page_title: Glasgow Green
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Glasgow Green / History
caption_attribution_description: Police officers on horseback in front of McLennan Arch at sunset. Glasgow Green, Glasgow, Scotland.
context_page_description: Glasgow Green is a park in the east end of Glasgow, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde. Established in the 15th century, it is the oldest park in the city.
context_section_description: In 1450, King James II granted the land to Bishop William Turnbull and the people of Glasgow. The Green was quite different from what it is today, being an uneven swampy area composed of a number of "greens" (divided by the Camlachie Burn and Molendinar Burn), including the High and Low Greens, the Calton Green and the Gallowgate Green.  The park served a number of purposes in its first few centuries; as a grazing area, an area to wash and bleach linen, an area to dry fishing nets and for activities like swimming.  The city's first steamie, called The Washhouse, opened on the banks of the Camlachie Burn in 1732.
  An area of land, known as Fleshers' Haugh was purchased in 1792 by the city from Patrick Bell of Cowcaddens, extending the park to the east.
  A number of projects have been proposed through its history that would have intruded upon the Green. The steamship owner Henry Bell proposed building a canal from the Broomielaw to Glasgow Green with a quay terminal at the Green; this proposal was publicly condemned and never implemented. Large coal deposits were discovered under the Green, after borings performed in 1821 and 1822. Although the City's Superintendent of Work recommended mining, the town council voted against it.  However, later in 1858, when the city was looking to offset the cost of purchasing land for parks in other areas of the city, the council approved a plan to mine the Green. However, before the plan could be implemented, it met with large scale public opposition and was dropped, only for it to be resurrected in 1869 and 1888, each time failing to result in any mining.
  From 25 December 1745 to 3 January 1746, Bonnie Prince Charlie's army camped in the privately owned Flesher's Haugh (which would become a part of Glasgow Green in 1792), while Charlie demanded that the city equip his army with fresh clothing and footwear.
  In 1765, James Watt, while wandering aimlessly across the Green, conceived the idea of the separate condenser for the steam engine.  This invention is credited by some with starting the Industrial Revolution.
caption: McLennan Arch, found at the north-west entrance to Glasgow Green.
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