History - Websters Glasgow

Stories All Along Great Western Road

Stories Along Great Western Road aims to capture and celebrate the diverse, exciting and sometimes eccentric history of Great Western Road. Got married in the church? Worked in a shop on the road? Live, or lived in the area?

Well, this project is right up your street! We want to capture your memories in a fun and accessible way! Interested?

The project will use Instagram to record and share stories about Great Western Road. All you have to do is fill the form below and we do the rest! Please make sure that you have a photograph of the event, building or person you are discussing. Alternatively, please submit the following information via email to karen@webstersglasgow.com.

Alf Webster

Websters Theatre is named after the stained glass designer Alf Webster who produced some of his finest work in the building at the end of a short career cut short by his tragic death in World War 1 in 1915 at the age of 31.

Alf Webster’s talent established him as the successor to the great Glasgow stained glass designer Stephen Adam who in turn considered Daniel Cottier to be his master. Stephen Adam chose Alf Webster to be his business partner after breaking with his son Stephen Adam Junior.

Alf Webster had exceptional gifts as an artist and craftsman. It is hard to determine when Webster developed his own personal style but he soon showed himself to be the equal of Stephen Adam Senior.

According to Gordon Urquhart after the death of Adam in 1910 Alf Webster “outstripped the artistry of his late partner, namely, in the dynamism of his figure drawing, the expressive nature of his portraiture, the complexity and sheer power of his composition and his formidable technical prowess in regards to the new types of glass and methods of working”. A year after Webster’s death in 1915 former colleagues visited the windows in the building and declared the work as "a worthy memorial of his genius".

The great north and south transept windows each contain three lancets and a trefoil. The south transept lancets were taken down in 2008 and stored for conservation and re-erection. Access to the north window is currently restricted and it will not be possible to view these wonderful artefacts until major funds are sourced for repairs. The short term aim is to restore a panel from the south transept and place it on public display in an accessible part of the building.

The images in the gallery below are from these windows which can only be revealed to the public after the building and its windows have been restored.

Women War and the West End

In 2019 Women, War & The West End was run in partnership with Four Acres Charitable Trust, Friends of Glasgow West and The Scottish Graduate School of Arts & Humanities.

Women, War and the West End project celebrated the female business owners, nurses and medics, designers, and other strong willed women of Glasgow’s West End during World War One (WW1).

The Project was generously awarded £6,600 by the Heritage Lottery Funded project. It continues to engage, explore, learn and to further understand the roles in which women were instrumental during and after WW1. It was a collaborative project utilising academics, archivists, researchers and teachers.

Over the three years which the project ran, it encompassed a touring pop-up exhibition, talks, handling sessions and walking tours.

The exhibition toured over 10 venues including Hillhead Library, Arlington Baths, Maryhill Burgh Halls, Glasgow City Heritage Trust, Tenement House and The Scottish History Teachers conference.

One of the fundamental outcomes was the creation of a Teachers Pack with worksheets, teachers guide with tailored lesson plans and downloadable booklet. All are free to download and can be found below.

Women War & West End Booklet

Teacher' Sheet

Primary Resource Sheet

Secondary Resource Sheet

History of the theatre

Websters was built as Lansdowne Church in 1863. It is described by architectural historian Gordon Urquhart in his book about the building, ‘A Notable Ornament’, as an “Icon of Victorian Glasgow”. Its tall slender steeple, complemented by the steeple of St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, forms one of the most distinctive architectural landmark features of Glasgow.

The building, considered to be Glasgow’s ﬁnest example of Gothic Revival churches, is also notable for its refined carved stone detail and its exceptional stained glass. When the church was completed, it was ﬁtted out to the highest standard with a certain amount of good quality stained glass.

The large north and south transept windows were not adorned by distinctive stained glass at that time and it was not until 1913 that Alf Webster was commissioned for this purpose. The windows that he undertook have since been recognised as the culmination of the career of a creative genius, a career that was cruelly brought to an end when Webster died of wounds received at Ypres in 1915.

The Restoration of Websters

The future of the former Lansdowne Church depends on the success of its new role in the community as Websters Theatre, Bar and Playhouse. Only through the popularity of these new activities will it be able to sustain the level of repair and restoration that it deserves, given its Category ‘A status.

FACT THREE is a local charity founded by the trustees of Four Acres Charitable Trust to secure a future for the building. This is being managed in partnership with the Church of Scotland General Trustees to enable the building’s future to be secured by means of a gradual transition aimed at self-sufficiency.

FACT THREE has raised funds for the conversion of the property and repair of the side hall, now the bar (see below) and playhouse and the insertion of the theatre in a temporary form into the main sanctuary.

With support from the Pilgrim Trust, FACT THREE was able to save the south transept window from imminent collapse, illustrating some of the inherent restoration issues that will have to be addressed going forward.

In 2017 a piece of masonry detached itself from the steeple and The Church of Scotland General Trustees stepped in to make good the steeple repair.

Working together and with support from funders and friends, it is hoped that the full restoration of this beautiful building will be possible in future.

Plans for the future

Websters Theatre and Websters Playhouse provide arts performance and community facilities in the former Lansdowne Church located on Great Western Road where it traverses the River Kelvin in Glasgow.

The particular attractions of Websters lie in:

• the historic character of the theatre building and the sense of place and community it offers;
• accessibility (directly across from Kelvinbridge subway station and on principal bus routes);
• the visibility of the venue on the main thoroughfare;
• the fulfilment of a proven need for theatre accommodation in the city.

Websters Theatre and the associated Websters Playhouse are now two important and much valued city venues housed in one building.

Key improvements need to be implemented at the heart of the building complex because circulation and access are badly restricted. For non-ambulant visitors there is no wheelchair access to the upper level Websters Playhouse. A stained glass viewing gallery is planned in the future and wheelchair access will be required for this to happen. The two staircases to the north and south are not connected centrally and there is an opportunity to connect both sides of the building across an open area. A corridor is required at first floor level connected with a new vertical lift shaft enabling the Theatre and Playhouse audiences to gain access to the toilet accommodation without traversing the bar area downstairs. This corridor and lift would enclose an area above a roofed single storey section at the centre of the building.

The scheme is best understood by studying the before and after cutaway illustrations detailed overleaf. There is an opportunity to link circulation vertically and across the first floor level above an internal roof situated at the very core of the building. This improvement will provide multiple benefits and a funding campaign is underway to finance the scheme .