Bothwell Street, Glasgow



The two Scottish Legal Life Assurance Society clocks on Bothwell Street are part of the architectural identity of the Scottish Legal Life Assurance Building, an eight‑storey 1920s landmark designed by Edward Grigg Wylie. They are not just decorative street furniture — they were conceived as symbolic bookends to the company’s headquarters and as public timepieces for Glasgow’s commercial district.

Each clock is a large, projecting, double‑sided bronze-and-enamel timepiece mounted high on the corners of the building.

They carry the full name “Scottish Legal Life Assurance Society” around the dial, with Roman numerals and gilded detailing.

Their placement at either end of the long Bothwell Street façade was deliberate: they mark the building’s scale and give it a civic presence.

They appear in multiple architectural surveys as defining features of the building’s street frontage.

Quoted from the 'theknowledgeexchangeblog.com' website

The building they belong to

Built 1927–1931, the headquarters reflected the Society’s growth from a small 1850s burial society into a major UK insurer.

The façade is clad in Northumberland stone, with carved panels representing Prudence, Thrift, and Courage.

The clocks were part of this symbolic programme — public markers of reliability and order, virtues insurers liked to project.

The building is now B‑listed and still known as the Scottish Legal Life Assurance Building.

Quoted from the 'trove.scot' website

Why there are two clocks

The building spans an unusually long street frontage (81–107 Bothwell Street).
Wylie’s design uses the clocks as visual anchors, giving symmetry and helping pedestrians orient themselves along a busy commercial street.

In the 1920s and 30s, projecting clocks were common on banks, insurance offices, and newspapers — they acted as public utilities before personal watches were universal.
These two are among the best‑preserved examples in Glasgow’s city centre.

What happened to the Society

The Scottish Legal Life Assurance Society was founded in 1852 and formally registered in 1856.

It remained headquartered in the Bothwell Street building until the 2000s.
In 2007, it was deregistered and transferred into Scottish Friendly Assurance Society.

The clocks, however, remain as architectural heritage — a reminder of the company’s century‑long presence.

Quoted from the 'Mutuals Public Register' website