Dumbarton Burgh Hall

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Dumbarton Burgh Hall
The Old Burgh Hall (geograph 5785538).jpg
Dumbarton Burgh Hall
LocationChurch Street, Dumbarton
Coordinates 55°56′38″N4°34′01″W / 55.9438°N 4.5669°W / 55.9438; -4.5669
Built1866
ArchitectRobert Grieve Melvin and William Leiper
Architectural style(s) Gothic Revival style
Listed Building – Category A
Official nameBurgh Hall, Church Street, Dumbarton
Designated13 November 1981
Reference no.LB24874
West Dunbartonshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Shown in West Dunbartonshire

Dumbarton Burgh Hall is a municipal structure in Church Street, Dumbarton, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. The building, which is the headquarters of West Dunbartonshire Council, is Category A listed. [1]

Contents

History

The first municipal building in Dumbarton was the old tolbooth on the north side of the High Street which was first mentioned in 1627 [2] and re-built in around 1645. [3] [4] It initially had separate rooms for the burgh council and for the sheriff court but, in 1794, the council chamber was converted into a prison and the courtroom was subsequently shared. [5] After the tollbooth became dilapidated, the burgh council and the sheriff court relocated to a new courthouse designed by James Gillespie Graham in the neoclassical style on the east side of Church Street in 1826. [4] The tollbooth was then demolished in 1832. [4]

By the mid-19th century Dumbarton Academy had outgrown the building which it had occupied on the west side of Church Street since 1789. [6] In this context burgh leaders decided to procure a combined burgh hall and academy: the site they chose, on the east side of Church Street to the south of the courthouse, was occupied by a building known as College House. [7]

The new offices at the rear of the Burgh Hall New Council Offices, Dumbarton (geograph 5785532).jpg
The new offices at the rear of the Burgh Hall

The foundation stone for the new building was laid on 23 June 1865. [8] [9] [10] It was designed by Robert Grieve Melvin and William Leiper in the Gothic Revival style, built in ashlar stone and completed in two stages: the burgh hall in January 1866 and the academy in August 1866. [6] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with nine bays facing onto Church Street; the central bay, which projected forward, featured a four-stage tower with an arched doorway on the ground floor, an arched opening with a canopy on the first floor, a pair of lancet windows on the second floor and a rose window in the final stage. [1] The tower, which was decorated with octagonal turrets at each corner in the final stage, was flanked by sections which contained five-light mullioned windows on the ground floor, two-light traceried windows on the first floor and dormer windows on the second floor. [1] Internally, the rooms on the ground floor on either side of the tower was used for academic purposes; a corridor emanating from the tower led to a large public hall at the rear of the building and there was a smaller public hall on the first floor at the front of the building. [11]

The building was damaged by a fire on 11 December 1882 but was fully restored the following year. [1] The burgh council relocated to the Municipal Buildings in Glasgow Road in 1903, [12] and the academy relocated to a site formerly occupied by Braehead House in Townend Road in August 1914. [6] The primary department briefly moved back into the building in 1921 but moved out to Townend Road in 1937. [6] The whole building then became a dedicated events venue: concert performers included the contralto singer, Kathleen Ferrier, who made an appearance on 3 April 1945. [13]

After being badly damaged in a fire in 1976, [3] the burgh hall was briefly used as the education offices of the South of Scotland Electricity Board before it then fell vacant and began deteriorating. [1] In the early 1990s, the council proposed complete demolition of the building but the proposal was rejected by the Secretary of State for Scotland in March 1994. [8] A programme of stabilisation works, which involved the demolition of most of the structure behind the façade, was completed in 2008. [8]

After funding was secured from various public bodies including Historic Environment Scotland in October 2015, [14] Lendlease commenced a programme of restoration works to a scheme by Keppie Design. [15] The scheme, which cost £15.7 million, involved the construction of a new structure behind the façade for use as the main offices of West Dunbartonshire Council. [15] The council moved from its old offices at Garshake Road into the newly restored building in July 2018. [15]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Historic Environment Scotland. "Burgh Hall, Church Street, Dumbarton (LB24874)" . Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  2. ↑ Dumbarton Burgh Records 1627 to 1746. 1860. p. 11.
  3. 1 2 "Dumbarton Heritage Trail". West Dunbartonshire Council. p. 6. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 Historic Environment Scotland. "Dumbarton, Church Street, Sheriff Court (121426)". Canmore . Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  5. ↑ "Photographic copy of engraved view of Dumbarton Old Tolbooth and adjacent Mackenzie House, copied from "Dumbarton Ancient and Modern"". Canmore. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Dumbarton Academy". Archives Hub. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  7. ↑ "Ordnance Survey Map". 1862. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  8. 1 2 3 "Dumbarton Academy and Public Hall (Former), Church Street, Dumbarton". Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  9. ↑ "Dumbarton Burgh Halls and Committee Rooms and Dumbarton Academy". Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  10. ↑ Irving, Joseph (1879). The Book of Dunbartonshire (PDF). W. and A. K. Johnson. p. 141.
  11. ↑ "Dumbarton Burgh Hall and Academy". Archiseek. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  12. ↑ Historic Environment Scotland. "Glasgow Road Municipal Buildings and Gatepiers (LB24881)" . Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  13. ↑ Fifield, Christopher (2011). Letters and Diaries of Kathleen Ferrier: Revised and Enlarged Edition. Boydell Press. p. 242. ISBN   978-1843830917.
  14. ↑ "Funding boost for Dumbarton Academy restoration". Dumbarton and Vale of Leven Reporter. 26 October 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  15. 1 2 3 "West Dunbartonshire Council settles into flagship HQ". Urban Realm. 31 July 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
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