Edit A taste of Paris in Hillhead
HILLHEAD Parish Church was modelled on the celebrated Sainte Chapelle in Paris, quite unusual for a Presbyterian church during the Victorian era.
The competition to design it was won by James Sellars who, two years earlier in 1873, had started building Glasgow's famous St Andrew's Halls.
Sellars' design showed how greatly he had been influenced by William Leiper, the man responsible for the intricate exterior of the old Templeton carpet factory in Glasgow Green.
The west side of the building also resembled that of St
Finbar's Cathedral in Cork which was still under construction at that time.
Nevertheless, the overall style of the church with its two solid turrets topped by octagonal spires, is striking.
Great attention to detail was paid to the interior of the building which is illuminated by some stunning stained glass, which was added in later years.
Three of the windows were designed by the internationally renowned Cottier and Co, who designed and fitted the glass between 1893 and 1903. Cottiers had been founded by Glasgow-born Daniel Cottier, who had died two years before the work was started.
The church was called Hillhead Parish Church until the 1950s when its congregation was joined by Belmont and became known as Belmont Hillhead Parish Church.
But in 1978 it was again added to, this time by Kelvinside Botanic Gardens
congregation, to become Kelvinside Hillhead Church after the Kelvinside church became Glasgow Bible College.
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