Documents

There are no additional online documents for this record.

Summary

Description

Circa 1840, altered 1867 (see Notes). 2 storey, 5- x 4-bay corner building at Stewarton Cross with canted corner bay with recessed 2-leaf part-glazed timber door and fanlight above. Base course to Vennel Street (NE); 2 moulded string courses between storeys; moulded eaves course. Regular fenestration with moulded surrounds, some scroll-bracketted. Lined and rendered surface; painted margins.

FURTHER DESCRIPTION: NW elevation (Lainshaw Street): pair of 2-leaf timber panelled doors to centre, that to left with prominent architrave with plinthed pilasters and consoles supporting cornice with guttae. Plate glass shop window to outer right. Cill course.

NE ELEVATION (VENNEL ST): symmetrical 3-bay section to right; central 2-leaf timber door with 4-pane fanlight above. Futher 2-bay section to left.

Predominantly timber plate glass windows to upper storey; some tilt and turn. Replacement 12-lying pane timber sash and case windows to ground. Grey slates; corniced ridge stack; flat skews; large corniced stack to SW gable (1 hexagonal can remaining).

INTERIOR: part seen, (2008). Stone stair to 1st floor with cast-iron barley twist balustrade and painted timber handrail. Some simple cornices.

Statement of Special Interest

Situated at this meeting of routes to and from Kilmaurs and Kilmarnock to the south; Irvine to the south-west; Dunlop to the north; Fenwick to the south-east and Mearns to the north-east, this building is in a prominent location at the Cross in Stewarton. In 1794 Stewarton was described as consisting of 'one long and broad street, with a cross one' and this buidling is an important surviving element of the historic townscape. Cochrane's Hotel (demolished) stood opposite at the corner of Lainshaw and Rigg Streets and the once- adjoining 2-storey building at 8-12 Lainshaw Street has more recently been demolished. The building is the surviving key component of the historic form of the Cross.

Together, this and the adjoining former granary at 8 Vennel Street (circa 1870, separately listed) were known as the Commercial Buildings and were owned by Thomas Young & Son, grain merchants. 8 Vennel Street would have been used for storing and distributing grain and bread. 2-6 Lainshaw Street served as a townhouse for Thomas Young (one time provost of Stewarton) and his family with shops, including the bakery, on the ground floor. This elevation is certainly the more formal, reflecting the importance of the street as 'one of Stewarton's most busy thoroughfares, crowded with small shops, cottages and tenements' (Milligan p2). There were apparently two large decorative pots on top of the entrance architrave but these have long since gone. A cast-iron hopper with the date 1867, removed from the building for safety, is understood to be in the possession of a former owner and it is likely that an existing building on this site was either extended or the facade and interior remodelled at this date. The corner building is marked as a public house on the Ordnance Survey map of 1856 and the Commercial Buildings continued to operate as an inn or hotel into the 20th century. In the 1920s however, the Temperance Movement put an end to alcohol consumption in the town until the 1960s.

Robert Boag, baker, owned the property prior to World War I and sold it to bakers Lydall and Gillies before World War II. The Gillies family became sole owners in 1947 and the buildings, including 8 Vennel Street, were still in Gillies ownership until 1999. Their bakers shop was on the corner. In the mid 20th century, the shop on Lainshaw Street followed in Stewarton's famous textile tradition accommodating Mrs Bowie's drapery and millinery, and the Misses Watt Browns' millinery and dressmaking business (see illustrations in Milligan).

List description updated as part of Stewarton Burgh resurvey, 2009.

References

Bibliography

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.