Glasgow Cathedral

Possibly one of the finest buildings in Europe

Before we enter Glasgow Cathedral, Ranald MacInnes, Head of Heritage Management at Historic Scotland, asks us to stop and look around. Look across the square, imagine a time hundreds of years ago when this space was full of houses.

Today the Provand’s Lordship is the only survivor of a number of buildings which once surrounded the Cathedral. In 1400 there was quite a large community here, it would have been like a little town in itself.

Now prepare for a surprise as Ranald MacInnes leads us through the main entrance to the Cathedral: “I hope like me you are surprised by the scale,” he says, “The nave is enormous…taller than Westminster Abbey.”

There are other surprises, deep down below, the crypt or Laigh Kirk (Low Church) of the Cathedral featured in Sir Walter Scott’s novel Rob Roy.