Hillhead
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hillhead is a residential and commercial area of Glasgow, Scotland. Situated north of Partick and to the south of North Kelvinside, Hillhead is located at the heart of Glasgow's fashionable West End, with Byres Road forming the central artery of the area.
The land was originally the property of the Gibsons of Hillhead. It was an independent Police Burgh from 1869, but as Glasgow grew during the nineteenth century it was first swallowed up physically by the growing city, and then administratively in 1891.
The University of Glasgow is located in the area, having moved from its original site to its current Gilmorehill location in 1870. Consequently a great number of students live in the area. The neoclassical colonnaded Wellington Church is located on University Avenue, directly opposite the University.
Many Academics from the nearby University of Glasgow live and work in the area along with BBC Scotland employees, actors, broadcasters, writers and many students from many local universities and teaching hospitals, creating an economic and culturally diverse community.
Politically there was once a parliamentary constituency entitled "Glasgow Hillhead" which had been held for many years by the Conservatives (indeed, after the 1979 general election it was the only Conservative seat left in Glasgow), but at a by-election in 1982 it was won by the Social Democrats candidate Roy Jenkins. He held onto the seat until the 1987 general election when he was defeated by the Labour candidate George Galloway. This seat formed the basis of the current Glasgow Kelvin constituency. The SDP influence has not totally waned though as the Liberal Democrats won the Hillhead ward on the City of Glasgow Council in 2003.
Other features of Hillhead include the nearby Glasgow Botanic Gardens, Hillhead High School, Glasgow Academy (a private school), and the Kelvinbridge, which straddles the River Kelvin which used to form an eastern boundary between Hillhead and Glasgow, until Hillhead's incoporation into the city.
The area is served by Hillhead subway station on the Glasgow Subway system, on Byres Road, which is always busy with students. The two stops on either side of it are Kelvinhall, just outside Partick, and Kelvinbridge.
Hillhead is a commercially important district to the city of Glasgow, featuring many of the city's most fashionable and popular independent boutiques. Architecturally it boasts some of the finest buildings in the city, such as Kelvinside Hillhead Parish Church on the junction of Saltoun Street and Observatory Road. Grosvenor Terrace is one of the best examples of townhouse frontages of the typical Glasgow style left in the West End. The Botanic Gardens includes the Kibble Palace, recently restored, and the disused Botanic Gardens Station, one of a series of abandoned stations on an underground network of tracks stretching from Kirklee to Finnieston.
