Greenock Municipal Buildings is a municipal structure in Clyde Square,

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

, Scotland. The municipal buildings, which are the headquarters of

Inverclyde Council Inverclyde Council is one of the 32 Local authorities of Scotland, local authorities of Scotland, covering the Inverclyde council area. In its current form the council was created in 1996, replacing the previous Inverclyde District Council which ...

, are Category A listed.

History

The first municipal building on the site was an 18th-century town house which was built on land acquired from

Lord Cathcart Earl Cathcart is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. History The title was created in 1814 for the soldier and diplomat William Cathcart, 1st Viscount Cathcart. The Cathcart family descends from Sir Alan Cathcart, who sometime bet ...

. The works were carried out by a local builder, James Wallace, for £240 and the building was completed in 1765.Smith 1927, p. 15 Lord Cathcart insisted that the local masonic lodge should be allowed to hold meetings in the building. The building was enlarged and remodelled in the

neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

at a cost of £1,700 in 1858. Now referred to as the "town hall", it faced northeast onto Dalrymple Street. An organ designed and manufactured by

Forster and Andrews Forster and Andrews was a British organ building company between 1843 and 1924. The company was formed by James Alderson Forster (1818–1886) and Joseph King Andrews (1820–1896), who had been employees of the London organ builder J. C. Bisho ...

, with three manuals and 27 stops, was installed in the building in 1862. Following significant population growth, largely associated with the

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

industry, the burgh leaders decided in the late 1870s to procure new municipal buildings: after some debate, it was decided to acquire existing properties around the town hall, to demolish these properties and to wrap the new municipal buildings around the old town hall.Smith 1927, p. 37 The design competition, for which there were over 80 entries, was won by

H & D Barclay Hugh Barclay (1829–1892) and David Barclay FRIBA (1846–1917) were Scottish architects operating in the late 19th and early 20th centuries under the name of H & D Barclay. They specialised in the design of schools and colleges, but also did con ...

. However, burgh leaders failed to assemble the complete site: Robert Cowan of the drapers, Cowan & Lawrie, refused to sell his shop in the southeast corner of the site and it ultimately remained in place. The foundation stone for the new building was laid by the provost, Dugald Campbell, on 6 August 1881.Smith 1927, p. 38 It was designed in the

Italianate style The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Ita ...

, built in

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

stone at a cost of £197,061 and was completed in 1886. The design involved a broadly symmetrical main frontage with eleven bays facing southwest onto Cathcart Square, with the centre bay and the end bays slightly projected forward. The ground floor was arcaded with the openings flanked with marble

Corinthian order The Corinthian order (, ''Korinthiakós rythmós''; ) is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric or ...

columns; the right hand section contained a round headed doorway flanked by two pairs of columns supporting an

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

and a

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

with the burgh

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

in the tympanum. Above the doorway was a statue depicting

commerce Commerce is the organized Complex system, system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions that directly or indirectly contribute to the smooth, unhindered large-scale exchange (distribution through Financial transaction, transactiona ...

in a

niche Niche may refer to: Science *Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development and growth *Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species *Niche differentiation, in ec ...

. There were

oriel window An oriel window is a form of bay window which protrudes from the main wall of a building but does not reach to the ground. Supported by corbels, bracket (architecture), brackets, or similar cantilevers, an oriel window generally projects from an ...

s decorated with

Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic classical order, orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric order, Doric and the Corinthian order, Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan order, Tuscan (a plainer Doric) ...

columns in the centre and end bays on the first floor, and smaller windows on the second floor. The structure was dominated by the high structure which was named the "Victoria Tower". The building was badly damaged in the Greenock Blitz in May 1941 during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

: the tower on the northwest corner survived but a tower on the southwest corner was completely destroyed. Two pediments on the south façade were also destroyed. They were never rebuilt. Cowan's shop was also completely ruined and, after the council eventually secured ownership of the plot in the early 1950s, it was landscaped and became a garden known as "Cowan's Corner". The town hall continued to serve as the headquarters of Greenock Burgh Council for much of the 20th century and remained the local seat of government after the enlarged Inverclyde District Council was formed in 1975. Following completion of a major programme of restoration works to the ground floor of the complex to a design by BMJ Architects, a new customer contact centre was re-opened by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

in July 2012. Repairs to the deteriorating sheriff's courtroom, which had closed in December 2009, began in July 2018 and renewal of the glazing above the carriageway that runs through the complex began in July 2020. Works of art in the municipal buildings include a landscape painting of

Gourock Gourock ( ; ) is a town in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area and formerly a burgh of the County of Renfrew in the west of Scotland. It was a resort town, seaside resort on the East shore of the upper Firth of Clyde. Its ma ...

by John Fleming and a painting depicting a house in West Blackhall Street in Greenock by

Norman Macbeth Norman Macbeth (1821 in Greenock – 27 February 1888 in London) was a Scottish portraitist. Life He was born at Greenock, where his father James Macbeth was an excise official. He served a seven years' apprenticeship as an engraver in Glasg ...

Notes

References

Sources

*{{cite book, last=Smith, first=Robert Murray , url=https://www.inverclyde.gov.uk/assets/attach/5139/R.M.-Smith-The-History-of-Greenock-Complete-CC.pdf , title=The History of Greenock, year=1927, publisher=Orr, Pollock & Co. Government buildings completed in 1886 City chambers and town halls in Scotland Buildings and structures in Greenock Category A listed buildings in Inverclyde 1886 establishments in Scotland

History

See also

Notes

References

Sources