University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel

Located in the western section of the Gilbert Scott Building in the Gilmorehill district of W Glasgow, the University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel was built to commemorate members of the University who were killed during the First World War. Constructed in 1923-27 to designs by Sir John James Burnet (1857 - 1938) which were sympathetic to the Gothic style of the building which surrounds it, the chapel filled a gap in the western courtyard that had once been the site of Gilmorehill House. This was demolished in 1872, the Gilbert Scott building having been completed two years previously. The chapel is tall and narrow, with a core of reinforced concrete, successfully hidden by stone inside and out. Its design owes much to Burnet's Barony Church (1890). The interior comprises a single space, with richly-carved choir stalls separating the congregation from the altar.

The chapel was dedicated on 4th October 1929 with a service led by The Right Reverend John White Principal and Vice-Chancellor Donald MacAlister, unveiled the memorial tablets behind the altar at the east end of the Chapel recording the names of the 755 University men and women who fell in the First World War. In the years following the Second World War, tablets were added on the walls immediately to the east of the stalls, with the names of the 432 members of the University who were then known to have given their lives in that conflict.

The figures of Scottish saints around the pulpit are by Walter Gilbert and the remaining wooden carvings were designed by Archibald Dawson. A sequence of ten fine stained glass windows date from 1931 and were the work of Douglas Strachan, depicting human life as a spiritual enterprise. The west window is also by Strachan and shows the Scottish Saints; Andrew, Columba, Kentigern and Ninian.

The chapel is now A-listed and daily services are held during the university terms.


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