January 1888: Authority Granted to Erect the New Panorama in Sauchiehall Street – R. Rowand Anderson, Architect – Messrs Arrol Brothers, Germiston Works, Glasgow, Contractors

An article on page six of The Glasgow Herald, on Friday the 13th of January, 1888, reaads:

 

“NEW PANORAMA IN SAUCHIEHALL STREET.—Authority was granted yesterday to the

Scottish Panorama Company (Limited), of which Mr W. Duncan, 18 York Place, Edinburgh, is

secretary, to erect a hall or panorama building on the piece of ground which has for long remained

vacant in Sauchiehall Street to the west of the Corporation Galleries. The plan of the building is

based on the Continental panoramas, and is a polygon of 16 sides, with an entrance 20ft. wide from

Sauchiehall Street. This entrance is between two large shops, which form part of the structure. The

picture of the Battle of Bannockburn will be seen from a circular platform, 30ft. in diameter in the

centre of the polygon, and the visitor will view the whole scene as from the Borestone. The picture

will be 310ft. long and 33ft. high. The diameter of the polygon is 105ft. and the walls are 35ft. high.

The roof is an iron one, dome shaped, and surmounted by a lantern for ventilation. The shops to the

front are to be fitted up—the one as a Continental restaurant, and the other as a ladies’ café. The picture

will be shown during the day by daylight, transmitted through a continuous row of lights in the roof,

and at night by the electric light. The spectators on the circular platform are covered by a huge umbrella,

which concentrates the light on the picture and prevents the structure of the roof being seen. In the space

between the platform and the picture all kinds of weapons—claymores, Lochaber axes, and spears—of the

period, as well as the rich English armour (some articles collected from the battlefield) will be seen

strewn. The distance from the picture to the platform is 35ft., and the museum will be so complete that it

will be difficult to tell where the actual painted picture begins. The lobby leading to the centre platform is

divided by a partition so as to prevent overcrowdiug, the one side being for the entrance the other for exit.

The structure will be of red brick treated ornamentally. Each face of the polygon is arcaded with two arches,

surmounted by a deep freize and cornice. The shop fronts are also arcaded and surmounted by a cornice

and balustrade. The architect of the structure is Mr R. Rowand Anderson, LL.D., Edinburgh; and the

contractors for the whole work, Messrs Arrol Brothers, Germiston Works, Glasgow.”

 

 

 

George Fairfull-Smith, June 2025.