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20 May 2020

A guide to exploring Glasgow tenements

Written by Ana Sanchez, Visitor Services Supervisor, Tenement House
The common entrance to a red sandstone tenement block, with steps leading up to the front door.
The Tenement House, Glasgow – the former home of Miss Agnes Toward, who lived there from 1911–65
Tenement flats have provided homes in Glasgow since the 1800s. We’ve never had so much time to examine our interiors, so we’ve created a handy guide to help you get to know the history of some of the features in your tenement flat – from ceiling cornices to borrow windows and even hidden beds.
An old-fashioned kitchen with a black range and able in front of it with cooking equipment on it. A bed recess, with curtains to screen it is at the side of the room. The corner of a room with elaborate cornicing at the top of the wall. Looking up towards a decorative ceiling rose, with a two-armed light suspended from it. A four-paned window above a front door of a tenement flat. Fireplace with an imitation open fire. The fireplace is surrounded by green tiles and two ceramic wally dogs sit in the foreground. A group of decorated tiles. A box bed in a small cupboard.

The Tenement House is the former home of shorthand typist Miss Agnes Toward, who lived there from 1911–65. Miss Toward collected many household items and visitors get the chance to take a trip back in time to see what tenement life was like in the early 20th century.

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