To celebrate the bicentenary of Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson‘s birth a programme of events and activities have been planned to take place throughout 2017. We will continue to update this calendar throughout the year with more and more exciting events as these are confirmed so please keep checking back. You can also sign up to our e-mail newsletter here to stay up to date.

Apr
14
Fri
Holmwood Easter Egg Hunt @ Holmwood House
Apr 14 @ 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Holmwood Easter Egg Hunt @ Holmwood House

The Easter bunny has hidden clues at lots of National Trust for Scotland places!

Collect your hunt map, follow the clues, solve the puzzle and claim your chocolatey reward! Each hunt is completely different – the perfect excuse to hop along to more than one!

£2 per hunt (Usual entry prices apply if you’d like to visit the house)

Apr
15
Sat
Balfron Local History Walk @ Balfron Library
Apr 15 @ 11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Balfron Local History Walk @ Balfron Library

Organised by the Balfron Heritage Group.

Meet at the Balfron Library.

Holmwood Easter Egg Hunt @ Holmwood House
Apr 15 @ 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Holmwood Easter Egg Hunt @ Holmwood House

The Easter bunny has hidden clues at lots of National Trust for Scotland places!

Collect your hunt map, follow the clues, solve the puzzle and claim your chocolatey reward! Each hunt is completely different – the perfect excuse to hop along to more than one!

£2 per hunt (Usual entry prices apply if you’d like to visit the house)

Balfron Local History Walk @ Balfron Library
Apr 15 @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Balfron Local History Walk @ Balfron Library

Organised by the Balfron Heritage Group.

Meet at the Balfron Library.

Apr
16
Sun
Holmwood Easter Egg Hunt @ Holmwood House
Apr 16 @ 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Holmwood Easter Egg Hunt @ Holmwood House

The Easter bunny has hidden clues at lots of National Trust for Scotland places!

Collect your hunt map, follow the clues, solve the puzzle and claim your chocolatey reward! Each hunt is completely different – the perfect excuse to hop along to more than one!

£2 per hunt (Usual entry prices apply if you’d like to visit the house)

Apr
17
Mon
Holmwood Easter Egg Hunt @ Holmwood House
Apr 17 @ 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Holmwood Easter Egg Hunt @ Holmwood House

The Easter bunny has hidden clues at lots of National Trust for Scotland places!

Collect your hunt map, follow the clues, solve the puzzle and claim your chocolatey reward! Each hunt is completely different – the perfect excuse to hop along to more than one!

£2 per hunt (Usual entry prices apply if you’d like to visit the house)

Apr
20
Thu
Balfron Local History Walk @ Balfron Library
Apr 20 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Balfron Local History Walk @ Balfron Library

Organised by the Balfron Heritage Group.

Meet at the Balfron Library.

Jul
25
Tue
Merchant City Festival 2017: Top of the Thomson’s @ The Recital Room, Glasgow City Halls
Jul 25 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Merchant City Festival 2017: Top of the Thomson's @ The Recital Room, Glasgow City Halls

In the bicentenary of Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson’s birth, join Glasgow City Heritage Trust & The Alexander Thomson Society to ‘talk Thomson’ and decide: what is Thomson’s best building?

One of the Glasgow’s greatest architects, Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson is praised for his originality, use of modern technologies and his personal Graeco-Egyptian style. Following on from the heated debates of our Battle of the Architects series and in the bicentenary of his birth, join Glasgow City Heritage Trust & The Alexander Thomson Society to ‘talk Thomson’ and decide once and for all: which of Thomson’s iconic works is really top of the pile? Can our speakers make a convincing argument for their favourite Thomson masterpiece in this architectural face-off?

ATS members receive free entry to this event, contact info@alexanderthomsonsociety.co.uk to receive your unique password.

Sep
21
Thu
Glasgow Art Club: Fiona Sinclair – Lost Thomson @ Glasgow Art Club
Sep 21 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Glasgow Art Club: Fiona Sinclair - Lost Thomson @ Glasgow Art Club

Lost Thomson: Glasgow’s Loss
Thursday 21 September, 6pm
£10 (£5 discounted rate for members of the Glasgow Art Club)

In his bicentenary year, Fiona Sinclair gives an insightful talk on the lost works of the eminent architect Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson.

Please arrive at 6pm for a welcome drink, with the talk commencing at 6.30pm sharp.

Alexander Thomson was born in Balfron, Stirlingshire, on 9th April 1817 and died in Glasgow on 22nd March 1875 at his home at no.1 Moray Place in the terrace he had himself designed.

Thomson was extremely successful with a large clientele for medium-sized villas and terraces of cottages in Pollokshields, Shawlands, Crossmyloof, Cathcart, Langbank, Bothwell and Cove and Kilcreggan.

In his day, Thomson was conspicuous for his originality in producing a distinctive modern architecture from the lessons and precedents provided by the Greeks, Egyptians and other ancient civilisations, and made extensive use of new materials like cast-iron and plate-glass.

His personal Graeco-Egyptian style was almost entirely confined to Glasgow, where he designed commercial warehouses, blocks of tenements, terraces of houses, suburban villas and three extraordinary Presbyterian churches, of which the St. Vincent Street Church is the only intact survivor.

Other important works still standing include Moray Place, Great Western Terrace, Egyptian Halls in Union Street, Grecian Buildings in Sauchiehall Street, and his villa, Holmwood, at Cathcart, which is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland.

Whilst a wealth of Thomson buildings remain there are also a significant number that have been tragically lost over the years. The reasons for these losses are several, from Thomson demolishing his own buildings – as with the Scottish Exhibition Rooms on Bath Street, through to bombing during World War II – as with Queens Park Church. The most common reason for the loss of these buildings however was redevelopment during the 1960s and 70s.

The losses were primarily tenemental properties spread throughout the city, however also included were two hotels, a printing works, a sculpture yard and two churches; Chalmers Memorial Free Church in the Gorbals and Queen’s Park Church.

Following his death in 1875, a marble bust of the architect by John Mossman was presented to the Corporation (now in the Kelvingrove Art Gallery) and the Alexander Thomson Travelling Studentship established, of which the second winner was Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

A map of the ‘lost’ buildings can be viewed here

Fiona Sinclair, is a Glasgow based architect and author with a passion for historic buildings.

If you wish to find out more about becoming a member of The Glasgow Art Club please visit our website

Oct
25
Wed
ATS Talks: Scott Abercrombie – Texts and Thomson @ The Mitchell Library
Oct 25 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
ATS Talks: Scott Abercrombie - Texts and Thomson @ The Mitchell Library

The Alexander Thomson Society are pleased to present a rare books event in association with The Mitchell Library.

Glasgow architect and director of the Society, Scott Abercrombie, will deliver a talk giving a historical context to the importance of these books in relation to Thomson’s work and other contemporary Glaswegian architects. He will discuss built examples where the influence of these texts can be found in the architecture of Glasgow or where the ideas that they present have influenced the Thomson’s design philosophy.

Following this introduction a number of rare editions of these books will be made available for your perusal by The Mitchell Library. Due to the sensitivity of some of these texts the we have had to limit the number of tickets for this event, so book early to avoid disappointment.