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A Gothic sandstone building with arched windows stands behind a stone gateway marked "Cottiers", parasols and greenery filling the courtyard.
Glasgow

Cottiers

William Leiper's Dowanhill church of 1866, with Daniel Cottier's stained glass, now a theatre, bar, restaurant and beer garden at the top of Hyndland Street.

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Welcome

At the top of Hyndland Street, behind a stone wall and a garden, stands the former Dowanhill United Presbyterian Church, built in 1865 and 1866 as the first important commission of the young architect William Leiper, with a tapering steeple 195 feet high.

Visited and photographed by Simon Hird

Inside, Leiper's friend Daniel Cottier painted a bold scheme of decoration and filled the windows with stained glass, drawing on Greek, Gothic, Egyptian, Assyrian and Japanese art.

By the 1980s the congregation had gone, and in 1984 a charitable trust bought the building to save it as an arts centre. Today Cottiers is a theatre, bar and restaurant in one: a public bar, a large beer garden under the trees, a sixty-seat dining room serving modern versions of pub classics, and the old church itself as a theatre and concert hall, prized for its acoustics. It hosts plays, comedy, choirs, organ recitals and a Christmas pantomime, and it is a favourite place for weddings.

Before you go

The bar and restaurant open every day from 11am until midnight.

Shows, concerts and the pantomime are ticketed through Cottiers' own site.

Hours
Daily, 11:00 to 24:00.
Inside
Public bar, beer garden, dining room, theatre.
Where
93 to 95 Hyndland Street, G11 5PU.

Opening hours

Their website
Monday
11am–midnight
Tuesday
11am–midnight
Wednesday
11am–midnight
Thursday
11am–midnight
Friday
11am–midnight
Saturday
11am–midnight
Sunday
11am–midnight

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Did you know

A sign reading "Cottiers, garden, bar, dining" is mounted on a turreted stone building, folded parasols and picnic tables standing in the courtyard below a church spire.
Did you know

It was Leiper's first big commission.

The young William Leiper designed Dowanhill Church, built in 1865 and 1866, as his first important commission, with a tapering steeple 195 feet tall.

A sign reading "Cottiers, theatre, bar and restaurant" with a church spire illustration is mounted on a sandstone building.
Did you know

The glass is by Daniel Cottier.

Daniel Cottier, born in Anderston in 1838, painted the church's interior and made its stained glass, mixing Greek, Gothic, Egyptian, Assyrian and Japanese ideas.

A Gothic sandstone building with arched windows stands behind a stone gateway marked "Cottiers", parasols and greenery filling the courtyard.
Did you know

Cottier went on to New York.

Three years after finishing the church, Cottier set up Cottier & Co in London, and within four years he had a branch in New York and was supplying designs to Australia.

A black signpost with arrows reading "Restaurant", "Bar" and "Theatre" stands beside a sandstone wall, tenement buildings and picnic tables visible behind.
Did you know

A trust saved it in the 1980s.

A charitable trust was formed in 1983 to rescue the empty church, and bought it in 1984 to turn it into an arts centre with a bar and restaurant beside the theatre.

A sign reading "Cottiers, garden, bar, dining" is mounted on a stone wall, tenement buildings and bare trees behind.
Did you know

There is a panto every December.

The old church holds plays, comedy, choirs and organ recitals through the year, and a pantomime every December.

Ben Lerwill

From our guide to Glasgow

Is it a bar? Is it a church? Is it a theatre? Is it a restaurant? Improbably, it’s all of the above. Cottiers sits in what was once a parish church, but these days the multi-space venue is somewhere you can order a cocktail, watch a live show, or sit down to a serious feed. It’s named after 19th-century designer Daniel Cottier, whose stained glassworks still decorate the interior.

Read more
A sign reading "Cottiers, garden, bar, dining" is mounted on a turreted stone building, folded parasols and picnic tables standing in the courtyard below a church spire.
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Where it is

93 to 95 Hyndland Street, between Partick and Hyndland in the West End.

Close byIn the West End.
  1. Ziques under the old Hargan's Dairy sign, red chairs on the pavement.ZiquesA Spanish restaurant under the old Hargan's Dairy sign on Hyndland Street, serving breakfast, lunch, dinner and pintxos on Wednesdays.Under a mile 1 min by road
  2. The dining room and bar under warm lights.The ClarenceHyndland's modern bistro with the soul of a pub, on Hyndland Road, with dishes from the grill, oysters and nostalgic puddings.Under a mile 1 min by road
  3. Skateboard decks lined up along the shop wall.Clan SkatesA rider-owned skate shop on Hyndland Street, selling decks, completes, surfskates and wheels, with repairs, snowboards and clothing.Under a mile 1 min by road
  4. The Gothic towers of the University of Glasgow's main building under a grey sky.HillheadThe Victorian West End on the hill between Byres Road and Great Western Road.Under a mile 2 min by road
  5. Cresswell Lane in the West End, whitewashed buildings and hanging baskets along the setts, the De Courcy's Arcade sign on the right.Cresswell LaneA lane of setts behind Byres Road, of small shops, cafés and pubs.Under a mile 2 min by road
  6. A steep Partick street of red sandstone tenements running down towards the Clyde, cars parked along both sides.PartickThe old shipbuilding burgh where the Kelvin meets the Clyde, taken into Glasgow in 1912.Under a mile 2 min by road
Directions
Tables laid on the upper level at Number 16, with a blue banquette and driftwood across the windows.RestaurantsNumber 160.3 miles
Starry Starry Night's green timber front on cobbled Dowanside Lane, with a rail of vintage clothes under a striped awning and framed pictures on the wall.ShoppingStarry Starry Night0.3 miles
Turntables and a shelf of records under the coffee shelves.CafeRevival0.3 miles
Crisp cauliflower with herbs in a grey bowl.RestaurantsPartick Duck Club0.3 miles
Poached eggs, asparagus and beans on a grey plate beside a Bloody Mary.RestaurantsEpicures0.3 miles
Shelves of books from floor to ceiling in the shop.ShoppingHyndland Bookshop0.3 miles
Kochchi's yellow brick building on Ruthven Lane at night, with its balcony lit above and its masks painted on the walls.RestaurantsKochchi0.3 miles
The Bakery Hinba's front on Lauderdale Gardens in Hyndland, its big window full of sourdough loaves on the shelves.CafeThe Bakery Hinba0.3 miles
A cup of coffee with latte art held in two hands.Cafekaf coffee0.4 miles

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Stay nearby

Places to stay near the church, and when each is next free.

A grey sofa with cushions sits before a black and white kitchen, a framed print on the wall to the left.Moment Blythswood Street
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Glasgow
  • 2 miles from Cottiers
Check datesCrossbasket Castle, GlasgowCrossbasket Castle
  • To stay
  • In Glasgow
  • 9 miles from Cottiers
Check datesA grey corner sofa with cushions and a sheepskin throw sits before a shelf of books and a round mirror, a wood burning stove and log store to the right.Talli House
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Dunlop
  • 12 miles from Cottiers
Free 31 Oct – 2 NovPlaces to stayEvery stay in GlasgowAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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