C O N T E X T 1 2 4 : M A Y 2 0 1 2 21 All images are © Crown Copyright. Elizabeth McCrone is head of listing and designed landscapes at Historic Scotland. DVWylie’s 1911 extension to the Botanic Gardens Garage in Glasgow ‘Bus Queue Shelter No 2’, manufactured by the Lion Foundry but has two storeys, with a ramp for cars to reach the first floor. The early history of this garage building is complex. The successive early additions to its fabric illustrate how quickly car ownership was taking off. By the early 1900s the site was owned by a Mrs Kennedy, who employed the Glasgow architect DVWyllie to work on a number of projects in the area, including the construction of the tenement adjacent to the garage from where access to the first floor of the garage is obtained. Plans dated 1906 which affected the area behind this neighbouring tenement are titled, ‘Extension to Motor Garage’.The faience street elevation appears (with an additional top storey which was not constructed) on plans by Wyllie dated May 1911 and described as ‘proposed additions to garage buildings’. Parking on the street was prohibited and undesirable in the early 1900s, and owners required somewhere to store their vehicle. Stables could be converted to garage use but purpose-built structures were still unusual. For those living in the city, and without a mews house which could be adapted, a public garage was a necessity.Those living in grand Glasgow tenements would particularly have required this service. Although there are a number of early listed motor houses in Scotland, these are all associated with private houses. The Glasgow Post Office Directory for 1908-09 had entries for only three motor garages, including the Botanic Gardens Garage. Purpose-built public parking garages which predate the 1920s are extremely rare both nationally and internationally. This example is listed at category A in recognition of its international importance. A 1960s gem of a bus shelter at Kilmun was manufactured by the Scottish company, Lion Foundry.This cast-iron shelter of simple classical design was known in the foundry catalogue as ‘Bus Queue Shelter No 2’. It was manufactured in sections and could be built to any length. The example at Kilmun was built around 1960 to serve new housing in the area. Although the buildings I have mentioned are somewhat modest, they help to tell a rich tale in Scotland’s transport history, and demonstrate how technology and artistic endeavour in architecture come together. We continually look forward to uncovering interesting and innovative buildings, and hope that our industrial heritage will go on to take pride of place on the world stage.The bid to include the Forth Bridge as Scotland’s next world heritage site will certainly ensure that it does. The Botanic Garage’s interior ramp, which gave cars access to the first floor
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