Govan Old Parish Church

One of Glasgow’s great unappreciated secrets, the collection of 31 carved stones from the 9^th-​11^th century housed inside Govan Old is second to none. From early carved tombstones to the Viking hogback stones and the spectacular Govan sarcophagus, it’s well worth a visit here and it’s one of the best free things to do in Glasgow if you’re into history and archaeology.
The Govan Sarcophagus is the only one of its kind carved from solid sandstone to be found in northern Britain. It has a fine horseman carving that is reputed to be Saint Constantine, who is said to have founded the church here; but researcher Hugh McArthur says that the ornate capital ‘A’ brand on the horse’s flank suggests that the figure is actually Arthur — discuss!
This is a very ancient site. There have been at least five churches on the site, the present one dating from Victorian times; but it’s known that it was a sacred site to the early Britons of Strathclyde and possibly much earlier. Govan Parish was very extensive and actually extended well north of the river into Partick and Dowanhill, and it was largely an accident of chance that the city became Glasgow and not the other way round. It used to be possible to ford the Clyde at low tide at this point at the mouth of the Kelvin, so there was much traffic between the north and south parts of the parish. For many years there was also a vehicle ferry operating from Water Row, and at the moment during the summer months there is a free passenger ferry operating in the afternoons enabling easy access from the Riverside Museum to the Govan Stones.
To the east of the church, in what is now Water Row car park, there used to be a large stepped mound called Doomster Hill that was used as a moot hill. This must have been pretty impressive, but nothing now remains as it was completely demolished and replaced by a shipbuilding shed as this famous Clyde industry boomed in the 19^th century.
The church has just unveiled a fine lace screen in the west aisle, commissioned to commemorate the area’s historical weaving connections and decorated with spindles, whorls, Celtic knots, Viking runes and Druidic Ogham script. It’s a fine piece of work and what’s more — it’s free to visit! What are you waiting for?