Hillhead
Coordinates: 55°52′30″N 4°17′14″W / 55.874874°N 4.287201°W
| Hillhead | |
| Scottish Gaelic: Ceann a' Chnuic | |
| Scots: Hullheid | |
 Lilybank Gardens, a typical Hillhead terrace |
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 Hillhead
Hillhead shown within Glasgow |
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| OS grid reference | NS570670 |
|---|---|
| Council area | Glasgow City Council |
| Lieutenancy area | Glasgow |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | GLASGOW |
| Postcode district | G12 |
| Dialling code | 0141 |
| Police | Strathclyde |
| Fire | Strathclyde |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| EU Parliament | Scotland |
| UK Parliament | Glasgow North |
| Scottish Parliament | Glasgow |
| Glasgow Kelvin | |
| List of places: UK • Scotland • Glasgow | |
Hillhead (Scots: Hullheid, Scottish Gaelic: Ceann a' Chnuic)[1] is a district of Glasgow, Scotland. Situated north of Kelvingrove Park and to the south of the River Kelvin, Hillhead is at the heart of Glasgow's fashionable West End, with Byres Road forming the western border of the area, the other boundaries being Dumbarton Road to the south and the River Kelvin to the east and north.
The land was the property of the Gibsons of Hillhead from 1702 until 1862. Plots for housing development were made available by the Gibson family from the 1820s onwards.
Hillhead was an independent Police Burgh from 1869, but as Glasgow grew during the nineteenth century it was first swallowed up physically by the growing city, and then administratively in 1891.
The University of Glasgow is located in the area, having moved from its original site on the High Street to its current Gilmorehill location in 1870. Consequently a great number of students live in the area. Many academics from the University live in the area along with BBC Scotland employees, actors, broadcasters, writers and many students from various universities and teaching hospitals, creating an economically and culturally diverse community.
Politically there was once a parliamentary constituency entitled Glasgow Hillhead which had been held for many years by the Conservatives (indeed, after the 1979 general election it was the only Conservative seat left in Glasgow), but at a by-election in 1982 it was won by the Social Democrat candidate Roy Jenkins. He held onto the seat until the 1987 general election when he was defeated by the Labour candidate George Galloway. This seat formed the basis of the Glasgow Kelvin constituency. The area now has a mixed political profile, with the Labour Party, SNP, Greens and Liberal Democrats each gaining one councillor for the Hillhead ward on the City of Glasgow Council in 2007.
Other features of Hillhead include Ashton Lane, Western Baths, Hillhead High School, Glasgow Academy (a private school), and the Kelvinbridge, which straddles the River Kelvin which used to form an eastern boundary between Hillhead and Glasgow, until Hillhead's incoporation into the city.
The area is served by Hillhead subway station and Kelvinbridge subway station on the Glasgow Subway system. The two stops on either side of those are Kelvinhall in Partick, and St George's Cross in Woodlands.
Byres Road is a commercially important district to the city of Glasgow, featuring many of the city's most fashionable and popular independent boutiqes.
Contents |
[edit] Churches
The neoclassical colonnaded Wellington Church is located on University Avenue, directly opposite the University. The church is a Category A listed building.
[edit] Archives
The archives about Hillhead are maintained by the Archives of the University of Glasgow (GUAS).
