THE formal opening of the Library Hall at the Royal Faculty of Procurator Fiscals in Glasgow on June 11, 1857 was a grand affair.
This splendid facility was described in our sister title the Glasgow Herald the next day as “one of the most exquisite halls in the West of Scotland.”
The Faculty was incorporated in 1668 and has served the legal profession in Glasgow and the West of Scotland for more than 350 years.
Its library was founded in 1817 and had several homes before finally settling in Nelson Mandela Place (formerly St George’s Place).
It is still a striking façade in the city centre, designed in the Italian palazzo style by well-known architect Charles Wilson, who was inspired by the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice.
Finely sculpted masks of legal figures form keystones to the window arches outside, and the interior, ,complete with sweeping Genoese staircase, is richly decorated.
READ MORE: Chilling past of Glasgow tower
The Glasgow Herald noted that after the official ‘opening’ in 1857 the guests walked ‘arm in arm and two by two’ down to the Queen’s Hall for a ‘public’ banquet, where wine was quaffed and the speeches seemed to last all night...
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here