Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

HILLFOOT STREET, DUNOON PRIMARY SCHOOL AND JANITOR'S HOUSELB50809

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
B
Date Added
01/02/2007
Local Authority
Argyll And Bute
Planning Authority
Argyll And Bute
Burgh
Dunoon
NGR
NS 17332 76577
Coordinates
217332, 676577

Description

William Fraser, 1899-1901. 1907 additions by Boston, Menzies and Morton; gymnasium wing by Robert Cameron, 1934. 2-storey and attic 13-bay Free style Board School with Baronial and Gothic detailing. Prominent central castellated 4-stage tower and advanced gabled bays. Cement render with exposed sandstone ashlar long and short quoins and margins. Base course and string courses, moulded to 1st floor; some hoodmoulding. Mullioned and transomed bipartite and single light windows, round-arched windows with cinquefoil heads to 1st floor. Bracketed eaves; applied half-timbering to gable apexes at sides and rear

FURTHER DESCRIPTION: pointed-arch 2-leaf timber door with glazed vesica panels set in deeply recessed hoodmoulded surround at base of tower between diagonal buttresses at centre of near symmetrical NW (principal) elevation. Round headed windows at 1st floor, arrow slits at 2nd; modillion cornice between tourelles corbelled out at 3rd. Flanking advanced gable bays with projecting central sections and distinctive Venetian gothic arched windows at attic. Shallow pointed-arched openings to pends at recessed outer bays.

9-bay SE (rear) elevation with advanced gabled bay to left; Venetian-gothic arched window to gablehead. 2-storey 4-bay pitched-roofed projecting wing to right of centre. Small-pane glazing set in timber sash and case windows. Grey slate. Cast iron rainwater goods.

1907, 2-storey T-plan piend-roofed wing projecting to NE with Mackintosh inspired detailing. Base course and string courses. Pair of shouldered gables to N elevation.

INTERIOR: steel stairs with decorative cast-iron balusters. Timber panelling and tiling to dado. Timber trussed roof to assembly hall.

JANITORS HOUSE: single storey and attic cottage adjoining school with 2-storey projecting canted window with dentilled eaves cornice. Distinctive piended roof extending down over porch. Rendered masonry with exposed ashlar dressings. Multi-pane upper sashes and plate glass lower in timber sash and case windows.

Statement of Special Interest

Dunoon Primary School is a fine example of the board schools which were constructed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and makes good use of a variety of international architectural motifs. The building is large and imposing and the tower is a striking landmark feature. As a whole the school makes a major contribution to the streetscape.

Prior to the 1870s schools were divided into four broad groups, parish or burgh schools, private academies, church schools and charity school. The 1872 Education (Scotland) Act made primary education universal and compulsory. This caused a huge demand for space to accommodate the influx of children and although existing schools were adapted, many new buildings were also required. This was particularly the case in the burghs and cities. Dunoon Primary demonstrates the architectural quality these buildings could display, particularly at the turn of the 19th/20th centuries.

The architect William Fraser had designed this building as an extension to an earlier school building, shown on the 2nd edition ordnance survey map, which burned down in 1958. Fraser worked with John McLeod in Glasgow and William Warlow Gwyther in London, before setting up a private practice in Glasgow. The firm of Boston Menzies and Morton, responsible for the 1907 additions to the school, began as the sole practice of John Boston but was taken over following his death by William Menzies and George Morton. Their notable works include the Greenock Masonic Temple and Clune Park Church in Glasgow. Robert Cameron was the Master of Works for the Argyll County Education Authority.

References

Bibliography

3rd Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1914-15). F Walker, The Buildings of Scotland: Argyll and Bute, (2000), p233. Dictionary of Scottish Architects, www.codexgeo.co.uk

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

Listed building consent is required for changes to a listed building which affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. The relevant planning authority is the point of contact for applications for listed building consent.

Find out more about listing and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.

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Printed: 29/03/2024 14:42