New Cumnock Town Hall is a municipal building in Castle,

New Cumnock New Cumnock is a village in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It expanded during the coal-mining era from the late 18th century, and mining remained its key industry until its pits were shut in the 1960s. The village is southeast of Cumnock, and east of ...

East Ayrshire East Ayrshire (; ) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. It shares borders with Dumfries and Galloway, East Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire. The headquarters of the council are located on London Roa ...

, Scotland. The structure, which is used as a community events venue, is a Category C

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

Following significant population growth, largely associated with the mining industry, a group of local businessmen decided to raise finance for the building of a town hall. The site they selected formed part of the

glebe A glebe (, also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s)) is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved to the church. ...

, a plot of land adjacent to New Cumnock Parish Church. The foundation stone for the new building was laid by Mrs Shaw, the wife of a local solicitor and

factor Factor (Latin, ) may refer to: Commerce * Factor (agent), a person who acts for, notably a mercantile and colonial agent * Factor (Scotland), a person or firm managing a Scottish estate * Factors of production, such a factor is a resource used ...

to the

Marquess of Bute Marquess of the County of Bute, shortened in general usage to Marquess of Bute, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1796 for John Stuart, 4th Earl of Bute. Family history John Stuart was the member of a family that ...

, Charles George Shaw, on 23 June 1888. It was designed by Allan Stevenson of

Ayr Ayr ( ; ; , meaning "confluence of the River Àir"), is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. A former royal burgh, today it is the administrative centre of South Ayrshire Council, and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With ...

in the Queen Anne style, built in red

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

at a cost of £750 and was officially opened by Charles George Shaw on 20 February 1889. The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto Castle. The left hand bay, which was significantly recessed, contained bi-partite

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid sup ...

ed windows on both floors with a

Dutch gable A Dutch gable or Flemish gable is a gable whose sides have a shape made up of one or more curves and which has a pediment at the top. The gable may be an entirely decorative projection above a flat section of roof line, or may be the terminat ...

above. The second bay featured a doorway flanked by

pilasters In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

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 an open

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 a

cartouche upalt=A stone face carved with coloured hieroglyphics. Two cartouches - ovoid shapes with hieroglyphics inside - are visible at the bottom., Birth and throne cartouches of Pharaoh KV17.html" ;"title="Seti I, from KV17">Seti I, from KV17 at the ...

in the tympanum. The right-hand section of three bays, which was projected forward and gabled, was fenestrated by tri-partite mullioned windows on both floors with an open pediment above the first-floor window. The outer bays in that section contained single windows with segmental pediments. Internally, the principal room was the main assembly hall, which had a seating capacity of 480 people. The building was acquired by the parish council in 1904: it was used for concerts and theatrical performances for much of the first half of the 20th century and served as the home of the local contingent of the

Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting ...

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 ...

. However, following the industrial decline of the town in the second half of the 20th century, the building became underused and its fabric began deteriorating. Following an approach to the

Duke of Rothesay Duke of Rothesay ( ; ; ) is the main dynastic title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the Scottish and, later, British thrones. The dukedom was created in 1398 by Robert III of Scotland for his eldest son. Duke of Rothesay i ...

and

the Prince's Foundation The King's Foundation (formerly the Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture until 2001, the Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment until 2012, the Prince's Foundation for Building Community until 2018, and the Prince's Foundation until 2 ...

, which had recently completed the restoration of

Dumfries House Dumfries House is a Palladian country house in Ayrshire, Scotland. It is located within a large estate, around west of Cumnock. Noted for being one of the few such houses with much of its original 18th-century furniture still present, including ...

, ownership of the building was transferred to the Great Steward of Scotland's Dumfries House Trust in 2015. After some initial works had been completed with financial support from

Hans Rausing Hans Anders Rausing, Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, KBE (25 March 1926 – 30 August 2019) was a Swedish industrialist and philanthropist based in the United Kingdom. He made his fortune from his co-inheritance of Tetra Pak ...

, a comprehensive restoration of the building, financed by the Mansour Foundation and the

Hunter Foundation Sir Thomas Blane Hunter (born 6 May 1961) is a Scottish businessman and philanthropist. Sports Division Hunter set up his first business after graduating from the University of Strathclyde as he was, in his own words, "unemployable". With a ...

started in April 2016. The work was carried out by contractors, Taylor and Fraser, and involved extensive treatment for both

wet rot Wet rot is a generic term used to define a variety of fungal species, such as '' Coniophora puteana'' ( otherwise known as cellar fungus) and '' Choanephora cucurbitarum''. Some species obtain their food by breaking down the cell walls of woo ...

and

dry rot Dry rot is wood decay caused by one of several species of fungi that digest parts of wood which give it strength and stiffness. It was previously used to describe any decay of cured wood in ships and buildings by a fungus which resulted in a ...

as well as extensive repairs to the masonry. After the works had been completed, the building was officially re-opened by the Duke of Rothesay on 23 October 2016. The building subsequently reverted to serving as a community events venue as well as the regular meeting place of the New Cumnock Community Council.

References

{{reflist Government buildings completed in 1889 City chambers and town halls in Scotland Category C listed buildings in East Ayrshire New Cumnock 1889 establishments in Scotland

History

See also

References