villa was built in 1872 for the merchant Joseph McLean.
Postcard of Fairfield Shipbuilding Company Offices and factory, Govan Road, 1908. (Image: Glasgow City Archives Special Collections)
Despite the prolific buildings Honeyman designed in the 1860s and 1870s, by the mid-1880s work had dried up and he was struggling financially.
He partnered with the young John Keppie to form Honeyman & Keppie, a firm which would go on to build the Fairfield Shipbuilding Company Offices, the Glasgow Herald building and the Daily Record building.
Many of their designs include the clear influence of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who was a senior assistant at the company before he became a third partner in 1901.
Due to his deteriorating eyesight, Honeyman retired in January 1901 although he continued advising on projects after this date.
As well as co-founding the Glasgow Architectural Society and working with the Glasgow Improvement Trust, he wrote many pieces on his wider interests including public health and archaeology.
