Description

1860s. 2-storey terrace (3 storeys to the rear) of twelve 2-bay houses which are symmetrically arranged and have a slightly taller and shallow advanced centre section. The principal elevation is of polished ashlar, with some houses painted or stone cleaned. No 4 is dry dashed and painted. The rear (south) elevation has rubble sandstone, some houses have been rendered. There are single window entrance bays and tripartite windows in the 2^nd bays. There are consoled balconies over doors, their original ironwork is retained except at Nos 3, 7, 8 and 9. Plate glass sashes are mostly retained some with stained glass to upper panes. There is a consoled eaves cornice, and stacks at the roof ridge and set near the eaves. Some roofs (all slated originally) are now tiled. The houses retain small front gardens (to the north), with low boundary coping, square gatepiers with pyramidal tops. The back gardens (to the south) are on lower ground with high stepped ashlar boundary walling to the far east and west of the terrace boundary, and tall coped brick wall facing the rear laneway.

Statement of Interest

Architectural Interest

Design

A mid 19^th century terrace of Italian Renaissance design inspiration. It has had some level of later alteration but is overall a notable surviving example of its building type. The terrace retains many of its distinguishing architectural features and high material quality, such as polished ashlar, consoled and bracketed architectural details, and surviving metal balconettes. The terrace was conceived as a complete design to its long principal street elevation and has a break-fronted section to the middle which enhances the symmetry of the terrace. Many of the houses within this terrace are still complete as single units, however even if subdivided, they still read as complete dwellings. The inclusion of private front gardens with stone boundary treatments adds to the architectural interest of the buildings. Information gathered from recent sales particulars (2025) shows that there are a number of original surviving design features to the interiors including substantial chimneypieces and detailed cornicing to the principal rooms.

Setting

1-12 Seton Terrace forms part of a group of historic buildings of similar date and type. It is located in an attractive suburban setting and is part of the early establishment of a planned suburb in this part of Glasgow. The layout of the front and back gardens and the greenspace directly facing the houses, have largely been retained as originally designed and their arrangement is typical of such developments, further contributing to the special architectural interest of this terrace. This terrace makes an important contribution to the streetscape and to the wider area which is characterised by buildings of comparable material quality and period style.

Alexander Dennistoun, the speculative landowner who developed this area, engaged the eminent Glasgow James Salmon Sr to create a masterplan in 1854-7, featuring salubrious houses and terraces in a semi-rural, planned suburb. While this grand masterplan never materialised fully, what was built, in more modest form from the 1860s onwards, was inspired directly by Salmon's earlier plans, and still included his designs for Gothic and Italian Renaissance architectural style housing, gated front gardens and green spaces laid out in squares.

Historic Interest

Age and rarity

Dating to the mid 19^th century, it is a relatively early surviving example of its building type within the context of a suburban development. Terraced houses are a prolific building type in Scotland's larger towns and cities, however this example forms part of an early planned suburban development that was meant to offer good quality, affordable middle class housing within a semi-rural environment.

Social historical interest

The planned suburb at Denniston, is a private development initiated through speculative plans, but which aspired to the ideals of pleasant and wholesome semi-rural living.

Supplementary information in the listed building record updated in 2025.

External Links

• Wikidata Q56634581

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
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  Warwickshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Derbyshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  The Shredded Chef: 120 Recipes for Building Muscle, Getting Lean, and Staying Healthy
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  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)