Bridgeton, Glasgow

Bridgeton (often pronounced "Brig"-ton rather than Bridge-ton) is a district to the south-east of Glasgow city centre. It is bounded by Glasgow Green to the west, Dalmarnock to the east and south and Calton to the north-west at Abercrombie Street/ London Road. It used to be bounded by a village named Mile-End to the north, however this district seems to have vanished over the years, resulting in Bridgeton's boundary moving north to Crownpoint Road. It started as a small weaving village in 1705, when the third John Walkinshaw marked out a portion of his Goosefauld estate for rent. However not much interest was shown until 1775 when Rutherglen Bridge was constructed across the River Clyde and the area became known as "Bridge Town".

A mainly Protestant neighbourhood, the integration of Irish Catholics into the surrounding areas in the early twentieth century provided the background to the well-known Scottish Protestant song, the Billy Boys, being an ode to the infamous 1920s/30s Glasgow Razor-Gang leader Billy Fullerton.

Bridgeton's most notable feature is the "Brigton Umbrella", a victorian cast iron structure covering the centre of Bridgeton Cross. Bridgeton also has one of Glasgow's original Carnegie libraries, deftly designed by the Invernessian architect, James Robert Rhind.