About St George's-Tron Church Glasgow               

About the church > A brief history of the church and the building

Our church building was built on its present site in Buchanan Street in 1808. Behind that significant date lies a story which stretches back to 1687 when a group of Presbyterians decided to build The Wynd Church.

The Back Wynd, from which the church took its name was, in fact, 'a long, narrow, filthy, airless lane, with every available inch of ground on each side occupied by buildings, many of them far gone but packed from cellar to garret with human life.'

As the city of Glasgow grew rapidly after the industrial revolution from a population of 8,000 to one of 75,000, the Town Council decided to build a new place of worship at the western extremity of the city. So, on the upper stretch of the then newly begun Buchanan Street, St. George's was built and became the place of worship for the congregation from the Wynd Church. Over a century later, in 1940, the Tron St. Anne Church united with St. George's forming the newly named congregation of St. George's-Tron. William Stark, who designed St. George's, was regarded by Sir Walter Scott as the great genius of Scottish architects. It was, apparently, William Stark's idea to have statues of the four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, where the obelisks now stand.

Over the centuries this building has stood, first at the western extremity and now at the very nerve centre of the city of Glasgow. It is still a testimony to the faith of our forefathers. In its long line of ministers it has had several internationally distinguished preachers. Today it remains as a centre of Christian worship and service at the heart of one of the great cities of the United Kingdom.