St Aidan's Special School on Greenhead Street in Bridgeton, early 1970s.
This mansion was built by the Glasgow cotton merchant Dugald McPhail in 1846. It was converted to house the Buchanan's Institution, an industrial school for boys, in 1859 using £30,000 left by Glasgow merchant James Buchanan (1785-1857). The figure of the Young Scholar in Studious Pose, above the doorway in the centre of this photographed, was sculpted by William Brodie (1815-1881) in 1873.
When the Institution closed in 1924 the premises became home to Greenview Special School, which was later renamed Greenhead Special School. However, by the time this photograph was taken it was occupied by St Aidan's. In 2004 the building is being converted into apartments.
Reference: D-ED 5/29/7/147
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Libraries Information and Learning
Keywords:
Buchanan's Institution, cotton merchants, Greenhead Special School, Greenview Special School, industrial schools, learning difficulties, sculptors, sculpture, special needs, special schools, St Aidan's Special School, Young Scholar in Studious Pose