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Summary

Description

James Dempster, Greenock, 1833-5; alterations 1850-1867; internal alterations 1888; converted to flats 2010. Symmetrical 2-storey (3-storey at sides), 7-bay former town hall and county buildings complex on corner site with prominent 3-storey castellated clock tower at centre. Flanking battlemented corner turrets. Coursed stugged yellow sandstone; grey sandstone dressings and stugged grey sandstone quoins. Raised base course; machicolated eaves to front; corniced eaves to sides; battlemented parapets. Architraved, pointed-arched windows set in recessed panels to front; predominantly architraved, square-headed windows to remaining openings with some long and short quoins; stone mullions and transoms; chamfered reveals. Piended, harl-pointed rubble prison-cell block to rear at No.31 (circa 1864). Piended, harl-pointed rubble, 3-storey, 4-bay prison-cell block aligned behind main entrance (circa 1865); tooled long and short surrounds to openings (round-arched entrance; segmental-arched windows; narrow, rectangular cell-lights); flanking exercise courtyards (segregated for male and female use); courtyard to west infilled later 20th century with single storey, flat-roofed block.

South (Castle Street) Elevation: central entrance tower comprising 2-leaf timber panelled door at ground; multi-paned fanlight set in Tudor-arched surround; flanked by stylised pilasters; battlemented balcony corbelled out at 1st floor with projecting tripartite pointed-arched window centred above. Polished hoodmould surmounting square-headed bipartite window at 2nd floor; clock-face centred beneath battlemented parapet. Tripartite square-headed windows to left and right of centre; tripartite pointed-arched windows aligned above set in recessed bays with battlemented parapet above. Single gun-loops at 1st floor set in flanking engaged corner turrets.

West (31-43 High Street) Elevation: 11 bays; Nos 31 and 33 2 storeys; remainder 3 storeys. Timber panelled doors at ground; predominantly plate-glass fanlights (Nos 31 and 33 bipartite) irregular fenestration with quadripartite, bipartite and single windows at ground floor. Some bipartite pointed-arched windows at 1st floor.

East Elevation Courtyard Block: round-arched entrance at ground off-set to left of centre; single windows in remaining bays at ground (blocked opening in bay to outer right). Single window at 1st floor in bay to outer left; various cell-lights in remaining bays at 1st and 2nd floors; vaulted cells intact. Iron-railed windows; grey slate piend; coped sandstone ridge chimney stacks.

2-, 5-, 6-, 8- and 12-pane timber sash and case square-headed windows; multi-mullioned timber casements set in pointed-arched surrounds; part-stained leaded pointed-arched tripartites to left of entrance. Grey slate roofs; flat-roofed tower; raised stone skews; corniced and coped ridge and apex chimney stacks; various circular cans.

INTERIOR: (interior not seen in 2011, information from previous list description of 1996-97) subdivided to form flats (see Notes). Believed to contain 2-leaf multi-mullioned vestibule doors; multi-mullioned side-lights and fanlights. Some timber panelled doors; architraved door-surrounds; timber skirting boards; boarded timber dado panelling; plaster cornice-work. Large Tudor-arch framing central stair to rear vestibule; decorative cast iron balustrades; timber handrail; part-stained circular stairlight (fish-scale detailing). Timber dado panelling in council chamber and decorative plaster cornice, pitched, panelled ceiling (now understood to be covered 2011); corniced door surrounds; stained-glass tripartites. Access to clock tower via a series of timber ladders.

Statement of Special Interest

The former Rothesay Town Hall and County Buildings is an imposing building occupying a prominent position in the town opposite Rothesay Castle (Scheduled Monument No 90252). The symmetrical principal elevation is articulated in the Tudor-Gothic manner with a distinctive castellated clock tower and fine detailing appropriate to its former function as a court, jail and county halls. The building responds to its setting and the early medieval street layout in which it is located

In 1831 an Act of Parliament was obtained for improving Rothesay Harbour and for building a gaol, court house and offices for the burgh. It was designed by James Dempster and the foundation stone was laid in 1833. Construction commenced on the east part of the site so that former 1614 town house could still be used until part of the new building was completed. The former prison section of the building was largely complete by 1833 with Sheriff, Burgh and Justice of the Peace Court room additions along the High Street completed by 1865 and an additional block of cells in the rear courtyard. Plans dated 1888 show extensive internal alterations to form county offices with Town Council chambers in the east wing and Town Clerk's chambers in the west.

In 2010 the building was converted for residential use. The entrance hall stair with a coloured glass ceiling light was restored as part of these works. It is understood that some interior detailing, covered by demountable partitions in places, has been retained including the decorative ceiling to the former council chamber/court room.

James Dempster (born 1797 or 1798) practised as an architect and land surveyor in Greenock. He is understood to have completed only a handful of mostly ecclesiastical buildings including the Gourock Old Parish Church of 1832 (see separate listing).

The development of the court house as a building type in Scotland follows the history of the Scottish legal system and wider government reforms. Increasing co-operation with county authorities from the late 18th century onwards led to the erection of in several burghs of shared 'Town and Country Buildings', many of which contained court and prison accommodation. The Police Burgh (Scotland) Act of 1833 significantly altered local government in Scotland and marked the beginning of democratically-elected councils and led to stricter financial control of Scottish burghs. Acts of Parliament in 1819 and 1839 laid down directions for the financing of court houses; however it was the introduction of the Sheriff Court Houses (Scotland) Act of 1860 which gave a major impetus to the increase and improvement of accommodation provided for the dispensation of civil and criminal justice, and this was followed by the the most active period of sheriff court house construction in the history of the Scottish legal system.

Rothesay is one of Scotland's premier seaside resorts, developed primarily during the second half of the 19th and the early 20th centuries, and it incorporates an earlier medieval settlement. The town retains a wide range of buildings characteristic of its development as a high status 19th century holiday resort, including a range of fine villas, a Victorian pier and promenade.

The history and development of Rothesay is defined by two major phases. The development of the medieval town, centred on Rothesay Castle, and the later 19th and early 20th century development of the town as a seaside resort. Buildings from this later development, reflect the wealth of the town during its heyday as a tourist destination, and include a range of domestic and commercial architecture of a scale more often found in larger burghs. Both the 19th and early 20th century growth of the town, with a particular flourish during the inter-war period, included areas of reclaimed foreshore, particularly along the coast to the east of the town and around the pier and pleasure gardens.

Listed building record revised in 2011 as part of the Rothesay listing review 2010-11 and in 2016 as part of the Scottish Courts Listing Review 2014-15.

References

Bibliography

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