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Lady Matilda Maxwell
Lady Matilda Maxwell

High Street, 1955
High Street, 1955

St Mungo's Chapel

Mitchell Library, Glasgow Collection

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St Mungo's Chapel

A plan of Little St Mungo's Chapel which was built in October 1500. The chapel was erected just beyond the Gallowgate Port (or gate) near "the Trees of St Kentigern", a small wood. It was surrounded by a cemetery and there was a well in the grounds (referred to in 1558 as "Sanct Mungo's Spoutis") that was reputed to contain water of a very high purity.

After the Reformation, the chapel was repaired by the Town Council as a hospital for invalids and may have been used for the confinement of lepers. In 1754 the chapel and its graveyard were sold to Robert Tennent, who proposed to build a respectable inn there. The Saracen's Head became one of Glasgow's most famous inns and taverns before it was converted to houses. When the building was demolished in 1904 human remains from the graveyard were discovered in the old cellars.

Reference: Mitchell Library, GC 941.435 GOR

Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Libraries Information and Learning

Keywords:
chapels, city gates, Gallowgate Port, graveyards, inns, leper hospitals, leprousy, Little St Mungo's Chapel, maps, plans, pubs, Sanct Mungo's Spoutis, St Mungo's Well, taverns, Trees of St Kentigern, wells, woods



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