Stranraer Sheriff Court, Stranraer, Dumfries and Galloway

Description

Thomas Brown and James Maitland Wardrop, 1871-1874; remodelled 1882 and circa 1939; further alterations and additions by Property Services Agency, circa 1970s. 2-storey and attic, 3-bay roughly square plan sheriff court house in Flemish Gothic style with 4-stage, square-plan tower at northeast corner. Red Galashiels sandstone with buff Hexham stone dressings. String courses dividing storeys to east elevation, long and short quoins. Pointed arch openings at first floor and long and short surrounds to openings.

The east (entrance) elevation has a slightly advanced doorpiece at centre with a hoodmoulded pointed arch leading to a 2-leaf timber door flanked by single windows, and balustrade parapet with stone ball finials. Tripartite lancet windows with stone mullions at first floor with a recessed plaque of Stranraer arms above and lion rampant at gable apex. Bipartite lancet windows with stone mullion at first floor to outer bays. Crowstepped gables to each bay, those to outer bays with small single windows. Corbelled chimneys at gable apexes and crocketed finials divide gables. Dragon gargoyles on corners to outer left and right.

The west (rear) elevation is 9 bays (arranged 2-2-5), with a flat-roofed harled extension to the left dating to circa 1939. There is gabled dormer at attic in bay to the right of the tower. The tower has steps leading to a porch with a round-arched opening, there are single windows at the 2nd stage and a single window to the north elevation only at the 3rd stage. Broached at apex and stone-spired octagonal belfry.

4- and 6-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows. Grey slate roof with predominantly corniced gablehead Tudor stacks, some wallhead stacks and circular cans. Cast iron rainwater goods with hoppers dated 1872.

The interior, seen in 2014, is arranged with court service and public offices at ground floor and a north facing courtroom on the first floor accessed from 3 large Romanesque arches leading to an open well staircase with decorative iron balusters, timber handrail and timber balustrade to 1st floor landing. Large rectangular-plan and coombed light well with coffered plasterwork to staircase. Former police station and prison block to rear of the building, converted to courtroom and offices circa 1882, holds cells and police functions at the ground floor with a courtroom at the first floor with round arched windows facing west. This courtroom has 6-panel doors and a high, pointed arch ceiling with simple rib vaulting on decorative corbelles. There is a timber sheriff's bench and some remaining original timber panelling to the well barrier. The sheriff's chamber is accessed from behind the bench and was created as part of the 1880s scheme. There is some decorative cornicing and panelled doors to other rooms and the hallways, and a number of fireplaces (many now boarded up). Evidence of the former county hall gallery situated towards the east (principal) elevation remains, accessed from the attic, and retaining a decorative cast iron gallery balustrade with inset cypher '1872'. Two cells from the original 1872 scheme remain each with studded steel doors at ground floor.

War memorial, in front of court house, dates to 1920 and comprises a Creetown granite square pedestal supporting bronze statue of Royal Scots Fusilier. Square plan gatepiers with pyramidal caps are located to vehicular entrances to outer left and right. Coped boundary walls enclose site, some sections to the east with pyramidal coping.

Statement of Interest

Stranraer Sheriff Court dates to 1871 and 1882 and was designed by the successful architectural practice, Brown and Wardrop. The building is a significant example of civic architecture in Stranraer with a distinctive landmark bell tower. Internally, the court has been moderately altered and retains some of its original courtroom components and decorative features. In our current state of knowledge it continues to meet the criteria for listing.

John Wood's 1845 map of Stranraer indicates the proposed site of the new county hall, however the footprint of the building first appears on the 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey map (surveyed 1893). The final cost of construction upon completion in 1874 was £7,000. The building was remodelled in 1882 and this work included the conversion of the rear gabled block from a prison to create a court house police station and county hall. Unusually the principal courtroom is located to the rear of the building. The Ministry of Defence used part of the rear block during the Second World War and the flat roofed rendered extension to the rear evidences this use. The county hall, to the front of the building, was transformed in the 1980s to provide further court function accommodation. The ceiling and balustrade of the former hall can still be seen from a small gallery.

Thomas Brown II (1806-circa 1872) began his architectural career in his father's firm. He probably worked in the office of William Burn prior to being appointed as architect to the Prison Board of Scotland in 1837 and setting up his own independent office in Edinburgh. James Maitland Wardrop (1823-1882) was articled to Thomas Brown, becoming a partner in the practice in 1849. As architect to the Prison Board of Scotland, Brown had extensive experience in designing county court houses and prisons, the design work of which Wardrop gradually took over, which included the court houses of Wigtown (1862), Alloa (1863), Forfar (1869), Angus (1869) and Stirling (designed 1866, built 1874) (see separate listings). The practice were also highly successful at remodelling and designing country houses. The Flemish Gothic style adopted at Stranraer was undoubtedly influenced from both Brown and Wardrop previously working in the offices of William Burn and David Bryce respectively.

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. Unusually Stranraer court house originally incorporated a prison; however, little of this prison remains following the late 19th century remodelling other than some 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.

Statutory address and listed building record revised as part of the Scottish Courts Listing Review 2014-15. Previously listed as 'Lewis Street, Sheriff Court House including War Memorial, Gatepiers and Boundary Walls'.

External Links

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