IN 2022 Glasgow City Heritage Trust put out a call for artists to create a contemporary illustration updating Thomas Sulman’s 1864 Bird’s Eye View of Glasgow, with Will Knight successfully securing the commission.
We wanted to encourage Glaswegians to reflect on the city’s transformation over the past 150 years – how much has changed, but also how much of our heritage endures.
Knight took a meticulous approach, drawing modern Glasgow from the same viewpoint as Sulman.
The result is a fascinating map that reveals the city as a rich layering of Medieval, Georgian, Victorian, Modernist, and contemporary architecture – each era shaping, overwriting, and coexisting with the past.
This unique built heritage makes Glasgow not only an extraordinary place to live but also a cinematic backdrop for storytelling.
As the city marks its 850th anniversary, this four-page supplement – including a pull-out copy of the Knight Map – is our gift to Glasgow. Published exactly 161 years to the week since Thomas Sulman’s Bird’s Eye View of Glasgow appeared in the Illustrated London News, it offers a chance to reflect on how the city has evolved.
Since 2007, Glasgow City Heritage Trust has invested £14.7 million to repair 574 historic buildings and £1.3 million to support traditional skills and celebrate the city’s intangible heritage.
Now, we want to secure a permanent home for the original Knight Map, where it can be enjoyed by the public for generations to come. If you share our vision for protecting and celebrating Glasgow’s heritage, we’d love to hear from you.
Niall Murphy, Director,
Glasgow City
Heritage Trust
SPECIAL OFFER: Get a black and white copy of the Knight Map for the special price of only £20 + postage, usually £75. Colour prints of both maps are available at www.glasgowheritage.org.uk
This article was brought to you in association with Glasgow City Heritage Trust
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