Glasgow Cathedral

Glasgow Cathedral is the finest building surviving in Scotland from the 13th century. Indeed, it is widely regarded as the high point of cathedral building in Europe.

The oldest part of the Cathedral actually dates from Bishop Jocelin’s time (1174–99). He is recorded as ‘gloriously enlarging’ his cathedral in 1181. A fire halted work and it fell to his successors, notably Bishop William de Bondington (1233–58), to complete the work. The end result was a wonderful Gothic confection of pointed arcades, slender traceried windows and an unusual array of three vaulted aisles around the presbytery and choir. The intention was to house a pilgrim shrine to St Kentigern at the main level, behind the high altar, to complement the saint’s tomb in the crypt beneath.

Glasgow Cathedral is the only medieval cathedral on the Scottish mainland to have survived the Protestant Reformation of 1560 virtually intact. There used to be a chanonry around it – a precinct where the bishops (and later archbishops) and clergy had their residences. To its south, a thriving burgh sprang up, under episcopal patronage. That burgh has since expanded into the great metropolis we now call Glasgow.

Information courtesy of Historic Scotland.