Description

Robert Reid, 1811-14; gutted and reconstructed as registry office by

R Saddler of Ministry of Public Building and Works, 1964-70. Square plan neo-classical former church with dome displaced to front and pavilions at each corner. Polished cream sandstone ashlar. Broad flight of steps to tetrastyle Ionic portico in antis supporting balustrade, and containing 3 bays with arched smoked plate glass entrance at centre; flanking single bay pavilions with base course, recessed arch with rectangular window and oculus, impost course, blank frieze panels and panelled attic storey. Dome supported by massive square base and peristyle drum, every 4th bay blocked by niche, with balustrade, oculi and fluted frieze to upper section; slender copper clad ribbed dome crowned by further ?Tempietto? lantern with gilded dome and cross. Side elevations with pair of large windows at centre and projecting 3-bay pavilions at rear with tripartite window in arched recess flanked by niches.

Rear elevation with projecting 3-bay centrepiece with loading bay at ground, Venetian window at 1st floor and Diocletian window at 2nd floor.

INTERIOR: 2-storey entrance/exhibition hall with mezzanine reading room at front. Flanked by 5 floors of storage.

Statement of Interest

Ecclesiastical building no longer in use as such. Crown Property. Reid reinterpreted Robert Adam?s design of 1791, in a bolder and simpler manner, with a Greek cross plan superimposed on a square; he planned clock stages for the pavilions. Total cost was almost ?24,000 (compare with ?5,000 for St Andrew?s Church 30 years earlier). Bryce drew up plans for adding towers to Reid?s pavilions, but these were never carried out. The pavilion windows and oculi were opened up in 1964.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• West Register House at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q17570491

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6