120th Birthday of Queen’s Cross

We celebrate another landmark in the life of Queen’s Cross. On Tuesday 10 September we mark the 120th anniversary of this beautiful Mackintosh building.  

In the late 19th century Glasgow was experiencing extraordinary growth. A wave of new church buildings were undertaken to meet the needs of an expanding population. In 1896 the Free St. Matthew’s Church, Glasgow commissioned a new Church and Hall from the architectural practice of Honeyman & Keppie. John Honeyman allocated the job to his promising young trainee architect, Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Queen’s Cross, now Mackintosh Queen’s Cross was designed at the start of Mackintosh’s extraordinary creative period from 1895-1906, in the same year as the first phase of Mackintosh’s masterpiece, The Glasgow School of Art (1897–9), the Arts and Crafts Exhibition in London and his first work for Miss Cranston. It reveals a sophisticated handling of form, ornament and symbolic meaning, even at this relatively early date. Dr Thomas Howarth, Mackintosh’s first biographer, wrote of the church, ‘the building possesses a warmth and charm conspicuously absent from many churches of the period due largely to the traditional simplicity of Mackintosh’s architectural forms and to the mysticism and spirituality of his decorative motives.’ The architecture of the church has remained largely unaltered to the present day. Over the next couple of months we are delighted to celebrate this special occasion with a number of special events, including a Gala Day on Saturday 7 September between 12 till 4.

On the 10 September we celebrate the 120th anniversary of Mackintosh Queen’s Cross. All members are welcome to celebrate this special occasion. During the afternoon there will be music, talks and some interesting displays on the history of Queen’s Cross. You will also have the opportunity to contribute to our memories box.  The programme runs from 2-5pm. So please pop in and meet fellow members and enjoy the refreshments.