Dalzell Steel Works Offices, Park Street, Motherwell, Motherwell South East and Ravenscraig, North Lanarkshire

Description

1897-1900. Cohesive run of classically-influenced steelwork buildings situated on sloping ground to N side of Park Street. Comprising red sandstone Neo-Baroque offices to SE end; detached red brick gable-ended workshop to left and further range of large red brick workshops with regular round-arched openings continuing downhill to NW.

OFFICES: Robert Harvie, 1897-99. 2-storey, 16-bay, rectangular-plan Neo-Baroque offices comprising symmetrical 7-bay section with portico to centre; 5-bay section to right and single-storey, 4-bay section to left all separated by channelled pilasters. Polished red sandstone ashlar with moulded dressings. Cill courses to ground and 1st floors; cavetto moulded eaves cornice; balustraded parapet with ball-finials. Rusticated round-arched architraves to 1st floor openings.

7-BAY SECTION: 2-leaf, timber panelled door to centre. Portico with paired marble Ionic columns on raised plinths supporting projecting entablature and balustraded balcony. Architraved window above with Ionic pilasters flanking; round-arched pediment inscribed with Colville arms breaking eaves course and terminating in open segmental-arched pediment with decorative panel inscribed 'Dalzell Steel And Iron Works'. Alternating segmental and triangular pedimented windows with clam-shell insets flank portico to ground floor. Great War memorial plaque between 4th and 5th bay.

5-BAY SECTION TO RIGHT: cavetto moulded cornice between ground and first floor; moulded architraves to ground floor windows; round-arched window to outer right.

SINGLE-STOREY, 4-BAY SECTION TO LEFT: tripartite window to 2nd outer bay; scrolled pediment breaking parapet. 2-bay to NW elevation. Gates with cushion-capped gatepiers adjoining W angle. Later additions to rear.

Plate glass in timber sash and case windows. Piended roofs. Grey slate, terracotta ridge tiles. Coped ridge stacks. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

WORKSHOPS (circa 1900): 2-storey, 4-bay, rectangular-plan, former workshop to left of offices with shouldered, pedimented gable fronting road. Red brick with raised mouldings. Base course; moulded stringcourse over round-arched openings; double cill course at 1st floor; eaves course and cavetto-style blocking cornice; oculus with buff brick dressings to tympanum. Round-arched openings to ground (partly blocked) with later vehicular entrance with timber door slapped to left. Round-arched openings to side and rear elevations predominantly blocked. Grey slate. Central ventilator to ridge.

2-storey, 7-bay, flat-roofed workshop to left: red brick; dentiled cill course to 1st floor; plain cornice. 7 pairs of polychromtic round-arched openings to ground, slightly recessed and separated by narrow pilasters. Single round-arched windows to 1st floor with raised cills. Double moulded stringcourse to SE elevation. Single-storey, 5-bay lean-to addition to rear; single-bay section breaking eaves at 2nd bay forming square plan tower.

Large, 22-bay millshop/warehouse to far left: red brick; chamfered base course; string course; cill course; cornice. Round-arch openings to ground; blocked openings above cill course returning to W (gable) elevation; coped pediment with 3 round-arched windows and coped piers to corner angles. Grey slate. 10 metal ventilators to ridge.

Statement of Interest

This lengthy and uninterrupted run of offices and millshops fronting Dalzell Steelworks are an important and rare survival. The production of steel provided one of the major themes of Scotland's industry during the late 19th and 20th centuries and the town of Motherwell became synonymous with its manufacture. These buildings, for David Colville and Sons, are the most significant extant evidence of this industry remaining in the area. The richly-detailed red sandstone Neo-Baroque offices with their Ionic portico and pedimented windows are a fine example of their building type. The prominent, classically-detailed red brick elevations of the workshops give the impression of solidity and order and are an important part of the streetscape while also serving as a reminder of the historic importance of steel to the economy of the region and Scotland as a whole. The towering gas holder (located to the E) bearing the name 'Dalzell' provides a landmark backdrop.

The Dalzell Works, sometimes alternatively spelled 'Dalziel', was the first of Colville's factories. The Dalzell Works was the first of Colville's factories. Production began in 1881, originally supplying shipbuilding and other steel-consuming industries. By the turn of the 20th century, David Colville and Sons were the biggest employer in Motherwell and by 1914 had become the dominant steelmaking company in Scotland. Although steel had been used in shipbuilding since the middle of the 19th century, its use as a construction material was fully realised towards the end of the century when mass-production began in earnest and Lanarkshire steel was exported throughout the world. It is understood that the first steel plates rolled in the United States were made from steel slabs supplied from Dalzell Works. Between 1914 and 1930, the majority of Scotland's steel production was controlled by the Colville family. Colvilles Ltd was established in 1931 which continued to dominate the industry (producing 80% of the national output during WWII) until 1967 when the company was nationalised. The Dalzell Works has managed to outlast all subsequent steelworks built in the region and its platemill is one of very few remnants of Scotland's steel industry remaining in operation (2008), rolling steel brought from England. Owned by Corus (formerly British Steel), Dalzell stands at the western entrance to what was British Steel's extensive Ravenscraig Steel Works (one of the largest in Europe - now completely demolished).

Robert Harvie, a locally born builder and architect, is best known for his contribution to church and school architecture, 12 examples of which he erected for Pugin and Pugin of Westminister. His offices for David Colville at Dalzell were constructed at a cost of 8000 pounds.

Change of category from C(S) to B and statutory address revised from 'MOTHERWELL, PARK STREET, DALZIEL STEEL WORKS, OFFICES' to 'MOTHERWELL, PARK STREET, DALZELL STEELWORKS: OFFICES AND WORKSHOPS FRONTING PARK STREET' (2008).

External Links

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