In an earlier post, I outlined my 6 favourite museums found in Glasgow, of which The Tenement House was one. It has everything you could want in a heritage home; interesting location, lots of original artifacts, and a touching story of the people connected to this site.
The Tenement House is located at 145 Buccleuch Street and is not the easiest to get to, nor to actually visit as the opening hours are all over the map. I had to make 3 different attempts on three different trips to Scotland in order to finally cross the threshold and step back in time to witness domestic Glaswegian life at the turn of the 20th century.
The home belonged to Miss Agnes Toward, who lived here from 1911 until being removed to a nursing home in 1965, first with her mother and male lodgers here and there and afterwards alone. Miss Toward was not well-off, occasionally needing social assistance to maintain a meagre lifestyle. She worked as a typist for a shipping company and didn't throw anything away or change a thing to her flat. On her death in 1975 in her pantry remained homemade jam from 1929 and she kept the gas-lighting until 1960!
You gain access to the museum by ringing the doorbell and being greeted by a museum docent. It's dark and the smell is reminiscent of visiting grandma's place. A fraction of the artifacts and ephemera are on display (a small exhibit can be found on the main floor, provided context) giving you a sense of stopping by Miss Toward's for a cuppa and she's just in the other room.
Part of tenement housing life were recess bed or box beds found off the parlours. They were eventually outlawed because they were seen as unsafe with the build-up of carbon dioxide and passing air-borne diseases between bed fellows. Quite honestly, I think these box beds look quite cozy, although I wouldn't want to share it with 3 others which often happened in these tenement houses especially in the working class areas.
The kitchen has another box bed which Miss Toward shared with her mother until Mrs. Toward's death in 1939. The kitchen box bed would be the preferred location as it would be the warmest room in the house. Making up the box bed, no matter which room it was found, was a challenge, so a stick with a hook was used to pull up the bedclothes.
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| photograph of Agnes Toward |
Miss Agnes Toward became ill and subsequently spent that last 10 years of her life in a nursing home, leaving her tenement dwelling untouched, as if she were to return; a stone hot water bottle still between the sheets in her bed, unwashed iron pans in the sink, and washing hanging on pulleys from the ceiling.
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| the bad making stick is visible on the bed |
Anna Davidson first saw the home when she came with her uncle after Miss Toward's death, she knew immediately she had to buy the flat to keep it for prosperity. In 1982, after keeping the property for several years, Miss Davidson approached the Scottish Trust about finding a private buyer. Instead the Trust purchased it and added it to the list of historic and cultural locations to its listing.
This museum is a treasure to any armchair social historian and in my opinion well worth a visit.
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