Boundary Wall, Gatepier and Railings, Greenock, Inverclyde

Description

John Dick Peddie and Charles George Hood Kinnear, 1867-69. 2-storey and attic, 7-bay, symmetrical Scots Baronial sheriff court with prominent advanced central 4-stage square-plan tower with pyramidal roof topped with an open spire. The single-storey extension to north and 2-storey extension to east are not considered of special interest in listing terms at time of review.

The 2-storey and attic building is T-plan with adjoining single storey sections to rear at north and south, forming a square plan. The building is faced in sandstone ashlar with moulded architraves. It has a base course, band course, crow-stepped gables to side elevations and machicolations to the eaves course with decorative water spouts. There are bartizans to the corners, angled buttresses and some decorative engaged columns at corners. There are segmental-arched windows at the ground floor and gabled and pinnacle dormers at attic level.

The entrance elevation has central steps which lead to a segmental-arched doorway with engaged decorative columns and with corbelled balcony above. There is a machiolated balcony to the tower with pierce quatrefoil decoration.

The building has predominantly replacement plate glass in timber sash and case windows. There are grey slates, some wallhead stacks and cast iron downpipes.

The interior, seen in 2014, is arranged around a central east-facing courtroom on the ground floor and with an imperial staircase to the north. The 1867 room layout has been slightly modified, but much of the 1867 plan remains. The court has a number of 6-panel doors and a high, deeply coved ceiling with moulded and decorative cornicing. There are segmentally-arched clerestorey windows set within deep arches. There is raked public pew seating and a timber gallery to the east on iron columns. There is an unusually wide timber sheriff's bench with Ionic column decoration and panelled back and sounding board. Other fittings were replaced in the 1990s, including the access hatch from the basement cells to the dock. There is some decorative cornicing to other rooms and the hallways. The staircase has decorative metal balusters and a timber handrail.

Low ashlar boundary wall to west with metal railings and with pair of pyramidal-capped gatepiers.

Statement of Interest

Greenock Sheriff Court dates to 1867 and was designed by the successful Edinburgh architectural practice of John Dick Peddie and Charles George Hood Kinnear. The building is a significant example of civic architecture as well as being an important early example of Scots Baronial design for a public building. Built in high quality materials, it has a distinctive and prominent central tower and forms a focal point in one of the main streets in the town. Internally, the court has been moderately altered but retains some of its original courtroom components and decorative features.

Greenock Sheriff Court opened in 1869 and is first is depicted on the 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey Map of 1897 as the County Court Buildings. There was originally a prison to the rear, which was demolished in 1936. In 1980-81 an extension was added to the north of the building housing a second court and associated offices. In the early part of the 1990s, further accommodation was added to the east.

The first court in Greenock was established in 1815; prior to this the nearest sheriff court was in Paisley. By 1815, Greenock was an important trading town and the population was increasing, and it was thought necessary that it should have its own court. Initially, the court was held at the town hall, until 1834 when the first purpose-built court house and prison opened, and this was subsequently replaced in 1869.

The partnership of John Dick Peddie and Charles George Hood Kinnear existed between 1856 and 1878 and it continued as a leading practice in Scotland up to the Second World War. Kinnear's earlier association with William Burn and David Bryce was a significant influence on the practice. The partnership was very successful from the beginning and there were numerous commissions for high status public and commercial buildings, schools and churches across Scotland.

The development of the court house as a building type in Scotland follows the history of the Scottish legal system and wider government reforms. The majority of purpose-built court houses were constructed in the 19th century as by this time there was an increase in the separation of civic, administrative and penal functions into separate civic and institutional buildings, and the resultant surge of public building was promoted by new institutional bodies. The introduction of the Sheriff Court Houses (Scotland) Act of 1860 gave a major impetus to the increase and improvement of court accommodation and the provision of central funding was followed by the most active period of sheriff court house construction in the history of the Scottish legal system, and many new court houses were built or reworked after this date.

Court houses constructed after 1860 generally had a solely legal purpose and did not incorporate a prison, other than temporary holding cells. The courts were designed in a variety of architectural styles but often relied heavily on Scots Baronial features to reference the fortified Scottish building tradition. Newly constructed court buildings in the second half of the 19th century dispensed with large public spaces such as county halls and instead provided bespoke office accommodation for the sheriff, judge and clerks, and accommodated the numerous types of court and holding cells.

The single-storey extension to the north and the 2-storey extension to the east are not considered to be of special interest in listing terms at the time of the review (2014-15).

Statutory address and listed building record revised as part of the Scottish Courts Listing Review 2014-15. Previously listed as 'County Court Buildings, Nelson Street'.

External Links

Historic Environment Scotland Listing

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