St Vincent Street Church, Architect, Photos, Architecture, Location, Images

St Vincent Street Church Glasgow

Alexander Thomson Building in Glasgow, Strathclyde, western Scotland, UK

post updated 2 December 2023

Date built: 1859

Architect: Greek Thomson

Address: 265 St Vincent St

Location: just west of city centre

photos © Adrian Welch, 2008

St Vincent St Church

Photograph from 1968 visit by Norwegian architecture student Dag Nilsen:

photo © Dag Nilsen

St. Vincent Street Church is a free Church of Scotland, evangelical & presbyterian church in central Glasgow.

building – north facade from east: image © Adrian Welch

The building is surrounded by modern high-rises and requires investment / refurbishment.

St Vincent St Church Architect : Greek Thomson

St Vincent Street Church Building

St. Vincent Street Church is a Presbyterian church on St. Vincent Street in Glasgow, Scotland. It was designed by Alexander Thomson (also known as “Greek” Thomson) and built from 1857 to 1859 for the former United Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Elements (probably the tower) are by Thomson’s young assistant, the church architect Robert Gordon Wilson, who was a member of the UP church.

This eminent structure is a Category A listed building. The church building is owned by Glasgow City Council.

From 1971 until 2021 it was used by a congregation of the Free Church of Scotland: Glasgow City Free Church. In 1998 the building was listed in the 1998 World Monuments Watch by the World Monuments Fund, and again in 2004 and 2006. The Fund helped restore the tower, with support from American Express.

In October 2021, Glasgow City Free Church were forced to vacate the building due to falling plaster. It has since lain unused.

building north facade from west: image © Adrian Welch

It’s all Greek to us

“A council has come under fire from conservationists who claim it has not done enough to restore a city centre church regarded as one of the most important 19th century monuments in Scotland. Five years ago the World Monuments Fund in Britain (WMF), a conservation charity, helped complete a £5 million restoration project on the spire of Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson’s St Vincent Street Church in Glasgow, which was built in 1859.

’I sometimes wonder whether Glasgow realises what an architectural masterpiece the city has at the centre. St Vincent Street Church is of international importance as the greatest work by Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson that survives’.”
Scotsman, 10 June 2002

building detail – west facade: image © Adrian Welch

Alexander Thomson

The architectural context : The Pinnacle Glasgow – quite an ungainly building that is located close by.

Location: west Glasgow, Strathclyde, southwest Scotland, UK

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Comments / photos for the St Vincent Street Church Glasgow designed by Alexander Thomson architect, Strathclyde, southwest Scotland, UK, page welcome.