GLASGOW City Heritage Trust’s Gallus Glasgow project brings to life an intricate, highly detailed ‘Bird’s Eye View’ of Glasgow drawn in 1864 and published this week in March 1864 as a supplement in the Illustrated London News.
Birds Eye Views of cities in Britain began with a view of Oxford by Georg Hoefnagel in 1575, but it is with Thomas Sulman’s (1832 – 1900) Bird’s Eye View of Glasgow that they arguably achieved their finest expression.
Produced almost four decades before the first aeroplane took to the skies, the tremendous scale and intricate level of detail of this bird’s-eye view of Glasgow is truly mind-blowing.
The view includes the entirety of central Glasgow, looking north from the south side of the River Clyde towards the Campsie Fells, as seen from a fixed point high above the city.
Rather fascinatingly, recognisable landmarks throughout the city such as the City Chambers and the Glasgow School of Art have yet to be built allowing us to see in
great detail what existed there before.
The frequently deepened Clyde teems with sail and steam shipping and its banks are packed with cranes and warehouses.
The smokestacks of the thriving chemical industry of the era are seen to the northeast, a key driver of the westward expansion of the city. The foundations for new tenement buildings around Kelvingrove Park are further evidence of this westward movement.
MAKING THE MAP
IT is thought that the advent of hot air ballooning in the 1820s played a major role in the popularisation of these panoramas. Granting a higher vantage point increased the field of view of the artist, allowing for a greater sweep and broader perspective.
However, the vast majority of the draughtsmanship would still have taken place at ground level and been informed by contemporary mapping.
Unfortunately, we have no evidence of the process that Sulman used. He was an architectural illustrator, and our best guess is that he used a combination of hot air balloon, photography, and Ordnance Survey mapping to create the bird’s eye.
This ground level mapping is evident in the remarkable level of architectural detail visible in the civic buildings, monuments and churches captured in this view.
The perspective has been altered to exaggerate the affluent north of the city, and streets widened to allow these architectural features to be seen in full. The map itself is almost 4 feet long!
Glasgow City Heritage Trust has held a copy of the map, displayed on the wall in its offices for several years.
A high resolution digital scan was made, which has been digitally restored to reinstate the contrast and vibrancy of the colours.
Now, to celebrate Glasgow’s 850th anniversary Glasgow City Heritage Trust is sharing Will Knight’s stunning Knight Map of Glasgow, commissioned by the Trust in 2022 to update Thomas Sulman’s original work.
Looking north from the Southside of the Clyde, it is an incredibly detailed snapshot of modern day Glasgow.
Will studied Architecture at the Glasgow School of Art, and this training has informed his approach to understanding the dynamic relationship between people and place.
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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