This photograph of the demolition of St John's Free Church in 1971 was taken from the Royal College Building of the University of Strathclyde, on the other side of George Street. The dome on the right is on the City Chambers, which was later extended to include the church site.
The majority of the congregation of St John's Parish Church left the Church of Scotland at the time of the Disruption of 1843. The new congregation commissioned architect J T Rochead to design one of the first church buildings to be opened by the Free Church of Scotland in Glasgow, which was completed in 1845. It was particularly noted for its richly-finialled Normandy Gothic spire.
The building ceased to be used as a church in 1923, when the congregation became part of St John's Renfield. During the Second World War it was used as a theatre for entertaining troops. The spire had been removed several years before the church's demolition in 1971, on safety grounds.
Reference: P7/1/5
Reproduced with the permission of Strathclyde University Archives
Keywords:
churches, City Chambers, demolition, Disruption, domes, finials, Free Church of Scotland, scaffolding, Second World War, spires, St John's Free Church, St John's Renfield Church, theatres
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