Old Town Hall, Ardrossan
| Old Town Hall | |
|---|---|
.jpg) The building in 2010 | |
| Location | Harbour Street, Ardrossan |
| Coordinates | 55°38′24″N 4°48′55″W / 55.6400°N 4.8154°W |
| Built | 1859 |
| Architectural style(s) | Neoclassical style |
  Shown in North Ayrshire | |
Ardrossan Civic Centre is a municipal building in Glasgow Street in Ardrossan, a town in North Ayrshire, Scotland. The building, which was previously the offices and meeting place of Ardrossan Burgh Council, is currently used as a masonic hall.
History
[edit]Following significant growth in population, largely associated with the status of Ardrossan as a seaport, and following extensive lobbying by Hugh Montgomerie, 12th Earl of Eglinton whose seat was at Eglinton Castle, the area became a burgh in 1846.[1][2][3] In this context the new burgh leaders decided to commission a town hall: the site they selected was at the corner of Harbour Street and Princes Street.[4] The foundation stone for the new building was laid by the factor of the Eglinton Castle estate, George Johnstone Redburn, with full masonic honours, on 30 October 1858.[5]
The old town hall was designed in the neoclassical style, built in red sandstone and completed in around 1859.[6] The design involved an asymmetrical frontage extending for four bays along each of the two streets. The Princes Street elevation featured a round headed opening with a rusticated surround in the right hand bay. It was fenestrated with casement windows on the ground floor and with sash windows with alternating segmental and triangular pediments on the first floor and there was a parapet above. A clock, with a stone surround and an acroterion above, was presented by the then provost, John Hogarth, and unveiled at the corner of the building above the parapet in June 1887.[7]
In the 19th century, Justice of the Peace court hearings were typically held in the town hall.[8] Meanwhile, a police station was subsequently established on the opposite side of Princes Street.[9][10]
The building continued to serve as the offices and meeting place for Ardrossan Burgh Council for most of the first half of the 20th century, but ceased to be the local seat of government when the council sold the old town hall to the local masonic lodge, in an exchange of properties involving a building known as Castlecraigs, in August 1946.[11][12][13]
After being damaged in a storm, the mechanical clock on the old town hall was given an electric mechanism in November 1983,[14] and the exterior of the building was cleaned, with financial support from the Historic Buildings Council for Scotland, in late 1997.[15] The building continues to accommodate the offices and meeting place of the local masonic lodge.[16]
References
[edit]- ^ "Ardrossan Burgh". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Ardrossan (41126)". Canmore. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "Burgh Centenary – Exhibition opened at Ardrossan – Mr Johnston's Praise". The Scotsman. 9 June 1947. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
- ^ "Ordnance Survey Six-inch 1st edition, 1843–1882". Retrieved 26 August 2024.
- ^ "Fiftieth anniversary of the Burgh of Ardrossan". The Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald. 30 October 1896.
- ^ Scotland. Vol. 5. The Building News and Engineering Journal. 8 June 1859. p. 546.
- ^ "Ardrossan Town Hall Clock". The Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald. 17 June 1887. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
- ^ "Ardrossan – Contravention of the Merchant Shipping Act". Glasgow Herald. 19 May 1882.
- ^ "Ardrossan Police Station". Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald. 16 December 1960.
- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Ardrossan, 8 Harbour Street, Old Constabulary (232201)". Canmore. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
- ^ "About us". Lodge St John Royal Arch Saltcoats and Ardrossan No. 320. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
- ^ "Ardossan Trail" (PDF). Heritage Trails. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Town Hall, Glasgow Street, Ardrossan (LB21267)". Retrieved 28 October 2021.
- ^ "Masonic Hall, Harbour Street". Retrieved 30 August 2024.
- ^ Annual Reports of the Historic Buildings Council for Scotland. H. M. Stationery Office. 1995. p. 21.
- ^ "Police investigating after break-in at Ardrossan Masonic Lodge". Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald. 24 April 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2021.