Dumbarton Burgh Hall
Dumbarton Burgh Hall
LocationChurch Street, Dumbarton
Coordinates55°56′38″N 4°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
Dumbarton Burgh Hall is located in West Dunbartonshire
Dumbarton Burgh Hall
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]

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

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

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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