Calton, Glasgow
Encyclopedia
Calton is a district in the Scottish
city of Glasgow
. The name Calton is derived from the Gaelic
"coillduin", which means "wood on the hill". It is situated north of the River Clyde
, and just to the east of the city centre. Calton's most famous landmark is the Barras street market and the world famous Barrowland Ballroom
, one of Glasgow's principal musical venues. Originally spelled Caltoun, the area is universally known as The Calton by Glaswegians.
from 1817 to 1846, when it was annexed by the City of Glasgow.
The lands of Blackfaulds, on which Calton now stands, originally formed part of the lands of the Archbishopric of Glasgow, but were annexed to The Crown
in 1587. In 1705 the owner, John Walkinshaw, began to feu
the lands of Blackfaulds (part of the Barrowfield
estate) on which the old village of Calton was built, and in 1817 a charter
was granted, erecting Calton into a Burgh
. During the area's time as an independent burgh, there were four Provosts
of Calton:
industry. On 30 June 1787, a meeting of Calton weavers
was held on Glasgow Green
. Their wages had dropped because of the increased importation of cheaper foreign textiles. Most of the workers decided to take strike action
, although some accepted lower wages and carried on working. The dispute came to a head on 3 September 1787: when violence erupted after some striking weavers tried to seize materials from weavers who had carried on working.
The military
were called in and a detachment of the 39th Regiment of Foot opened fire on the demonstrators. Six of the men killed at the scene were locally called 'martyr
s' and some of them were buried in the Calton Cemetery
off the main London Road. The families of the men could not afford a headstone
although, a century later, a memorial was raised to commemorate their actions.
, in her 2005 autobiography
Handstands in the Dark, wrote about the 14 years she spent running a Calton pub, the Weavers Inn (formerly the Nationalist Bar, now the Calton Bar). Her book details life there in the 1980s and 1990s, a time when the area became notorious for heroin abuse and when urban renewal
began. The area is also notorious for street prostitution
, being one of Glasgow's red light districts.
Calton is an area of considerable poverty and multiple deprivation
regarding; "current income, employment, health, education, skills and training, housing, geographic access and crime." In January 2006, a report into poverty in The Scotsman
newspaper stated that "a child born in Calton... is three times as likely to suffer heart disease
, four times as likely to be hospitalised and ten times as likely to grow up in a workless household than a child in the city's prosperous western suburbs". Calton has the lowest male life expectancy
in Scotland. A BBC Scotland
news report on 13 February 2006 pointed out that, partially due to poor diet, crime, alcohol
and drug abuse
, life expectancy in Calton is lower than in some areas of Iraq
or the Gaza Strip
. A news report in the 21 January 2006 edition of The Guardian
newspaper gave the average lifespan of a person living in the Calton area as 53.9 years against a city average of 69 years and the Scottish average of 78. A 2008 World Health Organisation report contrasted Calton's male life expectancy, reported as standing at 54, with that of nearby Lenzie
, East Dunbartonshire
, at 82. Most of the affordable housing is owned by Housing Association
s with a high percentage of tenants on housing benefit
(For example Thenew Housing Association has approximately 75% of tenants on housing benefit).
The area has experienced sectarian tensions for generations; it is a predominantly Catholic area (due to Irish immigration), } and there are also Irish republican supporter groups present. This is reflected, albeit much declined in modern times, in gang and sectarian related graffiti
, with the main gang being the Calton Tongs. In the 1960s, the Calton was known locally as Tongland
(and still is by some), prominently marked out as such by graffiti. Tongland appears in Gillies MacKinnon
's 1995 movie Small Faces
. The gangs' power over the area and their decline in the 1970s is described in Handstands in the Dark.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
city of Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
. The name Calton is derived from the Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic language
Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....
"coillduin", which means "wood on the hill". It is situated north of the River Clyde
River Clyde
The River Clyde is a major river in Scotland. It is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire....
, and just to the east of the city centre. Calton's most famous landmark is the Barras street market and the world famous Barrowland Ballroom
Barrowland Ballroom
The Barrowlands is a major dance hall and concert venue in Glasgow, Scotland.-History of Barrowland Ballroom:The original building opened in 1934 in a mercantile area east of Glasgow's city centre...
, one of Glasgow's principal musical venues. Originally spelled Caltoun, the area is universally known as The Calton by Glaswegians.
History
The area was a Burgh of BaronyBurgh of barony
A burgh of barony is a type of Scottish town .They were distinct from royal burghs as the title was granted to a tenant-in-chief, a landowner who held his estates directly from the crown....
from 1817 to 1846, when it was annexed by the City of Glasgow.
The lands of Blackfaulds, on which Calton now stands, originally formed part of the lands of the Archbishopric of Glasgow, but were annexed to The Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
in 1587. In 1705 the owner, John Walkinshaw, began to feu
Feu
Feu was previously the most common form of land tenure in Scotland, as conveyancing in Scots law was dominated by feudalism until the Scottish Parliament passed the Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. Act 2000...
the lands of Blackfaulds (part of the Barrowfield
Barrowfield
Barrowfield is an area of east Glasgow in Camlachie, close to Celtic Park, home of Celtic Football Club.It is an area of working class housing enclosed by main roads and railway lines, which consequently developed a distinctive character...
estate) on which the old village of Calton was built, and in 1817 a charter
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
was granted, erecting Calton into a Burgh
Burgh
A burgh was an autonomous corporate entity in Scotland and Northern England, usually a town. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burgh status was broadly analogous to borough status, found in the rest of the United...
. During the area's time as an independent burgh, there were four Provosts
Provost (civil)
A provost is the ceremonial head of many Scottish local authorities, and under the name prévôt was a governmental position of varying importance in Ancien Regime France.-History:...
of Calton:
- Robert Struthers (1817-1818)
- Nathaniel Stevenson (1818-1839)
- Robert Bartholomew (1839-1843)
- William Bankier (1843-1846)
The Calton Martyrs
The area became known for its weavingWeaving
Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
industry. On 30 June 1787, a meeting of Calton weavers
Calton weavers
The Calton weavers were a community of handweavers established in the community of Calton, then in Lanarkshire just outside Glasgow, Scotland in the 18th century. In 1787 the weavers went on strike...
was held on Glasgow Green
Glasgow Green
Glasgow Green is a park situated in the east end of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde. It is the oldest park in the city dating back to the 15th century.In 1450, King James II granted the land to Bishop William Turnbull and the people of Glasgow...
. Their wages had dropped because of the increased importation of cheaper foreign textiles. Most of the workers decided to take strike action
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
, although some accepted lower wages and carried on working. The dispute came to a head on 3 September 1787: when violence erupted after some striking weavers tried to seize materials from weavers who had carried on working.
The military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
were called in and a detachment of the 39th Regiment of Foot opened fire on the demonstrators. Six of the men killed at the scene were locally called 'martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
s' and some of them were buried in the Calton Cemetery
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
off the main London Road. The families of the men could not afford a headstone
Headstone
A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. In most cases they have the deceased's name, date of birth, and date of death inscribed on them, along with a personal message, or prayer.- Use :...
although, a century later, a memorial was raised to commemorate their actions.
Social problems
Comedienne Janey GodleyJaney Godley
Janey Godley is a British stand-up comedian and writer. Her autobiography, Handstands in the Dark, was a UK Top Ten bestseller and she was a 2006 Scotswoman of The Year finalist...
, in her 2005 autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
Handstands in the Dark, wrote about the 14 years she spent running a Calton pub, the Weavers Inn (formerly the Nationalist Bar, now the Calton Bar). Her book details life there in the 1980s and 1990s, a time when the area became notorious for heroin abuse and when urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
began. The area is also notorious for street prostitution
Street prostitution
Street prostitution is a form of prostitution in which a sex worker solicits customers from a public place, most commonly a street, while waiting at street corners or walking alongside a street, but also other public places such as parks, beaches, etc. The street prostitute is often dressed in a...
, being one of Glasgow's red light districts.
Calton is an area of considerable poverty and multiple deprivation
Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation
The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation is a tool used by local authorities, the Scottish Government, the NHS and other governmental bodies in Scotland....
regarding; "current income, employment, health, education, skills and training, housing, geographic access and crime." In January 2006, a report into poverty in The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
newspaper stated that "a child born in Calton... is three times as likely to suffer heart disease
Heart disease
Heart disease, cardiac disease or cardiopathy is an umbrella term for a variety of diseases affecting the heart. , it is the leading cause of death in the United States, England, Canada and Wales, accounting for 25.4% of the total deaths in the United States.-Types:-Coronary heart disease:Coronary...
, four times as likely to be hospitalised and ten times as likely to grow up in a workless household than a child in the city's prosperous western suburbs". Calton has the lowest male life expectancy
Life expectancy
Life expectancy is the expected number of years of life remaining at a given age. It is denoted by ex, which means the average number of subsequent years of life for someone now aged x, according to a particular mortality experience...
in Scotland. A BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a considerable amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters, and is run by the BBC Trust, who...
news report on 13 February 2006 pointed out that, partially due to poor diet, crime, alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
and drug abuse
Drug abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...
, life expectancy in Calton is lower than in some areas of Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
or the Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
. A news report in the 21 January 2006 edition of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
newspaper gave the average lifespan of a person living in the Calton area as 53.9 years against a city average of 69 years and the Scottish average of 78. A 2008 World Health Organisation report contrasted Calton's male life expectancy, reported as standing at 54, with that of nearby Lenzie
Lenzie
Lenzie is a small town by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway in the East Dunbartonshire council area of Scotland. It is about six miles north-east of Glasgow city centre and one mile south of Kirkintilloch. It has a population of about 10,000.-Name:...
, East Dunbartonshire
East Dunbartonshire
This article is about the East Dunbartonshire council area of Scotland. See also East Dunbartonshire .East Dunbartonshire is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders onto the north-west of the City of Glasgow. It contains many of the suburbs of Glasgow as well as containing many of...
, at 82. Most of the affordable housing is owned by Housing Association
Housing association
Housing associations in the United Kingdom are independent not-for-profit bodies that provide low-cost "social housing" for people in housing need. Any trading surplus is used to maintain existing homes and to help finance new ones...
s with a high percentage of tenants on housing benefit
Housing Benefit
Housing Benefit is a means tested social security benefit in the UK that is intended to help meet Housing costs for rented accommodation. The primary legislation governing Housing Benefit is the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992. Operationally, the governing Regulations are...
(For example Thenew Housing Association has approximately 75% of tenants on housing benefit).
The area has experienced sectarian tensions for generations; it is a predominantly Catholic area (due to Irish immigration), } and there are also Irish republican supporter groups present. This is reflected, albeit much declined in modern times, in gang and sectarian related graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
, with the main gang being the Calton Tongs. In the 1960s, the Calton was known locally as Tongland
Tongland, gang
Tongland was a local nickname for the area of Calton, Glasgow controlled in the 1960s by a violent Scottish teenage gang called the Tongs.Tongland appears in Gillies MacKinnon's 1995 movie Small Faces, set in the 1960s...
(and still is by some), prominently marked out as such by graffiti. Tongland appears in Gillies MacKinnon
Gillies MacKinnon
Gillies MacKinnon is a Scottish film director and writer.His film credits include Hideous Kinky, Small Faces and Regeneration.-Personal life:...
's 1995 movie Small Faces
Small Faces (film)
Small Faces is a Scottish film directed by Gillies MacKinnon about gangs, specifically the Tongs, in 1960s Glasgow. It stars Iain Robertson, Joseph McFadden, Steven Duffy, Kevin McKidd, Laura Fraser, Mark McConnochie, Clare Higgins, Garry Sweeney and Alastair Galbraith.The film was produced in...
. The gangs' power over the area and their decline in the 1970s is described in Handstands in the Dark.