Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

BOAT VENNAL, LOUDOUN HALLLB21656

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
A
Date Added
10/01/1980
Local Authority
South Ayrshire
Planning Authority
South Ayrshire
Burgh
Ayr
NGR
NS 33661 22149
Coordinates
233661, 622149

Description

Circa 1513, N wing added 1534, with later alterations; refurbished Robert Hurd, 1952-7; refurbished ARP, Lorimer and Associates, 1997/8. 2-storey and attic, L-plan house. Rubble built.

SE (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: square-headed entrance to timber door to right of N wing section; 2 pairs of stair windows to boarded bay to left. Single windows to left at 1st and attic floors to gablehead of original section.

NE (SIDE) ELEVATION: blank gablehead to N wing section; oak balcony frame to 1st and attic floors to outer left; 2 timber doors to both floors; relieving arches to 2 off-centre timber doors at ground floor; flanking single windows; relieving arches to 2 single windows at 1st floor to hall; relieving arch to right.

NW (SIDE) ELEVATION: single window at ground floor; 2 single windows at 1st floor; 2-light dormer at attic to N wing section. 2 single windows at ground floor; single window at 1st floor; 2 single windows at attic to original (higher) section.

Timber boarded and leaded windows; glass block openings. Grey slate roof; rooflights; stone skews; coped gablehead stacks; circular cans.

INTERIOR: barrel-vaulted storage rooms at ground floor; narrow stair from original section leads to the main hall on the 1st floor (Original main access stair, disappeared in subsequent alterations); new non-combustible metal staircase to entrance in North wing. Great fireplace to SE of main hall at 1st floor; moulded stone shafts; ogee-shaped aumbrie to NW elevation; high windows; timber panelled entrances; panel above the fireplace dated 1665, bears the arms of the Kings of Scotland, England, France and Ireland (formerly hung in the Newton-on-Ayr Town House, demolished 1967). Attic floor rooms, previously quarters for servants.

Statement of Special Interest

Built circa 1513 by James Tait, a wealthy burgess of Ayr. Between 1528 and 1539, ownership passed to Sir Hugh Campbell of Loudoun, Sheriff of Ayr, and subsequently sold to the Crown for 14,000 merks in 1622. Circa 1633, the office was granted to James Chalmers of Gadgirth, who represented Ayr in the Scottish Parliament from 1628-1633. Loudoun Hall was then sold by James Chalmers' son in 1666 to John Muir of Park, Provost of Ayr. Following 1700, there were numerous owners, in part due to increasing deterioration of the building. Finally, its owners ceased to inhabit it and it became a slum, rescued from slum clearance in the twentieth century by the Marquess of Bute, restored 1948 by the architect Robert Hurd, who gave his services for free. Hurd's alterations included the removal of an 18th century staircase tower, and the erection of a new staircase, made from the materials of an oak stair removed from Culzean Castle, and originally made from the timbers of the third Marquess of Ailsa's yacht, Marquesa (recently removed). An architectural model of the Hall stands to the entrance of Boat Vennal, off New Bridge Street. Loudoun Hall is not only the oldest house in Ayr, but provides an outstanding example of one of Scotland's few surviving examples of domestic burgh architecture of the 16th century. Re-landscaped Loudoun Hall boundary wall and forecourt, a collaboration between architects Reiach and Hall, and artists Gordon Young and Louice Lusby Taylor. Recent building restoration work by ARP, Lorimer and Associates.

References

Bibliography

John Wood's Plan of Ayr, 1818 (evident); James Paterson HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF AYR, Vol 1 (1847), p177; James Fergusson "Loudoun Hall and its Owners" in AYRSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS, Vol 1 (1947-1949), pp55-64; THE THIRD STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF SCOTLAND (1951), p534; AYR, PRESTWICK AND DISTRICT HISTORICAL GUIDE (1967), pp 18- 20; Ronald Brash and Allan Leach ROUND OLD AYR (1972), (unmarked pages); Robert Gourlay and Anne Turner HISTORIC AYR: The Archaeological Implications of Development (1977), p12; John Strawhorn and Ken Andrew DISCOVERING AYRSHIRE (1988), p102; Rob Close AYRSHIRE AND ARRAN (1992), p12; R & J Kennedy OLD AYR (1992), p36.

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

Listed building consent is required for changes to a listed building which affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. The relevant planning authority is the point of contact for applications for listed building consent.

Find out more about listing and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.

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Printed: 29/03/2024 07:22