It is one of the oldest music halls in the world, once home to an array of outlandish and fascinating characters of a bygone era.

Nestled on Trongate, the Britannia Panopticon opened its doors in 1857 to entertain working class Glasgow crowds, often riotous at 1500-strong.

Visitors would cram together on wooden benches or peer from the balcony to marvel at all forms of entertainment, from high-brow arts like theatre and music to a more sordid form of voyeurism, in the freak shows of the 1900s.

For almost two decades, efforts have been under way to breathe life back into the venue, including a rebuild of the old stage - but what was it like 160 years ago?

The Glaswegian audience is notoriously difficult to please, a cultural facet that was no different in the mid 1800s.

According to historian Judith Bowers, unpopular acts at the original Britannia Music Hall may well have found themselves on stage pelted with shipyard rivets, nails, rancid turnips, horse manure and urine - the latter of which would rain down from the balcony.

Acts more likely to bring thunderous applause included scantily-clad dancing women, who enabled the sex trade in the Trongate to simultaneously flourish.

It was also one of the first venues to start showing films in 1896, which became more frequent as the years went on and helped Glasgow earn the name Cinema City.

Business genius and eccentric AE Pickard took the venue under management in 1906, where he incorporated a carnival, a museum, a freak show and a zoo.

That same year, a teenage Stan Laurel - one half of legendary duo Laurel and Hardy - made a disastrous debut in the venue, wearing a suit and top hat he had borrowed from his dad. He apparently made a joke about moths in his audition.

In addition to comedians, acts booked for the newly named Grand Panopticon included singers and dancers while the museum featured novelty acts of a more bizarre nature, as well as the permanent waxworks.

Here are just a few.

The businessman had given the Panopticon a new lease of life which saw the venue survive the First World War through to the depression of the 1930s.

He sold it in 1938 as the theatre could no longer compete with Glasgow's 130 cinemas all vying to entertain the population.

A tailor company Weaver to Wearer took over the space, and removed the entrance to the music hall, turned the group floor into a shop and converted the music hall on the first floor level into a workshop, hiding the balcony and upper auditorium.

The balcony was used as a chicken farm during the Second World War.

Supported by a charitable trust, the Britannia Panopticon could well be restored to its former glory in the coming years.

The building was rediscovered by Bowers in 1997, author of Glasgow's Lost Theatre: The Story of the Britannia Music Hall, and has since welcomed cabaret acts, familiar faces like The Krankies and hosted open days to fund its renovation.

Having recently secured a bar and entertainment license, the team behind the site makeover have launched a crowdfunding campaign to upgrade the toilets and meet necessary regulations for a 120-capacity.

The aim is to buy the historic music hall, a venture which could cost £400,000.