Greenock Municipal Buildings is a municipal structure in Clyde Square, Greenock, Scotland. The municipal buildings, which are the headquarters of

Inverclyde Council Inverclyde Council is one of the 32 local authorities of Scotland. Created in 1995, its administrative centre is based in Greenock and its territory covers the area of Inverclyde in the west of Scotland, taking over from the local government distr ...

, are Category A

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

History

The first municipal building on the site was an 18th-century town house which was built on land acquired from Lord Cathcart. 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 Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing sty ...

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

stop Stop may refer to: Places * Stop, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the United States * Stop (Rogatica), a village in Rogatica, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina Facilities * Bus stop * Truck stop, a type of rest stop for truck d ...

s, was installed in the building in 1862. Following significant population growth, largely associated with the

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befo ...

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. 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 drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

, built in ashlar 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 columns; the right hand section contained a round headed doorway flanked by two pairs of columns supporting an entablature and a

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...

with the burgh

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

in the tympanum. Above the doorway was a statue depicting

commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...

in a

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

. There were oriel windows decorated with Ionic order 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 The Greenock Blitz is the name given to two nights of intensive bombing of the town of Greenock, Scotland by the Nazi German ''Luftwaffe'' during the Second World War. The raids over the nights of the 6 and 7 May 1941 targeted the shipyards ...

in May 1941 during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

: the tower on the northwest corner survived but a tower on the southwest corner was completely destroyed. 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 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 ( ; gd, Guireag ) is a town in the Inverclyde council area and formerly a burgh of the County of Renfrew in the west of Scotland. It was a seaside resort on the East shore of the upper Firth of Clyde. Its main function today is as a ...

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

Norman Macbeth Norman Macbeth (Greenock 1821 – 27 February 1888 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 Glasgow ...

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