Glasgow (Westerton) Garden Suburb Tenants Ltd
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TitleGlasgow (Westerton) Garden Suburb Tenants Ltd
ReferenceGD315
Date1911-1988
Archive creatorGlasgow Garden Suburb Tenants Ltd
Scope and ContentCorporate records, 1911-1988; share records, 1912-1980; finance records, 1912-1986; tenancy records, 1912-1984; property records, 1912-1985, including architect's plans, 1912-1935; photographs, 1913.
Extent4.6m
LanguageEnglish
Archival historyIn 1910 a lecture given by a Manchester Councillor, T R Marr, inspired a group of prominent Glasgow business men to build a garden suburb for Glasgow. A public meeting was held in early 1911 and local interest in the plan was strong, so in 1912 the Glasgow Garden Suburb Tenants Ltd was officially registered. This was to be the first garden suburb built in Scotland. The Committee of Management included Sir John Stirling Maxwell, and other influential Glasgow men, such as Sir Samuel Chisholm, and Mr M Boyd Auld. The suburb was to be a co-partnership; each tenant purchased five shares at a value of £10 each - paid in instalments if they could not afford to pay the £50 at once - for which they would receive a small dividend, held by the company on their behalf. They would also pay a small rent, and rent and dividends would pay for repairs. When the tenant left the suburb they could either retain the investment, or take the capital.
The Committee of Management considered three possible locations for the suburb: Cathcart, Giffnock and Garscube. The proposals for Cathcart fell through, Giffnock did not have a satisfactory train service, and so the Committee settled on Garscube after negotiations with the North British Railway Company, who agreed to construct a station at the site. The suburb was built largely on what was South Westerton Farm, and for twenty years the suburb stood very much on its own, surrounded by open countryside.
The houses were designed by the Glasgow based architect, John A W Grant in an English Suburban style which originated out of the Arts and Crafts movement. The first 45 houses to be built were in Stirling Avenue and Maxwell Avenue (named after Sir John Maxwell Stirling). The opening ceremony and laying of the foundation stone took place on 19 April 1913, and the houses were ready for occupancy by May. Building continued on a further 15 houses, which were completed by early 1914, and by 1915 a total of 84 houses had been built - the suburb now consisting of 3 streets: Stirling and Maxwell Avenues, and North View. By this time, however, the First World War made further expansion impossible and so the suburb was completed at two thirds of its originally intended size.
By the 1980s the Glasgow Garden Suburb Tenants Ltd was in financial difficulties; rents remained too low to cover the cost of repairs which increased as the properties got older. In 1988 the company was wound up and the tenants became owners of their houses. Westerton Garden Suburb Residents Association now maintains the remaining land once owned by the Glasgow Garden Suburb Tenants Ltd.
The Committee of Management considered three possible locations for the suburb: Cathcart, Giffnock and Garscube. The proposals for Cathcart fell through, Giffnock did not have a satisfactory train service, and so the Committee settled on Garscube after negotiations with the North British Railway Company, who agreed to construct a station at the site. The suburb was built largely on what was South Westerton Farm, and for twenty years the suburb stood very much on its own, surrounded by open countryside.
The houses were designed by the Glasgow based architect, John A W Grant in an English Suburban style which originated out of the Arts and Crafts movement. The first 45 houses to be built were in Stirling Avenue and Maxwell Avenue (named after Sir John Maxwell Stirling). The opening ceremony and laying of the foundation stone took place on 19 April 1913, and the houses were ready for occupancy by May. Building continued on a further 15 houses, which were completed by early 1914, and by 1915 a total of 84 houses had been built - the suburb now consisting of 3 streets: Stirling and Maxwell Avenues, and North View. By this time, however, the First World War made further expansion impossible and so the suburb was completed at two thirds of its originally intended size.
By the 1980s the Glasgow Garden Suburb Tenants Ltd was in financial difficulties; rents remained too low to cover the cost of repairs which increased as the properties got older. In 1988 the company was wound up and the tenants became owners of their houses. Westerton Garden Suburb Residents Association now maintains the remaining land once owned by the Glasgow Garden Suburb Tenants Ltd.
SubjectArchitecture, Domestic, Garden Cities, Westerton, Bearsden
Level of descriptionfonds
Repository nameEast Dunbartonshire Archives - Bearsden