County Buildings, Cupar | |
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![]() County Buildings, Cupar | |
Location | St Catherine Street, Cupar |
Coordinates | 56°19′10″N3°00′36″W / 56.3194°N 3.0099°W |
Built | 1817 |
Architect | Robert Hutchison |
Architectural style(s) | Neoclassical style |
Listed Building – Category B | |
Official name | County Buildings and former Court House, excluding 4-storey offices and police station adjoining to rear and single storey block to east, St Catherine Street, Cupar |
Designated | 1 February 1972 |
Reference no. | LB24160 |
County Buildings is a municipal structure in St Catherine Street in Cupar, Fife, Scotland. The building, which was the meeting place of Fife County Council, is a Category B listed building. [1]
In the early 19th century, the provost, John Ferguson, proposed that the old tolbooth and an adjacent property, Balgarvie House, be demolished as part of an initiative to create a new street: the south side of the new street would contain various civic buildings including, at the west end, the new burgh chambers and, further to the east, the county buildings and the sheriff court. [1] The new county buildings was designed by Robert Hutchison in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone with a stucco finish and was completed in 1817. [1]
The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with nineteen bays facing onto St Catherine Street. The central section of nine bays featured, in the central bay, a doorway flanked by pairs of Doric order columns supporting an entablature and a balcony: on the first floor there was a three-light window divided by Doric order pilasters and surmounted by a Diocletian window. The outer bays of the central block, which slightly projected forward, featured round headed windows on the ground floor, three-light windows separated by Doric order pilasters on the first floor and smaller three-light windows on the second floor. The other bays in the central block as well as the bays in the outer blocks were fenestrated using a regular pattern of sash windows. Internally, the principal rooms were the council chamber on the first floor of the central block and the county courtroom on the first floor of the east block. [1]
For much of the 19th century the complex had been used as the local facility for dispensing justice but, following the implementation of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, which established county councils in every county, it also became the offices of Fife County Council. [2] After the responsibilities of the county council increased, an additional nine-bay block was erected to the east of the existing complex: it was built to a design by Thoms and Wilkie of Dundee in a similar style but without the stucco finish and was completed in 1925. [1]
Following the abolition of the county council in 1975, the building became the offices and meeting place of North East Fife District Council. [3] [4] The building was briefly shared with Fife Regional Council until that council moved to Fife House in Glenrothes later in 1975. [5] [6] North-East Fife District Council was abolished in 1996, when Fife Council became the unitary authority for the area, with its headquarters at Glenrothes. Since then, the county buildings have been Fife Council's customer service centre for the local area. [7]
Works of art in the county buildings include a portrait by John Shackleton of King George II, [8] a portrait by an unknown artist of King George III [9] and a portrait by Allan Ramsay of Queen Charlotte. [10] Paintings of other nobles include a portrait by Henry Raeburn of John Hope, 4th Earl of Hopetoun, [11] a portrait by Francis Grant of James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin [12] and a portrait by David Wilkie of Thomas Erskine, 9th Earl of Kellie [13] as well as a portrait by Sir William Llewellyn of Sir Ralph William Anstruther, 6th Baronet. [14]
Fife is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire. By custom it is widely held to have been one of the major Pictish kingdoms, known as Fib, and is still commonly known as the Kingdom of Fife within Scotland. A person from Fife is known as a Fifer. In older documents the county was very occasionally known by the anglicisation Fifeshire.
Sir David Wilkie was a Scottish painter, especially known for his genre scenes. He painted successfully in a wide variety of genres, including historical scenes, portraits, including formal royal ones, and scenes from his travels to Europe and the Middle East. His main base was in London, but he died and was buried at sea, off Gibraltar, returning from his first trip to the Middle East. He was sometimes known as the "people's painter".
Cupar is a town, former royal burgh and parish in Fife, Scotland. It lies between Dundee and Glenrothes. According to a 2011 population estimate, Cupar had a population around 9,000, making it the ninth-largest settlement in Fife, and the civil parish a population of 11,183. It is the historic county town of Fife, although the council now sits at Glenrothes.
Glenrothes is a town situated in the heart of Fife, in east-central Scotland. It had a population of 39,277 in the 2011 census, making it the third largest settlement in Fife and the 18th most populous locality in Scotland. Glenrothes is the administrative capital of Fife, containing the headquarters of both Fife Council and Police Scotland Fife Division and is a major service centre within the area.
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Fife Constabulary was the territorial police force responsible for the Scottish council area of Fife.
Fife Council is the local authority for the Fife area of Scotland and is the third largest Scottish council by number of councillors, having 75 elected council members.
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Mount Hill rises from the rolling farmland about three miles north west of Cupar in North East Fife, Scotland. On its summit stands the 29-metre (95 ft) high Hopetoun Monument, which is visible for many miles around.
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Charles Lees was a Scottish portrait painter who also specialised in sporting and recreational subjects.
The County Buildings are in the High Street, Linlithgow, Scotland. The complex, which was the headquarters of West Lothian County Council, is a Category B listed building.
Cupar Burgh Chambers is a municipal structure in St Catherine Street in Cupar, Fife, Scotland. The building, which was the meeting place of Cupar Burgh Council, is a Category B listed building.
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Cellardyke Town Hall is a municipal structure in Tolbooth Wynd, Cellardyke, Fife, Scotland. The building accommodates a local history museum and is also used as a local events venue. The mercat cross, which has been affixed to the front of the building, is a Category B listed structure.
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Fife House, formerly Glenrothes House, is a large office development on North Street in Glenrothes, Fife, Scotland. It was built for Glenrothes Development Corporation in 1969, then became the headquarters of Fife Regional Council from shortly after its formation in 1975 and then became the offices and meeting place of Fife Council in 1996.
...at the last meeting of Fife Regional Council to take place in County Hall, Cupar, before they move to Fife House, Glenrothes...