Description

Alexander Campbell, 1900. 3-storey and attic asymmetrical Scots Baronial tenement of L-plan and various floor heights on rising site with 12-bay elevation to Harbour Street (S) and 3-bay elevation to Commercial Road (E), including chamfered corner bay. Stugged squared and snecked sandstone walls with polished ashlar dressings and details.

S (HARBOUR STREET) ELEVATION: asymmetrical, 12 bays grouped 3-3-2-4. Group to outer left near symmetrical; left bay; 6-panel 2-leaf timber door at ground, 4-pane timber sash and case window to left with border glazed upper sash. 2-storey 3-light canted oriel corbelled out at 1st floor, breaking eaves at 2nd floor with crowstepped gablehead surmounted by thistle finial. Centre bay; 6-panel timber door with curved flanking diamond-pane side-lights to left, glazed timber infill to door adjacent at right; hoodmoulded blank panel centred at 1st floor, bipartite window at floor above fronted by bracketted stone balcony with balustraded parapet linking oriel at left to matching oriel to right of centre bay. Window at ground, matching that at outer left vertically-boarded timber door with semicircular hoodmould adjacent to right. Decorative stone bartizan corbelled out and breaking eaves at SW corner.

3-bay group to right symmetrical; 12-panel 2-leaf timber door with border-glazed fanlight centred at ground, flanking fixed-lights with border-glazed uppers. 3-light canted oriels corbelled out at 1st floor flanking blank centre bay. Dormers breaking eaves above; crowstepped stone dormerheads with thistle finials.

2-bay group to right asymmetrical; 6-panel 2-leaf timber door with plate glass fanlight at ground in bay to left; blank elevation above with crowstepped chimney-gable breaking eaves. Matching door to left, and window adjacent to right, in bay to right; bipartite windows at 1st and 2nd floors.

4-bay group to outer right asymmetrical, comprising 3 bays to left with crowstepped chimney-gable and chamfered corner bay to right. Shopfront with corniced frieze at ground. Left bays; blank centre bay with hoodmoulded blank panel at 2nd floor; shop window at ground in bay to right; bipartite windows at ground in bay to left, and 1st floor to left and right; single window in bay to left in gablehead. Corner bay; shop window at ground; 3-light canted oriel corbelled out at 2nd floor extending into corniced circular tower breaking eaves.

E (COMMERCIAL ROAD) ELEVATION: 2-bay near-symmetrical elevation; shopfront (with corniced frieze) containing modern entrance door in penultimate bay to right and 3 closely spaced windows to left. Bipartite windows at 1st floor; 2-storey 3-light canted oriels corbelled out at 2nd floor, breaking eaves at 3rd floor with crowstepped and ball finialled dormerheads.

N (REAR) ELEVATION: asymmetrical, with rubble and cement-rendered and lined walls, irregular fenestration; chimney-gables breaking eaves.

Timber sash and case windows, predominantly plate glass with some 4-pane to attic; variety to rear elevation and border glazed fixed- lights to stairs windows. Purple-grey slate roofs; fishscale pattern with lead finials to bellcast conical corner tower roof and bartizan; gabled and louvered timber and lead ventilators with quatrefoil decoration and finials to S pitch; profiled cast-iron gutters and downpipes, some with hoppers and decorative brackets. Ashlar skew copes with gabled and bracketted skewputts. Stugged sandstone stacks, coped, with predominantly octagonal cans.

Statement of Interest

The firm of Gnash Brothers erected Brentham Place, its first tenant being the Customs House. On its prominent corner site, this building provides an impressive focus to the N end of Commercial Street and backdrop for Fort Charlotte. It is also a distinctive feature of Lerwick?s skyline when viewed from the sea. The building neighbouring to the N, currently (1995) occupied by See & Jays, appears to date from the same building period and its design ties in exactly with the 1st and 2nd floors of Brentham Place to give a continuous street frontage.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17852376

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

• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas