Annfield House, built in c 1770 and photographed by Thomas Annan in 1870, just before its demolition. The mansion appears to have become a school building by 1870, as the wall bears the sign "Annfield House Academy." Some girls are sitting with a woman (their teacher?) in the foreground.
Annfield was located in the once rural suburbs of Dennistoun, located about a mile from the city centre between Duke Street and Gallowgate. The estate's western boundary, popularly known as "The Witch Loan", was paved, widened and renamed Bellgrove Street.
In 1666, the land belonged to James Bogle, merchant in Glasgow and it remained with that family for more than 100 years. In 1750 it was acquired by Robert Tennent, who opened Glasgow's leading hotel, the Saracen's Head, in 1754. Tennent sold the estate to another Tennent, a tobacco merchant whose son built the house shown in the photograph. He named it "Annfield" for his wife, whose maiden name was Ann Park.
Annfield was sold to James Sword Snr in 1791. He built wings to the house and a large addition at the rear, before his death in 1852. The merchant John Reid acquired the property and added neighbouring land to the estate, and after Reid's death it was acquired by Alexander Dennistoun of Golfhill, for whom Dennistoun is named. The house was demolished in 1870 and tenements built on the estate. The names Sword Street, Reidvale Street, Annbank Street and Annbank Place are reminders of the house and its history.
Reference: Sp Coll Dougan Add. 73
Glasgow University Library, Special Collections
Keywords:
Annfield House, Annfield House Academy, country houses, girls, mansions, schools
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