ll was granted in
1491-1492 by Pope Innocent VIII. in which he declared the see to be
metropolitan, and appointed the bishops of Dunkeld, Dunblane, Galloway,
and Argyll to be its suffragans.[70] Blacader was the first Archbishop
of Glasgow, and beautified his cathedral by building or adorning the
fine rood-screen which separates the nave from the choir[71] by founding
altarages and erecting two altars in front of the rood-screen, on both
of which his arms and initials are carved.[72] He built also the
decorated flights of steps from the aisles of the nave to the choir, and
partly erected the building in continuation of the south transept,
called Blacader's aisle, but it was never carried higher than the ground
storey or crypt.[73] It is also known as Fergus's aisle.[74] Archbishop
Blacader was the last to add to the cathedral, and there is reason to
believe that his addition occupies the site of the cemetery consecrated
by St. Ninian, and thus the earliest consecration and the latest
building effort are identified with the same spot.[75]

Glasgow, like Elgin, Aberdeen, and Brechin, possessed originally two
western towers, but at Glasgow, grievously and unfortunately, the
south-west tower was removed in 1845, and the north-west one in 1848 by
the Restoration Committee. They were venerable in their antiquity, and
were probably built after the completion of the nave and aisles, if not
at the same time. Evidence showed "that probably the north-west tower
was part of the original design, or if not, that its erection was
resolved on before the north aisle was completed, and it was built
before the west window of the north aisle required to be glazed. The
south-west tower was probably of the same date."[76] The latter was best
known as the consistory house, and was the place where the bishops held
their ecclesiastical courts and the diocesan records were kept. The only
comfort amid the demolition of the towers is that the proposed new ones
were not erected in their place; and better counsel ought to have
prevailed, since Mr. Billings described the removal as an act of
barbarism. "All who now see the grand old building, shorn of its
cathedral features, and made like a large parish church, mock and laugh
at the action of the local committee, saying, "These men had two towers,
and they went and pulled them both down.""[77]

The higher church had twenty-four altars or chapels;[78] the lower
church, commonly but incorrectly called