I pass 364 Dumbarton Road almost every day – and so do many thousands of other Glaswegians.

It is a seemingly unremarkable close entrance squeezed between a chemist’s shop and an amusement arcade across the road from Vine Street in Partick. But if passers-by took a close look at the two stones on either side of the doorway they might pause a while and wonder. In fact if West End resident Robert Carlyle saw them he might do a classic actor’s double take.

On the left hand side of the doorway an inscription on the slab reads ‘This Stone Laid by James Arnold Burton 1929’ and on the right hand side are the words ‘This Stone Laid by Barbara Jessie Burton 1929’.

So who were the Burtons who left their mark on this part of the city? The answer is that the Dumbarton Road site was once part of the Burtons tailors and gents outfitters empire which had stores in town centres up and down the country.

Every time the family business owned a store they laid what they called ‘foundation stones’ with names of whichever family member was present at the opening. James Arnold and Barbara Jessie were presumably in charge of events in Partick.

Similar engraved stones can be found in towns including Cork, Taunton, Lichfield, Redruth, Penrith, Walsall and Wolverhampton – the Burtons didn’t hide their light under a bushel, they believed in leaving their mark behind.

The history of the Burton name is interesting. Company founder Montague Burton arrived in Britain as an immigrant from Russia. His real name was Meshe Osinsky and the story goes that he took the name Burton after spending time at Burton on Trent railway station. His first store was in Chesterfield, Derbyshire.

And what has any of this got to do with Robert Carlyle? Well apparently, in the heyday of the Burton empire, anyone who bought a three-piece suit complete with waistcoat and spare pair of trousers from Montague’s store was said to have purchased The Full Monty.

Food for thought next time you’re passing that part of Dumbarton Road.

If there's a hidden place in Glasgow that you'd like me to investigate email me or leave a comment at the end of this article.