35 Amazing Photos of the Old Country Houses of the Old Glasgow Gentry in 1878

Step back in time to the year 1878, when the outskirts of Glasgow were still dotted with the grand country estates of the city’s wealthy merchant class — the Old Glasgow Gentry. These stately homes, set amid sweeping lawns, walled gardens, and ancient trees, stood as symbols of prosperity, taste, and architectural ambition in the 18th and 19th centuries.

These amazing photos, captured by Scottish photographer Thomas Annan (1829–1887), offer a rare visual archive of these once-celebrated houses — many now vanished, repurposed, or hidden beneath modern developments.

Tollcross, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Aikenhead, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Auldhouse, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Bardowie, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Barlanark, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Cadder, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Carbeth Guthrie, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Castlemilk, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Cathkin, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Cessnock, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Clober, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Cochna, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Cowlairs, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Craighead, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Craigmaddie, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Craigpark, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Daldowie, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Gallowflat, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Garscadden, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Garscube, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Gilmorehill, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Golfhill, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Greenbank, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Haggs Castle, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Househill, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Ibroxhill, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Kilmardinny, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Mains, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Milheugh, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Possil, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Scotstoun, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Westburn, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Westthorn, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Whitehill, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878

Yorkhill, Glasgow, Scotland, 1878