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

NEW LANARK, NEW BUILDINGSLB37045

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
A
Date Added
12/01/1971
Local Authority
South Lanarkshire
Planning Authority
South Lanarkshire
Burgh
Lanark
NGR
NS 88093 42562
Coordinates
288093, 642562

Description

1798; alterations circa 1800; restored from 1978. 4 storey (3 to NE due to sloping site), 13-bay, classical Palazzo-style gabled terrace of mill workers' tenements with slightly advanced end bays and pedimented central 3 bays surmounted by colonnaded bellcote. Later 4-storey, 6-bay terrace adjoining NW gable. Sandstone rubble with droved and stugged ashlar dressings. Eaves course; blocking course to outer bays. Long and short quoins. Regular fenestration with tabbed margins.

SW (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: two steps to central timber-panelled main door with sidelights in pilastered architrave; segmental pediment above containing plaque (originally a clock). Oval oculus to gable pediment. Bellcote with rusticated plinth and paired unfluted columns supporting lead dome and weathervane; bell dated 1786. Further doorways with timber boarded doors; steps up to those to right, accommodating falling ground. Later section of terrace to W stepped back with doors at ground level.

12-pane glazing in timber and sash case windows. Coped ridge stacks with small black cans. Ashlar-coped skews. Grey slate roof. Small roof lights. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

Statement of Special Interest

New Buildings are of considerable visual and historical importance as they were the first buildings in New Lanark to be given classical details and were treated as a unified Palazzo-style block during the 1800 alterations. They are situated in a prominent position at the entrance to the village and are an elegant component of the mill village.

In the mid-1780s there were single storey cottages on this site but these were replaced by a large block of tenements, two rooms in depth and were initially used as workers' houses. The building was extended circa 1800 by Robert Owen soon after his arrival in New Lanark to provide halls on the upper floors for Sunday school and Gaelic services, despite the fact that he denounced all forms of religion. These uses continued until 1898 when the church was built. It is possible that Robert Owen was responsible for the introduction of the classical details on this and other New Lanark buildings.

By 1903 the buildings contained a surgery, lavatory and doctor's house above, 18 2-apartment houses, 4 1-apartment houses; 2 of the halls on the upper storeys were empty. There were cellars on the ground floor.

The bellcote, which was originally on Mill No 1, was relocated here between 1825 and 1867, and was used to summon the workers to the mills.

New Lanark was a pioneering cotton-spinning village, which became a model for industrial communities that was to spread across the world in the 19th and 20th centuries and is recognised as being of outstanding importance historically and in visual terms because of its completeness and its physical form. Elements of sophisticated early town planning are evidenced in the orchestration of the various components in the village, from the mill weir, its lade and tunnel to south, to the tunnels and sluices leading off to the individual mills, the crucially generous circulation spaces, gardens, tailored walks and viewing points realised from the start. It is surrounded by an incomparable natural and designed landscape, the mill buildings sitting on the natural terrace to the east of the River Clyde in this deeply incised, wooded river valley.

Built to exploit the water power offered by the Falls of Clyde, the mills were in operation from 1786 to 1968. The mill village is made up of industrial, residential and community buildings, dating predominantly from between 1786 and the 1820s. It was founded by David Dale, a Glasgow merchant, in conjunction with Richard Arkwright, a trailblazing inventor of the cotton spinning industry whose patents enabled operation on a considerable scale. Dale's humane philosophy, realised from the start in the buildings of New Lanark, was expanded by Robert Owen, who took over management of the mill village in partnership from 1799. Under Owen the venture prospered and became one of the world's largest cotton mill centres in the world supporting 2500 people. Owen created an environment where child labour and corporal punishment were abolished, and provided workers with good homes, education and free health care as well as affordable food. He had a profound influence on social developments such as factory reform throughout the 19th century.

New Buildings were restored between 1978 and the early 1980s as tenancies for the Housing Association and to house the exhibition linked to the New Lanark Visitor Centre.

Within World Heritage Site inscribed 2001.

List description updated 2010.

References

Bibliography

William Forrest, The County of Lanark from Actual Survey (1816). 1st edition Ordnance Survey map (1857-58). Historic Scotland, Nomination of New Lanark for inclusion in the World Heritage List, (2000). www.scran.ac.uk [accessed July 2007].

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: 28/03/2024 21:21