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Summary

Description

George Washington Browne, 1895, altered at ground 1930 (see Notes). 3-storey and 2 storey with attic, Flemish Renaissance style office building with shop at ground, on corner site. Canted corner with balustrade, finialled curvilinear gable and dormerheads. Polished red sandstone ashlar with polished granite to ground. Deep band course, 2nd floor cavetto cill course and eaves cornice. Pedimented windowheads, corbelling, stone transoms and mullions, and chamfered arrises.

S (HIGH STREET) ELEVATION: 2-bay above ground. Large display window to ground; 2 close-spaced transomed bipartite windows to 1st floor recessed in cusped panels and flanked by narrow rounded pilaster strips linked to 2nd floor cill course; 2 close-spaced bipartite windows to 2nd floor slightly recessed over cill course; inscription and blind panel above in curvilinear gablehead.

SW (CORNER) ELEVATION: bowed ground floor with 2-leaf glazed door below deep band course, corbelled to canted bay with 3 part window and further tripartite window to 2nd floor with balustrade above.

W (KIRK WYND) ELEVATION: 2-storey with attic. 7 windows to ground floor with dividing piers; 3 tall windows to left of centre at 1st floor and 2 small bipartite windows to right of centre flanking further bipartite window in stylised aedicule with broken pediment, blind panel in tympanum. 3 corniced and transomed bipartite dormer windows with finialled curvilinear pediments breaking eaves over bays to right of centre. Tall corniced stack abutting dormer window to outer right.

6- and 10-pane glazing patterns in timber windows; plate glass glazing to 1st floor corner and ground. Grey slates. Cavetto coped ashlar stack and ashlar-coped skews. Cast-iron downpipes and decorative rainwater hoppers.

Statement of Special Interest

The Swan Memorial Building was built (at a cost of 3000 pounds) to commemorate Patrick Don Swan provost of Kirkcaldy for 30 years; the upper floors were used as the YMCA until 1952. A photograph of 1905 shows the SW corner with moulded segmental-headed doorway below fascia band 'SAVINGS BANK', pendant finials and corniced, stylised pediment adjoining corbelling to 1st floor window. Further visible ground floor openings are also segmental-headed.

References

Bibliography

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