County Buildings, Ayr | |
---|---|
Location | Wellington Square, Ayr |
Coordinates | 55°27′41″N4°38′19″W / 55.4613°N 4.6386°W |
Built | 1818 |
Architect | Robert Wallace and Alexander Mair |
Architectural style(s) | Neoclassical style |
Listed Building – Category A | |
Official name | Ayr Sheriff Court and Justice of the Peace Court, including boundary wall and gatepiers, 14 Wellington Square, Ayr |
Designated | 5 February 1971 |
Reference no. | LB21820 |
Listed Building – Category B | |
Official name | Wellington Square, County Buildings including gates |
Designated | 5 February 1971 |
Reference no. | LB47250 |
County Buildings is a municipal complex in Wellington Square, Ayr, Scotland which serves as the headquarters and main meeting place of South Ayrshire Council. The original structure, the former sheriff court at the eastern end of the complex, is Category A listed building, [1] while the main office building at the western end of the complex, is a Category B listed building. [2]
The earliest part of the complex is the sheriff court: it was designed by Robert Wallace in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone at a cost of £30,000 and was completed in 1818. [1] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with eleven bays facing onto Wellington Square with the end bays slightly projected forward; the central section of three bays featured a tetrastyle portico with Ionic order columns supporting an entablature and a pediment. [1] The building was fenestrated with round headed windows on the ground floor and sash windows on the first floor. [1] At roof level, there was a cornice, a balustrade and a large central dome. Internally, the principal rooms were the two courtrooms. [1] There was originally a prison at the rear of the building. [1]
The building continued to be used as a facility for dispensing justice but, following the implementation of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, which established county councils in every county, one of the courtrooms was allocated for use as the meeting place of Ayrshire County Council. [3]
In the early 1930s, county leaders decided to demolish the old prison and to extend the building to the west to provide bespoke offices for the county council. The foundation stone for the extension, which was much larger than the original building, was laid by the Duke of York, who was accompanied by the Duchess of York, on 10 July 1931. [4] It was designed by Alexander Mair in the neoclassical style and was completed in 1935. [5] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with seventeen bays facing towards the sea with the end three bays on either side slightly projected forward as pavilions; the central section of three bays featured a tetrastyle portico with piers and Ionic order columns supporting an entablature and a pediment with a coat of arms in the tympanum. [2] It was fenestrated with sash windows on both floors and most of the first floor windows were enhanced with balconies. [2] Internally, the principal rooms were the council chamber and the committee rooms, which were named after the five burghs of the county, on the first floor. [2]
A memorial designed by Pilkington Jackson, commemorating the lives of soldiers of the Royal Scots Fusiliers who had died in the Second World War, was unveiled in the garden of the County Buildings in 1960. [6]
Following the abolition of Ayrshire County Council, the complex became a sub-regional office of Strathclyde Regional Council in 1975, [7] and then, after the introduction of unitary authorities, it became the headquarters of South Ayrshire Council in 1996. [8]
The ground floor of County Buildings features the main entrance hall consisting of two semi-circular staircases which lead to the debating chamber of South Ayrshire Council as well as leading to a number of committee rooms. The staircases feature a number of large windows which comprise of leaded stained glass. The Coat of Arms of the former Ayr County Council feature on the largest stained glass window whilst the remaining four windows feature the crests of the sixteen separate Burghs of Ayrshire. Portraits of George Boyle, 4th Earl of Glasgow and C.G. Shaw line the north staircase and the south features portraits of Sir James Fergusson, 6th Baronet and Hugh Montgomerie, 12th Earl of Eglinton. [9]
The fumed oak finished council chamber, committee rooms and members corridor are housed on the first floor of the building. The debating chamber of the council features sliding partition doors which were designed to permit the committee rooms on either side of the debating chamber to be opened up for increased space during the hosting of council functions. The county hall room features the Coat of Arms of the Ayr county alongside the Coat of Arms of South Ayrshire Council. The first floor also features the dining room and servery. [9]
Portraits of Lieutenant Colonel W.K. Hamilton-Campbell of Netherplace, John Claude Hamilton, Colonel Wallace of Busbie and Sir James Shaw, 1st Baronet are amongst some of the portraits displayed on the first floor of the building. A considerable amount of furnisher contained within County Buildings has been in use continuously since the building first opened. Since the creation of South Ayrshire Council in 1996 and the role the building has as the councils headquarters, portraits of all provosts of South Ayrshire Council are displayed on the first floor. [9]
Like over governmental buildings, County Buildings as the headquarters of South Ayrshire Council has specific flag flying days. The flag flying days for County Buildings are: [9]
Works of art in the county buildings include a portrait by Daniel Macnee of Colonel John Hamilton of the 3rd Dragoon Guards, [10] a portrait by John Graham-Gilbert of Archibald Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton [11] and a portrait by George Reid of Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant Colonel William Kentigern Hamilton-Campbell. [12]
Bourtreehill House and the enclosed land on which it was built form the original estate of Bourtreehill. The wooded hill-top, a distinctive feature of the estate, is now a landmark that sits at the centre of modern North Bourtreehill in the district of North Ayrshire on the west coast of Scotland.
Kerelaw Castle is a castle ruin. It is situated on the coast of North Ayrshire, Scotland in the town of Stevenston.
Eglinton Castle was a large Gothic castellated mansion in Kilwinning, North Ayrshire, Scotland.
The Barony of Giffen and its associated 15th-century castle were in the parish of Beith in the former District of Cunninghame, now North Ayrshire. The site may be spelled Giffen or Giffin and lay within the Lordship of Giffin, which included the Baronies of Giffen, Trearne, Hessilhead, Broadstone, Roughwood and Ramshead; valued at £3,788 9s 10d. The Barony of Giffen comprised a number of properties, including Greenhills, Thirdpart, Drumbuie, Nettlehirst and Balgray, covering about half of the parish of Beith. Giffen was a hundred merk land, separated from the Barony of Beith, a forty-pound land, by the Powgree Burn which rises on Cuff hill. The Lugton Water or the Bungle Burn running through Burnhouse may have been the Giffen barony boundary with that of the adjacent barony and lands of Aiket castle.
Eglinton Country Park is located on the grounds of the old Eglinton Castle estate in Kilwinning, North Ayrshire, Scotland. Eglinton Park is situated in the parish of Kilwinning, part of the former district of Cunninghame, and covers an area of 400 ha ([98 acres ] of which are woodland. The central iconic feature of the country park is the ruined Eglinton Castle, once home to the Eglinton family and later the Montgomeries, Earls of Eglinton and chiefs of the Clan Montgomery. Eglinton Country Park is managed and maintained by North Ayrshire Council and its Ranger Service.
Kilmaurs Place, The Place or Kilmaurs House, is an old mansion house and the ruins of Kilmaurs Tower grid reference NS41234112 are partly incorporated, Kilmaurs, East Ayrshire, Scotland. The house stands on a prominence above the Carmel Water and has a commanding view of the surrounding area. Once the seat of the Cunningham Earls of Glencairn it ceased to be the main residence after 1484 when Finlaystone became the family seat. Not to be confused with Kilmaurs Castle that stood on the lands of Jocksthorn Farm.
Baron of Aiket (extinct) was a title of nobility in the Baronage of Scotland for the holder of the Barony of Aiket with its castle, lay within the old feudal bailiary of Cunninghame. The barony lands equate to the extant Parish of Dunlop, East Ayrshire, Scotland.
Caldwell is a mansion and old estate with the remains of a castle nearby. These lands lie close to the Lugton Water and the villages of Uplawmoor in East Renfrewshire and Lugton in East Ayrshire.
Busbie Castle was situated in what is now known as Knockentiber, a village in East Ayrshire, Parish of Kilmaurs, Scotland. Knockentiber is 2 miles (3.2 km) WNW of Kilmarnock and 1/2 mile NE of Crosshouse. The castle overlooked the Carmel Glen and its Burn, which runs into the River Irvine, a mile or so to the south, after passing through the old Busbie Mill.
During the years 1781–1782, at the age of 23, Robert Burns (1759–1796) lived in Irvine, North Ayrshire for a period of around 9 months, whilst learning the craft of flax-dressing from Alexander Peacock, who may have been his mother's half-brother, working at the heckling shop in the Glasgow Vennel. Dr John Cumming of Milgarholm, a provost of Irvine, claimed that he had invited Burns to come to Irvine to learn flax dressing. During this time he made a number of acquaintances, befriended several locals and took regular walks into the Eglinton Woods via the old Irvine to Kilwinning toll road and the Drukken or Drucken (Drunken) Steps. Steps over the Red Burn and back via the site of Saint Brides or Bryde's Well at Stanecastle. Burns had several other connections with the Eglinton Estate and other branches of the Montgomerie family. He probably left in March 1782.
Auchans Castle, House, House of Auchans or Old Auchans, is a mock military mansion, Category A listed, T-plan building of a late 16th-century date converted to the L-plan during the early-to-mid-17th century; its ruins stand about 1 km W of Dundonald, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Parish of Dundonald. It was held at various times by the Wallace, Cochrane and Montgomerie families.
Kilwinning Old Parish church is located on the site of the old Kilwinning Abbey, North Ayrshire, Scotland.
Skelmorlie Castle stands on the eastern shore of the Firth of Clyde, Scotland, at the north-western corner of the county of Ayrshire. The structure dates from 1502, and was formerly the seat and stronghold of the Montgomery Clan. The modern village of Skelmorlie lies to the north of the castle.
Seagate Castle is a castle and fortified town house in North Ayrshire, in the town of Irvine, close to the River Irvine, Scotland. The castle was formerly a stronghold, a town house, and later a dower house of the Montgomery Clan. The castle overlooks the oldest street in Irvine, which was once the main route between the town and the old harbour at Seagatefoot, which by 1606, was useless and abandoned due to silting. The remains of the castle are protected as a scheduled ancient monument.
The Lands of Lainshaw lie in Strathannick and were part of the Lordship of Stewarton, in East Ayrshire, Scotland. Lainshaw House is a category B listed mansion, lying in a prominent position above the Annick Water and its holm in the Parish of Stewarton, Scotland. Part of the much older Lainshaw Castle is contained within the several later building phases of the present day Lainshaw House. The names 'Langshaw' or 'Langschaw' were used in historic times. Law Mount near the High and Laigh Castleton farms has been suggested as the site of the original castle, granted in the 12th century to Godfrey de Ross by Hugo de Morville.
Sundrum Castle is a Scottish medieval castle located 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) north of Coylton, South Ayrshire, by the Water of Coyle river. It was built in the 14th century for Sir Duncan Wallace, Sheriff of Ayr. The castle was inherited by Sir Alan de Cathcart, who was the son of Duncan's sister. The Cathcarts sold Sundrum in the 18th century, where it eventually fell into the possession of the Hamilton family. The Hamiltons expanded the castle in the 1790s, incorporating the original keep into a mansion.
Francis Montgomerie of Giffen, Ayr was a Scottish politician who sat in the Parliament of Scotland from 1689 to 1707 and in the British House of Commons from 1707 to 1710.
Lawthorn is a hamlet near Perceton in Strathannick, Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland. The settlement lies on the old Irvine to Stewarton toll road.
Ayr Town Hall is a municipal building in New Bridge Street, Ayr, Scotland. The town hall, which was the headquarters of Ayr Burgh Council, is a Category A listed building.
Hamilton Sheriff Court is a judicial building in Almada Street, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The building, which continues to serve as the local courthouse, is a Category A listed building.