King's Park (, ) is a district in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated south of the River Clyde and borders the Glasgow areas of Croftfoot, Cathcart, Simshill, Mount Florida and Toryglen and the neighbourhood of Bankhead in the adjoining town of Rutherglen.

History and geography King's Park is a residential area first developed for housing around 1930 a short time after the territory, historically within the civil parish of Cathcart in Renfrewshire,Map of the Parish of Cathcart in the Historical County of Renfrew, Gazetteer for Scotland was brought into the city of Glasgow, and retains much of the same appearance in the 21st century. It includes a mixture of semi-detached houses and bungalows, flats (including cottage flats)Our Heritage, Mactaggart and Mickel and luxury detached villas and is considered an affluent suburb of Glasgow, with median house prices and income well above average. In 2014, it was rated one of the most attractive postcode areas to live in Scotland.

As of 2005, it had a population of 14,552 residents. The ethnic makeup was approximately 98% White, 0.8% Asian, 0.6% Oriental and 0.6% mixed race. In 2007, residents of the cottage flats in the area were told they would not be entitled to the substantial council tax refunds which had been awarded to householders in almost identical properties in neighbouring Croftfoot, as theirs was considered a more affluent part of the city and consequently the higher payment 'band' applied was correct.The £1m Council Tax blunder, Evening Times, 22 November 2007

The district was named after the medium-sized park of the same name (68 acres in size) which lies within its boundariesKing’s Park History, Glasgow City CouncilKing's Park, Gazetteer for Scotland and is also spotted with further green areas rather than entirely built upon. A scrapbook at the Mitchell Library entitled Old Glasgow Street Songs etc and dated to 1850 contains the song: The Dairy Maids Of Hundred-Acre Hill; this hill can be found as a green space in modern-day King's Park, located at Kingsacre Road offering views towards the tower blocks and tenements of Castlemilk from its south-facing slope. There is another green space on the north-facing side of the same incline at Ardmay Crescent which overlooks Scotland's national football stadium Hampden Park, the Toryglen district and the wider Glasgow urban area. Its name is recalled in a local public house, the 100 Acres, which technically is just outside the local authority boundary in Bankhead.

Public park

The "King's Park" after which the area is named features the landmark , nowadays converted to private apartments and Category A listed. Designed by the architect David Hamilton it was built in 1806 for the West Indies merchant and prominent Glasgow Tory politician, John Gordon.Aikenhead House, Gazetteer for ScotlandThe Glasgow housebuilder who gave city a park for free, Michael Gallagher, Glasgow Times, 28 June 2023 The estate, featuring a walled flower garden, stone sundial and centuries-old trees came into the ownership of the MacTaggart & Mickel housebuilders at the time of the district's construction as a residential suburb, and was donated by them for use as a public park in 1930.

The local 9-hole golf course (a sector of the public park but actually located in Croftfoot which was developed for housing in the same era) was notable for being dug into a hillside 20-35° steep in some places. Donated to the city by the Western Heritable Investment Company which managed the housing and established in 1934,King’s Park Golf Club, Glasgow, Golf's Missing Links it became derelict and was used as an area of common ground for dog walkers etc. In 2020, the local authority carried out a landscaping project to enhance its woodland aspects by planting more trees and adding formal footpaths to coincide with flood prevention work required in the areaCroftfoot Park SuDS Basin, MGSDPGolf courses in Glasgow could be reforested in bid to make city greener, The Scotsman, 9 September 2019City Deal Project to Reduce Flood Risk Creates Woodland Walkway, Glasgow City Council, 25 November 2020 (however, local residents noted with concern that a number of older trees of high aesthetic value were felled in the course of this work).King's Park residents hit out at Glasgow City Council for felling 20 trees, Glasgow Live, 2 September 2019

Both King's Park and the former golf course form parts of the 'Magnificent 11' varied-terrain walking route established in 2022 which also includes Linn Park, Cathkin Braes, Castlemilk Park and Fernbrae Meadows.Magnificent 11 Walk, Glasgow City Council The Magnificent 11, Glasgow Southside, Walk HighlandsI walked Glasgow’s Magnificent 11 and learned a few things, Stewart Paterson, Glasgow Times, 29 January 2024

Amenities

The local eponymous Church of Scotland parish Church (1930)Welcome, King's Park Church of Scotland, Glasgow and St Oswald's Episcopal church (1931)Home, St Oswald's, King's Park are both found in the east of the district on Castlemilk Road (there is also a Kings Park Baptist Church on Castlemilk Road, but this is the continuation of the same road in Croftfoot, half a mile to the south).Find Us, Kings Park Baptist Church Opposite the churches is a row of convenience stores, cafes and a post office, formerly a small public library (on the Rutherglen side of the local authority boundary so operated by South Lanarkshire Council) which closed in 2010,Flats plan for former library, Daily Record, 4 January 2012 and the site of the State Cinema, later a bingo venue, which was a prominent landmark in the area from the 1930s until its demolition in the early 21st century. Another imposing structure in the area which has survived is the Cathcart Old Parish Church dating from the late 1920sCathcart Old Parish Church, Scotland's Churches TrustOld Cathcart: Illustrated Guide , ScotCities (not to be confused with the ruin of its predecessor a short distance to the west at Manse Brae, including a graveyard dating back centuries)Cathcart Old Parish Church (Glasgow School of Art Archives), The Glasgow Story which stands out in its surroundings, a flat area mostly consisting of bungalows.Glasgow, Carmunnock Road, Cathcart Old Parish Church And Hall, Canmore

Owing to the occasional but significant influxes of patrons whose primary destination is Hampden Park, there are two large public houses in its proximity within King's Park's boundaries, The Montford and The Beechwood, both of which adjoin another cluster of shops, with a children's play park and the Kingswood Bowling Club (founded 1929)Welcome, Kingswood Bowling Club also next to the Beechwood. Another local club, Mount Florida, is a short distance further west, although falling membership and great interest from developers in the site made its future extremely doubtful by 2019. As of 2020 the club has closed, the future plans for the land are unknown as of yet.Fresh hope for community in efforts to save southside bowling club, Glasgow Live, 27 October 2019Row over Mount Florida Bowling Club rumbles on, Glasgow South and Eastwood Extra, 31 December 2019Flats planned at Glasgow bowling club site, Scottish Construction Now, 7 January 2020

Education King's Park Secondary School in nearby Simshill, established in 1962, is the local non-denominational comprehensive.Our Community: Primary Schools, King's Park Secondary School The area is also served by Holyrood Secondary School in Crosshill a short distance to the north - a Roman Catholic school serving the whole of south-east Glasgow, it is one of the largest secondary education institutes in Europe.

Primary schools in the area include King's Park (near the railway station, on the site of Meikle Aikenhead farm), St Fillan's (close to Cathcart Old Church) and St Mirins (Simshill, adjacent to its affiliated Catholic church and its function hall, Christ The King).Welcome, Parish of Christ The King Glasgow

Also located in King's Park, 32F Squadron are the first Scottish Squadron of the Air Training Corps who share some facilities with the Territorial Army base on the same site.

Transport The area is served by King's Park railway station on the Cathcart Circle Lines (its branch, two trains per hour), although parts are closer to on the same line which is also on a second branch towards and the south side circle itself so has five trains an hour. Several local buses pass along Aikenhead Road towards Glasgow city centre, with eastern parts served less frequently via Curtis Avenue. It is a ten- to twenty-minute bus or rail journey from Glasgow city centre.

References

External links

King's Park at Glasgow City Council King's Park at Gazetteer for Scotland Friends of King's Park - Local Interest Group King's Park - Origins & History