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

BENNOCHY ROAD AND ST BRYCEDALE AVENUE, ADAM SMITH THEATRE WITH BOUNDARY WALLS AND OUTBUILDINGLB44003

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
B
Date Added
27/02/1997
Local Authority
Fife
Planning Authority
Fife
Burgh
Kirkcaldy
NGR
NT 27713 91643
Coordinates
327713, 691643

Description

Dunn and Findlay, 1894-99: internal alteration 1973 and 1994. 2-storey with basement and attic, 13-bay (grouped 3-3-1-3-3), piend- and pyramidal-roofed Baroque hall with semicircular Ionic portico, arcaded belvederes and lead dome. Dressed ashlar with some raised margins; stugged squared rubble. Base, string courses, 1st floor cill course and eaves cornice with blocking course. Segmental and round-headed openings, and bull's eye windows; Gibbsian surrounds to ground floor

W and S, corniced and architraved windows to 1st floor W and S. Keystones, chamfered arrises and stone mullions.

W (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: symmetrical. 3 steps up to slightly advanced centre bay with keystoned, segmental-headed doorway in moulded surround, 2-leaf panelled timber door, small-pane fanlight and flanking lamps; balustraded parapet above with keystoned Venetian window, shaped cornice, flanking engaged Ionic columns and semicircular pediment breaking eaves. Polygonal, lead belvedere to roofridge behind with decorative aprons, balustrade, cornice and finialled dome. 3 bays to right of centre with round-headed windows at ground, corniced windows above with Ionic pilasters between bays; Pyramidal-roofed, advanced bays to outer right with broad segmental-headed, 3-part window at ground and 3 corniced windows above. Bays to left of centre mirror those to right, except advanced outer left bays with keystoned, segmental-headed, banded doorway, 2-leaf panelled timber door and small-pane fanlight at ground.

S (ST BRYCEDALE AVENUE) ELEVATION: 10-bay (grouped 3-1-5-1). 5 set- back bays to right of centre with slightly advanced piers dividing bays; ground floor with steps up to Ionic columned semicircular portico with corniced frieze and balustrade at centre, 2 windows to flanking bays and 5 bull's eye windows to 1st floor; parapet above with balustrades over windows and joined to set-back attic by heavy scrolls dividing bays with round-headed, banded and keystoned windows: belvedere (detailed as above) to centre of roofridge. Advanced, flanking stair towers, that to W with lead dome (see Notes), each with pedimented, banded doorcase, 2 close-set small windows above and

2 close-set windows at 1st floor, cornice and plain parapet above.

3 further advanced bays to outer left with segmental-headed windows at ground, keystoned Venetian window to centre at 1st floor, and corniced windows in flanking bays; 2 wallhead stacks above flanking centre bay. Flat-roofed, dry-dash extension to outer right.

N ELEVATION: 3 ashlar bays to outer right with segmental-headed windows at ground and 3 windows at 1st floor, that to centre tripartite. Recessed, rubble bays to left interspersed with modern dry-dash extensions, but retaining Venetian windows to right and left at 1st floor in narrow gables. Further recessed centre bays with 2 bull's eye windows visible at 1st floor and set-back attic with 3 semicircular windows.

E ELEVATION: asymmetrical fenestration to centre bays with flanking dry-dash extensions.

Small-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows. Coped ashlar stacks with cans, ashlar-coped skews with moulded skewputts and cast-iron downpipes with decorative rainwater hoppers and fixings.

INTERIOR: modern, but retaining winding stair with cast-iron balusters and timber handrail. Raked floor to auditorium. Bust of Adam Smith in Foyer.

BOUNDARY WALL AND OUTBUILDING: low saddleback-coped boundary wall to S and W; semicircular-coped rubble walls to N and E. Piend-roofed, squared and snecked rubble outbuilding with door to W and sliding timber garage door with flanking windows to S.

Statement of Special Interest

The Adam Smith Memorial and Beveridge Halls (the main auditorium, the smaller Beveridge Hall and Beveridge Library) were built at a cost of 23,500 to the prize winning design of Dunn and Findlay of Edinburgh. The Halls were opened on 11th October, 1899 by Andrew Carnegie who had donated a pipe organ. Provost Michael Beveridge left 50,000 pounds in trust for the town of Kirkcaldy, the money being spent on the Beveridge Park and Library. Providing accommodation for troops during both world wars, Polish troops helped repair the roof during WWII. The building was renamed on the 250th Anniversary of Adam Smith's death when a lecture was presented by economists from around the world; this has become an annual lecture. Now (1996) used as a theatre with function suites and studios. Stair tower to SE originally had lead dome detailed as that to SW.

References

Bibliography

FFP9.9.1899. Gifford FIFE (1992), p282. Kirkcaldy Civic Society TOWN CENTRE (1994), p13. Information courtesy of theatre staff. Janet Klak KIRKCALDY IN PHOTOGRAPHS (1991). R H Harper VICTORIAN ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS (1983), p73. Groome's GAZETTEER.

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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