Police Office And Barracks, 78 Nicholson Street, Glasgow is a Grade B listed building in the Glasgow City local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 15 December 1970.

Police Office And Barracks, 78 Nicholson Street, Glasgow

WRENN ID
frozen-glass-sable
Grade
B
Local Planning Authority
Glasgow City
Constituency
Glasgow East MP: John Grady (Lab)
Country
Scotland
Date first listed
15 December 1970
OS grid reference
NS 589 644
Coordinates
55.85275, -4.25542
Source
Historic Environment Scotland listing

Also on this page: EPC · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Police Office and Barracks at 71 Oxford Street in Glasgow was designed by A B MacDonald in 1892 and completed in 1895. This two-storey building features a classical front with 13 bays, constructed from ashlar stone. The central block has five bays and is channelled on the ground floor, showcasing arched and voussoired windows, along with a central entrance that is topped by a representation of blindfolded Justice. Below the first-floor windows, there is a sculptured frieze, and sculptured panels can be found between the windows that front the courtroom, which has a high panelled ceiling. The centre wallhead panel displays the armorial motto "Semper Vigilo".

The lower wings consist of four bays each, with shallow advanced end bays. These end bays are channelled at the ground floor, featuring rusticated quoins above and a panel that depicts a sword and fasces. The Nicholson Street elevation presents a two-storey, three-bay end to the courtroom block, complete with an aedicule that has a balustrade and a dated shield. Adjoining this is a three-storey, 11-bay block where the ground floor is channelled, and the five central bays have keystones on the ground floor and lintels on the first floor.

On Oxford Lane, there are arched doorways at the end of the front block, and a brick cell block with seven bays. The building is topped with a slate roof, ashlar stacks, and features a pointed bell-tower.

Local climate

Police Office And Barracks, 78 Nicholson Street, Glasgow sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,290 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 94% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 83% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 56 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 95% of listed buildings. Of these, 32 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.2°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

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