Queen Street, Glasgow
Background
Owing to edicts put in place during the Scottish Reformation theatrical performances and strolling players were banned from Glasgow. All forms of entertainment were considered immoral; even a church organ was frowned upon. The ban on theatre of any kind lasted until c.1752 when the first one was built in the vicinity of the Bishop’s Palace near the Cathedral.
In the face of this Calvanist fervour it is no wonder then that early Glasgow theatres had a precarious time; even shorter lives than the stubbornly low life expectancy of the average Glaswegian. They were very susceptible to the zealous nature of staunch presbyterians who regarded them as ‘the deil’s hoose’. 1
Of the four theatres built between 1752 and 1805 three would burn to the ground.
It was in this parochial climate in Robert Adam’s ‘narrow place’ (Scotland) that new architect David Hamilton was given the task of designing a theatre to reflect the city’s new found wealth, offering a playhouse for its more affluent mercantile citizens. Officially it would be billed as unsurpassed outside of London. But in truth even the capital had yet to build any theatre with such architectural aspirations.
Architect David Hamilton (1768-1843): ‘the father of the profession in Glasgow’
David M Walker in Stamp and McKinstry’s excellent ‘Greek Thomson’ ponders the development of David Hamilton and how he could have “acquired a knowledge of Sir John Soane’s practice which extended far beyond what could have been gleaned from the short lived house that master designed in 1798 for Robert Dennistoun.”
David Hamilton’s Theatre Royal b1805 on Queen Street, Glasgow may provide a clue to his development. Others have noted the Soanian roofline as seen below in Figure 1. For Glasgow, it is divergent, groundbreaking even, from the balustrades and triangular pediments of that period. The elevation is a progression in theatre design not just for Glasgow but indeed the UK. The truly palatial ‘Temple of Dreams’ (read Theatre) had arrived not as expected in cosmopolitan London, but in the staunchly Calvinist city of Glasgow. Built at a cost of £18,500 its 1,500 capacity could be increased by 250 with additional seating in the wings and on stage. The front was composed of an arcaded rusticated basement 70ft wide accommodating five entry points complete with fanlight above, supporting six ionic columns, 30 feet in height, with corresponding pilasters and entablatures. The edifice extended east to west 158ft.
Thought then to be the largest ‘provincial’ theatre in Europe, later in 1818, the Theatre became the first in Britain to have gas lighting, with the announcement that:- “The Grand Crystal Lustre of the front Roof of the Theatre, the largest of any of that time in Scotland, will…be Illuminated with Sparkling Gas.”
Location of the Theatre Royal
The Theatre Royal’s location in Queen Street just north of Cunningham’s Lainshaw Mansion is incongruous. As designed it certainly would have merited a commanding position possibly as an axial terminus as was the vogue then in the city. But this would only have been achieved if the primary objective to straighten the Back Cow Lone which ran north of the Highland Chapel had not been delivered in 1781. See Fig. 2 below.
In any event it is a mute point. The lone was not suited to the rigid grid plan that Glasgow would adopt under the guidance of surveyors James Barrie and later James Craig. The civic authorities would not let old lones and curved approaches shape the direction of the new city. Lones were impractical and more importantly inefficient to fast communication and the movement of goods ‘as the crow flies’. It would not do for Glasgow’s men of commerce and science. The Glasgow grid was imprinted on the city.
From a modern perspective we must not forget that what we take for granted today was not so simply or easily acquired. It took time, finance, vision and planning. Take Stark’s St George’s Tron terminating George Street. It was originally intended to cap St Vincent Street and it was only at the instigation of Glasgow Clerk of Works James Cleland that the location was moved. A choice that did not sit well with some of the populace with continued calls for it to be moved to a more suitable location for some time after.
The Dennistoun Connection
Gavin Stamp in his excellent treaty on Robert Dennistoun’s house on Buchanan Street notes that Robert Dennistoun would later, in 1803, be on the committee of the Queen Street Theatre Royal. Local historian Graeme Smith an authority on Glasgow theatres of this period ratifies his presence on the committee. One must question how a relatively new architect such as David Hamilton could muster the confidence to introduce this bold design to the committee on such a prestigious public building. James Dennistoun’s residence located at 23 Virginia Street built c.1800 (see Fig. 3) may have set the scene (pun) for the Theatre and informed this new direction for Glasgow.
Attributed to Henry Hake Seward (1778 – 1848) © Reproduced with the kind permission of the Soane Museum. http://collections.soane.orgARC1122
This hypothesis is made on the basis that neither executed designs from the Soane Office for the Glasgow homes of brothers Robert and Richard Dennistoun featured such a typical Soanian roofline; both houses remaining more traditional. Only their brother James Dennistoun’s house as shown in Fig. 3. above featured the characteristic full Soane treatment with incised architraves and bulls eye corner blocks, featured inside and out.
When Robert Dennistoun visited London in March of 1800, Stamp writes “he called on Soane twice… and on the second visit, after dining in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, they ‘went to the play’ together.” It is not documented which theatre. Soane could possibly have been acting as a consultant to his client, educating Robert Dennistoun on what Glasgow needed.
Looking at Robert Adam’s 1775 Brydges Street (now Catherine Street) elevation for the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, the lion and unicorn couchant is prominent and possibly an inspiration for David Hamilton’s later Theatre Royal on Queen Street, Glasgow. However, it was demolished prior to Robert’s visit, meaning the design may only have been made known to David Hamilton through later drawings similar to Fig. 4. below:
Anna McAlaney at Soane, who also has an interest in early theatre design highlighted an unexecuted design of 1789 by Adam for Haymarket Opera House, Pall Mall, London. The theatre would eventually be designed by Michael Novosielski, opening on 22 September 1791. The movement in one of Adam’s unexecuted designs is interesting. Also of note is the hand documented ‘Office hand, possibly Robert Morison or Daniel Robertson, with title inscription in the hand of William Adam.’ There is the name Robert Morison again who also happened to work in the Soane office previously. Was he a conduit to bring drawings from London that would assist in David Hamilton’s development? We know that by 1807 he was definitely working in Edinburgh, though it is unclear exactly when he returned to Scotland from London.
The Soane Influence: ‘a perfect Elysium on earth’
Another drawing in the Soane archive, Fig. 5, hints at the possibility of Soane acting as a consultant and having an as yet unacknowledged influence on Glasgow theatre design. An unexecuted design, dated 1790, for an opera house with a ground floor arcade surmounted by a colonnade of corinthian columns to be built on the garden of Leicester House (SM [8] 14/3/6). The similarities with Hamilton’s (truncated version) Theatre Royal, Queen Street are evident. Soane’s design for the Leicester Opera House suggest an evolution in UK theatre design ten years ahead of its time. Little could Soane have known it would eventually find a receptive audience not in London but in Hanovarian Glasgow. David Hamilton adding his own twist, introducing the movement so typical of Robert Adam, with the projected wings.
One gets the sense that the Dennistoun brothers were not simply passive patrons of Soane. They were active admirers not content with having him design their own townhouses they possibly were also using their civic status to influence public architecture in Glasgow. This would make them contenders for the most active patrons of Soane in Scotland.
Of course, this is all conjecture, and it is not known for certain if 23 Virginia Street or Robert Dennistoun himself as part of the theatre committee and his relationship with Soane influenced any design decisions made by David Hamilton for ‘the Theatre Royal’.
We can be reasonably sure, however, that Soane’s incised ornamentation so vilified in ‘the Modern Goth’ with little to no additional ornamentation did not catch on in Glasgow. His love of Greek Revival with its key patterns did resonate and would find admirers in Glasgow such as the forgotten Robert Scott, the relatively unknown John Stephen and the influential Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson.
The Royal Theatre played true to form as most Glasgow theatres; it was consumed by fire in 1829.
1 A recent refurbishment of the Panoptican Music Hall in the Trongate identified the area where ‘le signore della notte’ would service their clients by the concentration of fly buttons found under floor boards. It was on learning this that one might have cause to reassess whether this Calvinist outpouring against Glasgow theatres was really not just some down trodden wife with a Swan Vesta and a score to settle. Which would seem fitting given ‘Vesta’ was the Roman goddess of fire.
© Cicerone: MerchantCityGlasgow. All Rights Reserved. 2023
MerchantCityGlasgow 