A short history of Bearsden Cross

by

Provost Robin McSkimming

Bearsden Cross has been at the heart of the community for centuries - possibly since Roman times! It lies at the point where the Roman Military Way, built just south of the Antonine Wall to permit the easy movement of troops and supplies, crosses the north-south route from Glasgow to Loch Lomond. Today’s Roman Road follows the line of the Military Way exactly.

For centuries, Bearsden - as it became known in the years following the arrival of the railway in 1863 - consisted of no more than a handful of houses known as New Kirk or Chapelton, both names reflecting the building of New Kilpatrick Parish Church in 1649. The present building stands on the site of the original church and dates from l8O7.

The present buildings at the Cross were built in 1906, replacing a coach house and stable block known as Meldrum’s Stables. The developer and builder was Mathew Henderson, one of the leading builders of his day, responsible for the construction of Charing Cross Mansions and Quarrier’s Homes, Bridge of Weir, among other notable buildings. His initials may be seen on the Drymen Road facade and the name New Kirk on the Roman Road frontage.

Later, Henderson started an ambitious scheme to develop Drumchapel as a commuter village along the same lines as Lenzie and Bearsden, but the initiative was abandoned after only half a dozen large villas had been built along Garscadden Road on the southern edge of the policies of Garscadden House. Henderson occupied one himself, The Rual, and became an elder in the original Drumchapel Parish Church (now in use as a bakery). He was also an elder in New Kilpatrick Parish Church, to which he presented the magnificent stained-glass windows in memory of his wife in the then recently-completed chancel extension. Mathew Henderson died in 1914 and is buried in New Kilpatrick churchyard beside the main gate on Manse Road.

In the 1950s Bearsden Town Council planned to sweep away Henderson’s New Kirk buildings and replace them with a soulless concrete shopping plaza. Happily, a massive wave of public opposition put paid to the Council’s plans and all the New Kirk buildings now enjoy Listed Building status. They are Mathew Henderson’s lasting memorial.