Cathedral Square, Glasgow

Cathedral Square is a public square in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Cathedral Square and precinct is situated adjacent to Glasgow Cathedral on High Street/Castle Street at John Knox Street. Nearby are many famous Glasgow landmarks such as Provand's Lordship, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, the Necropolis, the ceremonial Barony Hall of Strathclyde University, and the Glasgow Evangelical Church at the Square. It is one of six public squares and precincts in the city centre. Prior to the 1870s the post-medieval clutter of congested dwellings and workshops, on the remaining debris of the long-gone Bishop's Castle, where Castle Street is today, hampered access to the Infirmary, with its small Infirmary Square, and Cathedral. The new City Improvement Trust, under architect and city superintendent John Carrick, started to clear the hovels near Glasgow Cross and erect new tenements up the High Street and Castle Street. A new road, John Knox Street, was opened, curving its way past the Necropolis entrances and down to Duke Street, close to Wellpark Brewery at the Drygate. The street covered over the Molendinar Burn. Cathedral Square Gardens opened in 1879 was formed by Carrick and landscaped by Duncan McMillan. In 1890 a decorative fountain, the Steven Fountain, was placed in the centre, the same year as the Doulton Fountain in Glasgow Green. As well as being a restful place the square has been used for political gatherings.