Stonehaven Sheriff Court, formerly known as County Buildings, is a judicial structure in Dunnottar Avenue,

Stonehaven Stonehaven ( ) is a town on the northeast coast of Scotland, south of Aberdeen. It had a population of 11,177 at th2022 Census Stonehaven was formerly the county town of Kincardineshire, succeeding the now abandoned town of Kincardine, Aberd ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...

, Scotland. The structure, which was used as the headquarters of Kincardineshire County Council as well as a courthouse, is a Category B

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

After sheriff court hearings were transferred from Kincardine to Stonehaven in 1660, judicial proceedings were initially held in the

Stonehaven Tolbooth The Stonehaven Tolbooth is a late 16th-century stone building originally used as a courthouse and a prison in the town of Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Constructed of local Old Red Sandstone, the prison probably attained its greatest note ...

which had been erected on the old pier in the late 16th century. However, in the early 1760s, the

Commissioners of Supply Commissioners of Supply were local administrative bodies in Scotland from 1667 to 1930. Originally established in each sheriffdom to collect tax, they later took on much of the responsibility for the local government of the counties of Scotland. ...

decided to commission a dedicated courthouse for the county of

Kincardineshire Kincardineshire or the County of Kincardine, also known as the Mearns (from the Scottish Gaelic meaning "the stewartry"), is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area on the ...

: the site they selected was in Dunnottar Avenue in the "Auld Toon" part of Stonehaven. The new building was completed in 1767 and expanded in 1788. The courthouse was rebuilt, incorporating elements of the earlier structure including three prison cells, to a design by

James Campbell Walker James Campbell Walker (11 April 1821 – 10 January 1888) was a Scottish architect in the 19th century, practising across the country and specialising in poorhouses and schools. His main claim to fame is in having designed Dunfermline Carnegie L ...

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 ...

and it re-opened in 1865. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of eleven bays facing Dunnottar Avenue, with the end two bays on either side slighted projected forward. The central bay, which also slightly projected forward, featured a

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

which was formed by a round headed opening with

colonnette A colonnette is a small slender column, usually decorative, which supports a beam or lintel. Colonnettes have also been used to refer to a feature of furnishings such as a dressing table and case clock, and even studied by archeologists in Roman ...

s and a carved keystone, flanked by

pilaster 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 ...

s supporting a

balustrade A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...

. The ground floor, which was rusticated, was fenestrated by round headed windows, while the first floor was fenestrated by square headed

sash window A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double glazing) of glass. History ...

s. At roof level, there was a balustraded

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

. Internally, the principal room was the main courtroom on the first floor. Following the implementation of the

Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 ( 52 & 53 Vict. c. 50) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which was passed on 26 August 1889. The main effect of the act was to establish elected county councils in Scotland. In this it fol ...

, which established county councils in every county, the new county leaders needed to identify a meeting place for Kincardineshire County Council and decided to use the courthouse for that purpose. Additional offices in Evan Street were acquired in around 1920. In 1930, the county council absorbed the functions of the abolished county education authority, which had been based at offices in a converted house called Viewmount on Arduthie Road in Stonehaven. Viewmount burnt down in January 1932, and the county council took the opportunity to reconstruct and extend it to become a new headquarters, including a council chamber. The rebuilt Viewmount opened as the county council's meeting place and main offices in May 1935. The sheriff court then reverted to being purely a judicial building. It was used for hearings of the sheriff's court and, on one day a month, for hearings of the justice of the peace court until the court hearings were transferred to

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

in 2015. Ownership of the building was transferred to the Stonehaven Town Partnership for a nominal sum in May 2018. The Stonehaven Town Partnership subsequently initiated refurbishment works to the building costing £150,000.

References

External links

*{{commonscat-inline Government buildings completed in 1865 County halls in Scotland Category B listed buildings in Aberdeenshire Stonehaven Court buildings in Scotland Listed government buildings in Scotland 1865 establishments in Scotland Neoclassical architecture in Scotland

History

See also

References

External links