Rothesay Town Hall and County Buildings
| Rothesay Town Hall and County Buildings | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Rothesay Town Hall and County Buildings | |
| Location | Castle Street, Rothesay |
| Coordinates | 55°50′11″N 5°03′14″W / 55.8364°N 5.0538°W |
| Built | 1835 |
| Architect | James Dempster |
| Architectural style(s) | Gothic Revival style |
Listed Building – Category B | |
| Official name | 31 High Street (Flats 1-25, inclusive nos) (Former Castle Street, County Hall, including former prison cells) |
| Designated | 2 April 1971 |
| Reference no. | LB40453 |
  Shown in Argyll and Bute | |
Rothesay Town Hall and County Buildings is a former municipal building in Castle Street, Rothesay, Scotland. The structure, which was the meeting place of Rothesay Burgh Council and of Bute County Council, is a Category B listed building.[1]
History[edit]
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The building was built on the site of an earlier tolbooth which incorporated cells for petty prisoners.[2][3] The new building was designed by James Dempster of Greenock in the Gothic Revival style, built in ashlar stone at a cost of £4,000 and was completed in 1835.[4][5]
The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with seven bays facing onto Castle Street; the central bay, which slightly projected forward, took the form of a four-stage tower.[1] The tower featured an arched doorway on the ground floor, flanked by piers and brackets supporting a canopy, as well as a three-light bay window on the second floor, a pair of lancet windows on third floor and a clock above: it was castellated at the top and had prominent corner turrets.[1] The clock was paid for by John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute as a gift to the town,[6] while the town hall bell was manufactured by John C. Wilson of the Gorbals Brass and Bell Foundry in Glasgow.[7] The sections on either side of the tower were fenestrated with three-light sash windows on the ground floor and three-light mullioned windows on the second floor, while the outer bays contained lancet windows on the first floor.[1] Internally, the principal rooms were the courtroom, the town clerk's office and sheriff clerk's office.[2] The town clerk was responsible for the administration of the royal burgh of Rothesay,[8] while hearings of the sheriff's court, the burgh court and the magistrates' court all took place in the courtroom.[2] A dedicated prison block was erected behind the main building in 1865.[1]
Following the implementation of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, which established a uniform system of county councils in Scotland and realigned the boundaries of many of Scotland's counties, Bute County Council was created in 1890: the office of the county clerk was also established in the building.[9]
The building continued to serve as the headquarters of both Rothesay Burgh Council and Bute County Council until both bodies were replaced by Argyll and Bute District Council in 1975.[10] The new district council continued to use the building for the delivery of local services and it remained the venue for sheriff's court hearings.[11] An extensive programme of refurbishment works, to a design by Collective Architecture, was completed in March 2011: the works, which cost £4.3 million, involved the re-modelling of the complex around a new courtyard to the rear of the main building and the conversion of the interior of the complex into 25 new apartments.[12] The town hall bell was recovered during the conversion and put on display in a small garden at the junction of High Street and Montague Street in 2016.[7]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e Historic Environment Scotland. "31 High Street (Flats 1-25, inclusive nos) (Former Castle Street, County Hall, including former prison cells) (LB40453)". Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ a b c Wilson, John (1848). "Wilson's Guide to Rothesay and the Island of Bute". John Wilson. p. 8.
- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Bute, Rothesay, Castle Street, Town Hall And Sheriff Court (111545)". Canmore. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ "County Hall". Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ National Commercial Directory of the Whole of Scotland and the Isle of Man. James Pigot & Co. 1837. p. 314.
- ^ The Statistical Account of Buteshire. William Blackwood & Sons. 1841. p. 112.
- ^ a b "Rothsay Town Bell" (PDF). Argyll and Bute Council. 1 December 2015. p. 2. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
- ^ "Rothesay". National Gazetteer. 1868. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ "Bute County Buildings". Gazetteer of Scotland. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ "Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ "The Old Court House Rothesay, Isle of Bute". Urban Realm. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ "The Old Courthouse, Rothesay: Isle of Bute Building". E-Architect. 18 November 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2021.