University of Glasgow

The University of Glasgow's main campus at Gilmorehill in the West End is dominated by the Gothic Revival tower of the Gilbert Scott Building, visible from much of the city and modelled on the aesthetic of medieval Oxford and Cambridge. The building, designed by George Gilbert Scott and completed in 1870, replaced an earlier university in the city centre and moved the institution to its present prominent hill.

The campus is open to visitors; walk through the main quadrangles, through the cloisters, and up to the viewing platform of the tower if access permits. The grounds also contain the Hunterian Museum, the Mackintosh House, and a café. The university's reputation in medicine, engineering, and the natural sciences is historic — it was the training ground for many of the scientists who defined the industrial revolution.

things to do sight architecture west end
A story
The University of Glasgow was founded in 1451, making it the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world (after Oxford, Cambridge, and St Andrews). Its alumni include Adam Smith, who developed his theory of free markets here; James Watt, who made his crucial improvements to the steam engine in his workshop on campus; and Joseph Lister, who first demonstrated antiseptic surgery using carbolic acid in the university's wards. The campus is a monument to Victorian confidence built on medieval foundations.