The 1864 Bird's Eye View of Glasgow

Thirty four years before the invention of the airplane illustrator Thomas Sulman drew a bird's eye view map of Glasgow, depicting the city from a unique perspective somewhere high above the southern neighborhoods of the city. It is believed that Sulman probably used a hot air balloon to create this intricate map, which was originally published in the Illustrated London News on 26th March 1864.

Glasgow Heritage has now released an interactive version of Sulman's bird's eye view of 19th Century Glasgow. Gallus Glasgow allows you to explore Thomas Sulman’s intricate 1864 map in close detail by zooming in on any location in the city. This interactive version of the map includes a number of bonus layers which allow you to discover more about some of the prominent surviving and lost buildings shown on the map and other famous landmarks depicted in Sulman's bird's eye view of Glasgow.

You can learn more about the 19th Century city depicted in Thomas Sulman's map in a series of articles written by the University of Glasgow Library. In the 1864 Bird's Eye View of Glasgow you can discover more about the Glasgow of the 19th Century, including articles on the industry, railway stations and churches depicted on Sulman's map.