The Ramshorn

The Ramshorn was originally built as St David’s Parish Church in 1826, replacing a church that had stood on the site since 1720. Now an A-listed building, it was designed by English architect Thomas Rickman in the Gothic Revival style.

Known popularly as the Ramshorn Kirk, the church was in a wealthy and sought after area of Glasgow at the time. As such you will find many prominent Glaswegians buried in the surrounding graveyard, including industrialist David Dale, and tobacco merchants Andrew Buchanan and John Glassford.

The exterior of the building features a plaque to Sir John A MacDonald, the first prime minster of Canada, who was born in the parish. You will also find plaques to Professor John Anderson, natural philosopher and founder of the institution that would become the University of Strathclyde, and his grandfather John Anderson, who was minister of the Ramshorn.

The University of Strathclyde bought the church in 1983 and it operated as a theatre and performance space from 1992 to 2011. From August 2019 we have been proud to call it home to Scotland’s National Centre for Languages and the Confucius Institute for Scotland’s Schools. Find out more about The Ramshorn on Wikipedia.