Description

James Chalmers, 1893. Two-storey, asymmetrical, T-plan Scots Renaissance hall and reading rooms. Rubble with harl pointing, red sandstone dressings, margins; Jacobethan detailing.

Southwest elevation: L-plan, advanced gable to left, round tower entrance at re-entrant angle, lower gable to outer right, single storey narrow gabled block to outer left. Main broad gable, two-stage, tripartite mullioned and transomed, segmental-headed windows, upper leaded panes; principal floor window with raised louvered sandstone panel above centre window, broken pediment with strapwork detail; balcony supported on substantial consoles, barley-sugar balusters. Round entrance tower deeply set in re-entrant angle to right. Door with roll-moulded surround, strapwork panel above, small window to left, taller window above, corbelled sandstone chamfer bridging gap between gable and tower; octagonal parapet top with jettied, triangular pedimented surround to elongated orielled dormerhead; conical roof. Lower gabled entrance block to right; elaborate pilastered and pedimented doorpiece encompassing wide round-arched entrance, window at principal floor. Wide arched entrance recess, fluted arch moulding with alternating, banded vermiculated, basket-work and chevron-patterned voussoirs; armorial plaque above keystone of elephant carrying castle, inscribed with legend 'FORTITUDO ET FIDELITAS'. Canted red glazed brick side walls canted in recessed door at centre, two-leaf panelled door with 16-pane large fanlight.

Southeast elevation: asymmetrical block advanced to left, gable breaking eaves to outer right, window at ground left at right return, window at centre at gablehead. Hall recessed to right, later rendered piend-roofed block at re-entrant angle; window to outer right at hall.

Four-pane and eight-pane over plate glass timber sash and case windows. Red clay tiles with terracotta coping; sandstone coping to skews.

Interior: wooden stair with strapwork detailing. Tablet to left in vestibule inscribed 'Burgh of Cove and Kilcreggan Public Halls, opened 5th May 1895 by Provost Donaldson'. New floor level at library.

Statement of Interest

The town hall and reading rooms were built in 1893 by James Chalmers, on land purchased from the Duke of Argyll. The building is a good example of the Scots Renaissance style with good quality external sandstone detailing and internal joinery, and it is an important focus along the Rosneath Road.

The villages of Cove and Kilgreggan were created by the 8th Duke of Argyll in 1849 and developed as an area of large summer residences for wealthy Glasgow businessmen. The two villages were made into a Burgh in 1865, however they lacked a venue for public and social meetings. A project to build a Burgh Hall was initiated in 1891, by Charles William Cayzer a London born business man with a summer residence in Cove, who became provost of the burgh. Funding was raised through public subscription and a design competition was launched. This was won by James Chalmers a relatively unknown architect from Glasgow. Cove Burgh Halls is one of his earliest known works, although he also built a number of warehouses, churches, and villas.

Statement of Special Interest and References sections updated in 2018.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Burgh Hall and Reading Room, Rosneath Road, Cove at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q17775068

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

• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)