Springbank Distillery, Glebe Street, Campbeltown, Campbeltown, Argyll and Bute

Description

Substantial complex of distillery buildings, earliest dating from 1828. Buildings including office at centre, principal building to SW approximate T-plan including still house, malt bins, mash tun, and stores. Kiln situated at W end, linking to maltings and barley loft. To E and N include a cooperage, bottling halls, and variety of warehouses and stores.

OFFICE: single storey, 3-bay symmetrical building at centre of complex. Stugged squared and snecked sandstone S and W elevations, random rubble elsewhere, droved ashlar details. 4-panel entrance door with plate glass fanlight above centring S front. Flanking plate glass timber sash and case bipartite windows. Plate glass timber sash and case windows with steel bars at right and left of E and W elevations respectively. Grey slate roof with cast-iron gutters and downpipes, stugged ashlar 2-flue apex stacks, coped with circular cans, ashlar skew copes.

WAREHOUSE NO 3: single storey warehousing adjoined to N of office, double-pile plan giving M-roof. Random rubble walls with stugged sandstone dressings. M-gabled W elevation, horizontal window with iron bar centring left gable, 2-leaf vertically-boarded timber door to left of right gable, matching window to right. Corrugated sheet cladding and concrete skews to roof.

STILL HOUSE, MILL, MALT BINS, MASH TUN, WASH BACKS AND STORES: 3-storey 7-bay malt bin, and store building to Well Close with double-pile 3-storey 5-bay Mill, Stillhouse, and Mash Tun range projecting to N at rear giving approximate T-plan. Rubble walls (whitewashed to E) with stugged ashlar lintels.

S (WELL CLOSE) ELEVATION: 7 regular bays, some openings rubble-infilled including 2nd floor openings except for boarded opening at outer right. Rubble-infilled door to left of penultimate bay to right. Large mesh-infilled modern opening at 1st floor bay to outer left. Rubble-infilled. Modern steel angle-irons between each bay.

E (COURTYARD) ELEVATION: end wall of Wells Close elevation advanced at outer left, window centred at 2nd floor and door at ground floor to outer right. Single storey brick and rubble lean to projecting to N at right. 5-bay courtyard elevation set back at right, 3-storey painted brick and corrugated-iron addition with loft in re-entrant at left, segmental-arched opening at 1st bay with brick voussoirs, 2-leaf vertically-boarded timber doors with iron hinges and multi-pane fanlight above. Cast-iron pulley wheel fronting vertically-boarded timber shuttered opening at bay to right. 2-storey L-plan stugged ashlar draft drainer at bay to right surmounted by metal tank supported at left by tall cast-iron columns. 3-pane fixed-light at ground floor of bay to right, vertically-boarded timber shutters to opening below. Vertically-boarded timber doors to opening set in brick infill at bay to right. Plate glass fixed-light at by to outer right, adjacent corner curved at ground floor.

N ELEVATION: end elevations of wash back and spirit store, that to right advanced. 3-bay spirit store to left, 8-pane fixed-light with iron bars centred at ground floor, multi-pane fixed-lights at 1st and 2nd floors. Wash back advanced at right , partially obscured at ground floor by dry goods store. Iron bars to opening to ground floor left, vertically-boarded shuttering to opening above, 6-pane fixed-light at 2nd floor to left of centre.

INTERIOR: floors of Malt Bins area removed, open timber roof above. Timber malt dresser and weighing machine surviving in Mill. Cast-iron trussed roof to Wash Backs. Open timber roof to Filter and Spirit Stores.

Piended grey slate roof to Malt Bins and Store, partial corrugated sheeting to N range, cast-iron gutters and downpipes.

KILN: blank harled 3-storey elevation set back at left of Wells Close elevation of malt bins. Large square modern brick chimney with concrete cope at S pitch Tall square red-painted brick chimney centring N elevation.

MALTINGS AND BARLEY LOFT: double-pile L-plan range with 6 and 11-bay elevations to Glebe Street and Wells Close respectively. Rubble walls with droved and stugged dressings.

W (GLEBE STREET) ELEVATION: regularly fenestrated except for vertically-boarded timber loading door at 1st floor of penultimate bay to left, margined openings at ground and 1st floor with rendered infill to upper lights and vertically-boarded timber shutters to lower lights.

S (WELL CLOSE) ELEVATION: 2-storey 11-bay elevation. Wallhead at

4 bays at outer right built up to height of bays to left.

N ELEVATION: 9-bay 3-storey elevation with M-gable advanced at outer right. Some modern concrete lintels and brick reveals to windows. Modern doors at each floor of bay to outer right, single windows centring each gablehead and flanking centre.

M-roof , piended at SW corner, with grey slates surviving at W end. Cast-iron gutters and downpipes.

NEW BOTTLING HALL: long single storey range along Well Close with shorter range alongside to N, giving M gable to W. Random rubble walls with stugged sandstone dressings.

S (WELL CLOSE) ELEVATION: 7 bays, horizontal windows with iron bars below eaves.

W ELEVATION: M-gable with modern door to left of right gable.

N ELEVATION: horizontal windows below eaves, some evidence of infilled openings, modern opening at outer left with brick reveals. Large opening in E gable of N range.

Corrugated metal sheeting with cast-iron gutters and downpipes to M-roof.

WHISKY BOTTLING PLANT: 5-bay 2-storey double-pile building with M-roof.

N (WELL CLOSE) ELEVATION: 2-leaf vertically-boarded timber doors at brick-infilled opening to outer left. Wide brick infilled openings at centre and flanking. Horizontal windows with iron bars at 1st floor, and inserted between bays at ground floor. Open timber roof, grey slate finish with cast-iron gutters and downpipes.

COOPERAGE: double-pile building, to E of office, of rectangular plan comprising 2 ranges, 2-storey rubble and brick range to N, 3-storey rubble range to S. Profiled sheet metal M-roof.

W ELEVATION: M-gable, that to right slightly advanced. 3-bay gable to left, vertically-boarded timber doors in bay to left, hatch at centre bay, 2-leaf in bay to right with glazed upper. 2-bay gable to right, fixed light at 1st floor right bay, vertically-boarded timber door in bay to left accessed by brick and concrete stair. 2-pane fixed-light in gablehead.

S ELEVATION: variety of openings at ground floor, evenly fenestrated 1st floor.

N ELEVATION: closely spaced fixed lights at 1st floor.

STORE: rectangular partially harled and gabled rubble building to N of cooperage. Brick reveals to openings, 2-leaf vertically boarded timber doors to centre and right of W gable, horizontally-boarded timber infill to left. Timber barge boards and corrugated-iron roof.

DRY GOODS STORE: single storey double-pile building of rubble and stugged sandstone, with profiled sheet metal roof and concrete skews.

E ELEVATION: 2 widely spaced bays with rubble infill to opening at bay to right.

N ELEVATION: M-gable, horizontal window with iron bars at left of centre of left gable and at left and right of right gable.

DUTY FREE WAREHOUSES 7, 8, AND 9: 2-storey 13-bay double-pile warehouse lining N extent of site. Rubble walls with stugged sandstone dressings, eaves and skews built up in brick. Grey slate M-roof with cast-iron gutters and downpipes.

S ELEVATION: segmental-arched openings with brick voussoirs in 4th, 6th (brick infilled), 9th, and 12th bays. Ground floor windows to outer left 3 bays with iron bars. Horizontal slit windows with bars elsewhere at ground and 1st floor except over arches.

W (GLEBE STREET) ELEVATION: M-gable, rubble-infilled windows flanking centres at ground floor. Iron bars in windows centring gables at 1st floor.

E ELEVATION: M-gable, 4-bay single storey old cooperage projecting from right gable. 4-pane fixed lights, vertically-boarded timber entrance door at bay to outer right (S elevation) and centred at 1st floor of gable end.

Statement of Interest

The extensive building of distilleries in Campbeltown after 1815 was due to the introduction of new government licensing regulations in 1814-15. During his visit in the late 19th century, Barnard observed "(the) distillery is situated at the heart of the Whisky City, and stands in its own grounds of upwards of 10 acres. The buildings, which cover three acres, have a frontage to the street of 600 feet, and at the back there is a small grass park. The distillery was built in the year 1828, by the father-in-law of the present proprietors (J & A Mitchell & Co), and is more conveniently arranged than some of the old works. The establishment is built in the form of a quadrangle, and there is only one gateway".

External Links

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