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

KING STREET, CASTLE DOUGLAS LIBRARY WITH ART GALLERY, BOUNDARY WALL, RAILINGS, GATES AND GATEPIERSLB49671

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
B
Date Added
18/03/2004
Local Authority
Dumfries And Galloway
Planning Authority
Dumfries And Galloway
Burgh
Castle Douglas
NGR
NX 76638 62529
Coordinates
276638, 562529

Description

George Washington Browne, 1902-4 with later additions and Art Gallery, 1938. Single storey and attic, roughly L-plan Jacobean library with mid-20th century flat-roofed wing extending to rear, and 1938 Art Gallery to SE (side). Original building gabled; round stair turret in re-entrant angle with ogee-shaped dome; large mullioned and transomed window to NW gable; shouldered stack to SE. Rake-jointed, tooled, snecked red sandstone with ashlar dressings. Roll-moulded eaves course to original building; string course and deep billeted eaves course to tower. Predominantly bipartite mullioned windows with roll-moulded ashlar margins; chamfered window margins to mid 20th century extension.

SW (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: 2-bay gable to right; 2-leaf timber panelled door to left bay in stop-chamfered, roll-moulded architrave; flanking bipartite windows. 4-light mullioned window to right bay; bipartite windows to attic. Slightly recessed wing to left with tripartite window. 3-stage stair tower in re-entrant angle with timber panelled door in chamfered architrave and 2 narrow windows in round-arched surrounds at 2nd stage. 1938 Art Gallery to outer right with Art Deco style pediment and bronze plaque in roll-moulded surround (see Notes for inscription).

NW (STREET) ELEVATION: gable end with large 5-light transomed and mullioned window with round-arched lights and billeted moulding above.

NE (REAR) ELEVATION: wing to right with 2 bipartite windows. 3-bay gable to left with advanded flat-roofed extension at ground. Art Gallery recessed to outer left.

Leaded casements; some later timber casements with hopper openings to upper sections. Shouldered corniced stack. Ashlar-coped skews. Graded grey slate. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: inner lobby with half-glazed timber panelled door, and glazed timber screen with leaded lights. Ribbed ceiling to main reading room; remains of pilastered timber partition with cornice. Timber spiral staircase in tower.

BOUNDARY WALL AND RAILINGS: rectangular panelled gatepiers with tall, corniced pyramidal caps. Random rubble boundary wall with ashlar coping and cast-iron railings. 2-leaf cast-iron gates.

Statement of Special Interest

Occupies a very prominent position on the main street in Castle Douglas. Old photographs show that there was originally a broken round-arched pediment style canopy over the door, supported on consoled brackets which flanked the bipartite windows. The library was built with a donation of about #2800 from the Scottish-American industrialist Andrew Carnegie. There are two other Carnegie libraries in Dumfries and Galloway: Annan Library (1906), which was also designed by George Washington Browne, and the Ewart Library in Dumfries (1904). George Washington Browne was an authority on library design, and published a pamphlet on this subject. He designed a number of other Carnegie Libraries, including Edinburgh Central Library (1887-90), Jedburgh Library (1900) and Kelso Library. Castle Douglas Library is considerably smaller than all of these, but has similar detailing, most notably the large mullioned windows. Upstairs was a flat for the librarian/caretaker. This seems to be quite an unusual arrangement. The Art Gallery was added in 1938 with a donation from Mrs Ethel S G Bristowe. The Bronze plaque is inscribed: THE ART GALLERY WAS BUILT AND PRESENTED TO PROVOST FORDE THE MAGISTRATES AND COUNCILLORS OF THE BURGH OF CASTLE DOUGLAS BY MRS ETHEL SUSAN GRAHAM BRISTOWE OF CRAIG BALMACLELLAN AD1938. It is likely that the extension to the SE was built at about the same time. The fine Monkey Puzzle tree outside the library was planted in about 1920.

References

Bibliography

Appears on 2nd edition OS map. Art Gallery shown on 4th edition OS map (circa 1950). Post cards dated 1912 and 1920 at Stewartry Museum, Kirkcudbright. John Gifford, BUILDINGS OF SCOTLAND: DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY (1996), p169. http://homepage.ntlworld.com/g.blaikie for information on Carnegie Libraries.

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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