Clock tower, Wellpark brewery

Clock Tower, Wellpark Brewery

This clock tower dates from 1889 and stands within the Wellpark brewery complex in Glasgow's inner city, near the centre of the site. The tower is still in use as part of an active brewery that has occupied this location since at least 1556, making it Glasgow's oldest continuous commercial concern.

The tower is constructed primarily from brick with painted stone detailing. The east elevation adjoins a mid-20th century building to first floor level, while the south elevation adjoins later modern structures. The west elevation features a plain mortar-faced or rendered section of wall at ground floor with an adjacent entrance doorway. A round-arched window with moulded stone lintel and decorative timber-framed glazing appears on the main north elevation at ground floor level. There is a slight difference in the colour and material of the red brickwork immediately around and below this window, indicating possible partial rebuilding or an historic change to the window margins and sill.

Two sloping courses of stonework sit above a small moulded and inset cornice, supporting the tower's narrower upper storeys. At first floor level, the main north elevation displays a moulded stone roundel with overhanging projected plain cornice containing a clock face. An identical roundel on the west elevation contains a modern square blanking plate. The second floor level features a wooden louvered opening resting on a projected plain cornice on both north and west elevations, presumably housing a bell originally. A projected plain cornice adorns the wall head, supporting a slated tented roof with protruding round-arched openings, probably small doorways providing access to the wallhead, on each roof face.

The interior, visible only at ground floor level, contains no architectural features of note and displays modern metal pipework and gangways. Modern pipework, gangways, and a sheet metal-covered walkway within and through the tower are excluded from the listing.

The clock tower was built during the period when Hugh Tennent expanded the site with a new lager brewery, begun in 1889 and completed in 1891. The broader brewery site has experienced subsequent alterations, including significant redevelopment between 1965 and 1968 following the company's acquisition by Charrington United Breweries in 1963 and subsequent merger to form Tennent Caledonian Breweries. The site continues to operate as a working brewery with ongoing adaptation to modern requirements.