May 15 2022
The Rutherglen St Eloi to appear for Landemer Day 2022
Glasgow Life has agreed to lend the copy of the Rutherglen St Eloi statue, made for the People’s Palace displays in 1975.
The piece has an important story to tell, not just for Rutherglen, but for the wholesale cultural destruction which took place of all catholic images at the time of the Scottish Reformation of 1560. The first two of the Ten Commandments, ‘Thou shalt have no other gods before Me’ and ‘Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image..’ led to the wholesale smashing of statues and obliteration of devotional paintings in Scotland by the religious reformers. St Eloi, hidden beneath the floor of Rutherglen Parish Church, is a rare survivor. His story is told on the following pages.
When discovered in 1794, the statue was brightly painted as shown in the drawing above.
Photographs by Springburn photographer Willie Graham (1845-1914) taken in 1902 show the paint and gilding on the statue intact, after which it was scrubbed to the bare sandstone. It is remarkable that a pre-Reformation religious statue survived with its colour intact for 350 years in Scotland and the piece is unique in this respect.
Photographs courtesy of the Mitchell Library, Glasgow.
The copy fibreglass statue was exhibited without colour from 1975. In 1989, a tracing was made in preparation for the Early Glasgow Gallery re-display.
The copy statue was then painted in the colours in which it was discovered and shown in context as a flat-backed altar statue, using materials from other recently-demolished churches in Glasgow:
The original statue is now in the Hamilton Museum collection, following local government reorganisation in 1996. It is not currently on display.
More can be read about Rutherglen Old Parish Church here: https://rutherglenoldparish.org/historical-background-to-the-site-of-rutherglen-old-parish-church/
For the rarity of the St Eloi statue, see Lost Interiors: the Furnishings of Scottish Churches in the Later Middle Ages by David McRoberts (1912-1978) published by the Scottish Catholic Historical Association, 2013, p128
May 15 2022
Landemer Day 11th June 2022
Landemer Day 11th June Main St Rutherglen Gala Day Starts about 11 am
There will be fundraising stalls, street entertainment and live music as well as kiddies rides, bouncy castles and hopefully the climbing wall to add to the attractions of the day.
Raffle prizes
Q: Where was the only source of bananas in Glasgow during WW2?
A: The Winter Gardens on Glasgow Green.
The Rutherglen St Eloi to appear for Landemer Day 2022
Glasgow Life has agreed to lend the copy of the Rutherglen St Eloi statue, made for the People’s Palace displays in 1975. The piece has an important story to tell, not just for Rutherglen, but for the wholesale cultural destruction which took place of all catholic images at the time of the Scottish Reformation of 1560. The first two of the Ten Commandments, ‘Thou shalt have no other gods before Me’ and ‘Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image..’ led to the wholesale smashing of statues and obliteration of devotional paintings in Scotland by the religious reformers. St Eloi, hidden beneath the floor of Rutherglen Parish Church, is a rare survivor. More information on his story is told in our news page.
St Eloi
Apr 12 2022
Election Hustings – What Future for the People’s Palace and the Winter Gardens
Thursday 14th April at 7:00pm. Calton Heritage & Learning Centre, 423 London Road G40 1AG
Your chance to hear what the candidates have to say and to ask questions about the future of our local and internationally famous Palace and Winter Gardens.
Apr 05 2022
Easter Sunday – Eggstravanza
Children’s Easter Event – Free Event
Join us on Easter Sunday 17th April 12:30pm until 3:00pm at the Clyde View Bay Area next to the Blue Bridge on Glasgow Green
Face Painting/ Rickshaw Rides/Goodie bags
All welcome
Mar 21 2022
Colonel Mustard & the Dijon 5 St Lukes Saturday 23th April
Thanks to Colonel Mustard and the Dijon 5 for playing at our People’s Palace Birthday celebration in January. They fair livened up the event. They have recorded a great song “The Palace” as a tribute to the People’s Palace and you can hear it if you go along to their gig as part of the Spring Bonanza being held at St L
ukes
Below is the link to the song “The People’s Palace
PEOPLES PALACE 21-02-22.wav (dropbox.com)
Mar 21 2022
Millions for the Burrell what about the Winter Gardens! Protest 29th March outside the Burrell Museum
Protest on Tuesday 29th March at 11:00am outside the Burrell Collection. Pollock Park. We will be joining with Glasgow Against Closure and other community groups to protest at the eyewatering £69million that the City Council and Glasgow Life has spent refurbishing the Burrell Museum while other venues like the People’s Palace & Winter Gardens (and other City venues) does not have an investment plan for its future.
We will be making our views known on the morning of the re-opening of the Burrell please come and join us.
Devastation of the Winter Gardens
Feb 28 2022
People’s Palace Re-opens (partially) Winter Gardens remain closed
On the 23rd February the People’s Palace partially re-opened. We were there to see it open and to welcome visitors. It was heartening to see a primary school party, the City Tour bus and families on mid-term holiday as some of the many visitors to the Palace that morning.
The People’s Palace is not fully re-opened and we have been told that repair work to the top floor has still to be completed.
Sadly the Winter Gardens remains closed with a plan for its refurbishment still to be identified by the City Council & Glasgow Life. This is totally unacceptable and our campaign continues until the People’s Palace is fully re-opened and the Winter Gardens restored.
We ask everyone to:
- Write to your local councillors and MSP asking them what they are doing to support the People’s Palace fully re-open and restoring the Winter Gardens.
- Join our organisation and support our campaign
- Sign our on-line petition
Petition · Save the People’s Palace and Winter Gardens for the City of Glasgow · Change.org
- follow us on facebook
