Dalbeattie Town Hall

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Dalbeattie Town Hall
Dalbeattie Town Hall (geograph 5352005).jpg
Dalbeattie Town Hall
LocationHigh Street, Dalbeattie
Coordinates 54°56′00″N3°49′21″W / 54.9333°N 3.8225°W / 54.9333; -3.8225 Coordinates: 54°56′00″N3°49′21″W / 54.9333°N 3.8225°W / 54.9333; -3.8225
Built1862
Architectural style(s) Italianate style
Listed Building – Category B
Official name1–11 (Odd Numbers) High Street, Dalbeattie Town Hall and 4, Water Street
Designated4 November 1971
Reference no.LB24310
Dumfries and Galloway UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Shown in Dumfries and Galloway

Dalbeattie Town Hall is a municipal building in the High Street in Dalbeattie, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The structure, which is used as community events venue, is a Category B listed building. [1]

Contents

History

The plaque commemorating the life of William McMaster Murdoch, First officer of the RMS Titanic Dalbeattie William McMaster Murdoch memorial photographed 2020.jpg
The plaque commemorating the life of William McMaster Murdoch, First officer of the RMS Titanic

After Dalbeattie became a police burgh in 1858, [2] the new burgh leaders decided to commission a town hall. The new building was designed in a plain neoclassical style, built in local granite and was completed in 1862. [3] The design involved a two-storey rectangular structure on the corner of Water Street and the High Street with three bays along Water Street and six bays along the High Street. The ground floor was originally occupied by a series of shops, while the first floor was fenestrated by a series of sash windows. [1] [4] Internally, the principal room was the main assembly hall. [5]

In May 1862, Captain William Wilson, who had been born nearby in Colvend, was guest of honour in the town hall when he regaled his story of how, while in command of the merchant ship, Emily St. Pierre, he had been arrested by the captain of the Union Navy steamship, James Adger, for blockade running in the harbour at Charleston, South Carolina during the American Civil War. With the aid of just two other seamen, he had overpowered his captors and had sailed his ship back to Liverpool, much to the embarrassment of the U. S. Government. [6]

A four-stage clock tower, designed by Alan Burgess Crombie in the Italianate style, was erected at the western corner of the building in the early 1890s: following its completion, the building was officially re-opened by the local member of parliament, William Maxwell, on 16 November 1894. [7] The tower featured a belfry with louvres in the third stage and clock faces in the fourth stage, and was surmounted by a balustraded parapet with ball finials at the corners. [1]

Following the sinking of the RMS Titanic on its maiden voyage in April 1912, a public meeting was convened in the town hall under the chairmanship of the provost, Dugald McLaurin, in August 1912. At the meeting, it was agreed to commission a memorial plaque to commemorate the life of William McMaster Murdoch, who had been born and raised in Dalbeattie and had been serving as First Officer of the ship at the time of its sinking. The plaque was duly engraved and installed on the southwest face of the town hall later that year. [8] [9]

The town hall continued to serve as the meeting place of the burgh council for much of the 20th century but ceased to be the local seat of government when the enlarged Stewartry District Council was formed in 1975. [10] [11] However, the building continued to be used for meetings of the Dalbeattie Community Council and for local community events. [12] Another plaque was installed on the southwest face of the town hall to celebrate the bicentenary of the founding of the town in 1981. [13] [14]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Historic Environment Scotland. "1–11 (Odd Numbers) High Street, Dalbeattie Town Hall and 4, Water Street (LB24310)" . Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  2. ↑ "Auld Dabeaty". Dalbeattie Matters. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  3. ↑ "Buildings on the High Street". Dalbeattie Matters. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  4. ↑ Gifford, John (1996). Dumfries and Galloway (Buildings of Scotland Series). Pevsner Architectural Guides. p. 212. ISBN   978-0140710670.
  5. ↑ "Dalbeattie Town Hall". Cvent. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  6. ↑ Hussey, John (2008). Cruisers, Cotton and Confederates Liverpool Waterfront in the Days of the Confederacy. Countyvise. p. 176. ISBN   978-1906823030.
  7. ↑ "Town Hall, Dalbeattie, Kirkcudbright". The Builder. Vol. 67. 24 November 1894. p. 379. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  8. ↑ "Proposed memorial to Lieutenant Murdoch". The life and mystery of First Officer William Murdoch. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  9. ↑ Barczewski, Stephanie (2011). Titanic 100th Anniversary Edition: A Night Remembered. Continuum International Publishing. p. 198. ISBN   978-1441193087.
  10. ↑ "Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  11. ↑ "Dalbeattie Burgh". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  12. ↑ "Dalbeattie Town Hall". Venues4Hire. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  13. ↑ Donnachie, Ian L.; Macleod, Innes F. (1974). Old Galloway. David and Charles. p. 67. ISBN   978-0715364598.
  14. ↑ Plaque on the southwest face of the town hall.
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