Ayr Central Conservation Area Character Appraisal - South Ayrshire ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Part One Ayr Central Conservation Area Character Appraisal It is not possible to describe the character and interest of all 268 listed items in the Town Centre Conservation Area in detail in this Appraisal, but some indication of their special qualities can be found in a number of key buildings. For the purposes of this Appraisal twenty-one key historic buildings are identified, either listed at Category A or those in Category B that have a significant individual impact on the Town Centre Conservation Area or its immediate surroundings. With the exception of Barns House, which is set in its own grounds and in private ownership, the key buildings are widely visible from public spaces and form important structural elements of the town’s layout, character and history. Lady Carthcart’s House, 22 Sandgate (Category A). Three buildings survive from the mediaeval period: St John’s Tower (14th century); Auld Brig (1470 onwards); and Loudoun Hall (1513 with 1534 north wing). Whilst these structures and their surrounding sites offer archaeological potential (as noted above), the structures are protected by listing at Category A rather than as Scheduled Monuments. All three are landmark structures in various views of the town centre. Several large 17th–century structures can also be found in Ayr. Parts of Lady Cathcart’s House, 22 Sandgate, are thought to date from the early 17th century. The construction of Cromwell’s massive Citadel (1652) had a profound effect on the development of the town, superseding William the Lion’s castle, displacing the town kirk, and influencing the layout and development of the area into the 19th century. The Auld Kirk along Auld Kirk Gateway, Kirkport, 1654 (Category A). New Bridge (Category B). 30
Ayr Central Conservation Area Character Appraisal Part One with its gateway and kirkyard were built from 1654 to replace the secularised St John’s Kirk in the Citadel. The site is a green oasis in the town centre because initially it stood outside the burgh boundaries in the ownership of the Blackfriars; the Greyfriars built a church in the northern part of the site from 1472, and the burgh expanded around it. Although Newton Cross has been moved several times, the shaft is thought to date from 1675. The great age of civic improvement in Ayr began in the late 18th century with the construction of the first New Bridge (replaced on the same site in a similar style by the second New Bridge in 1877). 1–3 New Bridge Street formed part of the impressive new approach to the town from Newton. Newton’s own civic pride was expressed in reconstruction of its Tolbooth in 1795, including the tower that now survives on the King Street traffic island. The County Buildings of 1818–22 brought new urban sophistication to the planned suburb of Wellington Square. The apogee of civic building was reached in Thomas Hamilton’s Town Buildings of 1827 with its spectacular 64m steeple. Hamilton also designed the Tudor-Gothic Wallace Tower (1831–34) in the High Street and the former Ayrshire Bank (1832) opposite the Town Buildings in the Sandgate. If the late 18th century and early 19th century was the great period of civic improvement in Ayr, the mid and late 19th century was a time of commercial confidence and renewal. A number of banks built new premises, including the palazzo-style 39 Sandgate (1857) of the Royal Bank of Scotland by Edinburgh architects, Peddie & Kinnear. Much of the wealth was fuelled by newfound mobility and trading opportunities brought by the railway. The importance of the railway to Ayr, both for its trading links and its growing popularity as a holiday resort, is reflected in the grand hotel and station built in 1886 for the Glasgow & South Western Railway by their Chief Engineer, Andrew Galloway. The spiritual and social well-being of the town was enhanced by the construction of John L Pearson’s magnificent Holy Trinity Episcopal Church (1898) in Fullarton Street, and by the Carnegie Library (1893) in Main Street, a design from the Glasgow architects Campbell Douglas & Morrison. The light-hearted holiday atmosphere of the Esplanade is captured in the white-harled landmark of the Pavilion, 1911 by James K Hunter – prominent in views to the southwestern side of the town. Town Buildings Steeple, designed by the Edinburgh architect Thomas Hamilton in 1827. Set in a low-lying position, the steeple was designed to ensure that the bells could be heard throughout the town. (Category A). 31
Page 1 and 2: South Ayrshire Council October 2008
Page 4 and 5: CONTENTS SUMMARY...................
Page 6 and 7: SUMMARY This document is organised
Page 8 and 9: © Washington Wilson Collection, Un
Page 10 and 11: Part One Ayr Central Conservation A
Page 64 and 65: Part Two Ayr Central Conservation A
Page 82 and 83:
Part Two Ayr Central Conservation A
Page 84 and 85:
Page 86 and 87:
Page 88 and 89:
Bibliography Ayr Central Conservati
Page 90 and 91:
Appendix A Ayr Central Conservation
Page 92 and 93:
Appendix B Ayr Central Conservation
Page 94 and 95:
Page 96 and 97:
Page 98 and 99:
Page 100 and 101:
Page 102 and 103:
Page 104 and 105:
Appendix C Ayr Central Conservation
Page 106 and 107:
Appendix D Ayr Central Conservation
Page 108 and 109:
Page 110 and 111:
Appendix D 5. Citadel North Bastion
Page 112 and 113:
Page 114 and 115:
Page 116 and 117:
Page 118 and 119:
Appendix D Significance: Of local h
Page 120 and 121:
Page 122 and 123:
Page 124 and 125:
Page 126 and 127:
Appendix E Ayr Central Conservation
Page 128 and 129:
Appendix F Ayr Central Conservation
Page 130 and 131:
Page 132 and 133:
Page 134 and 135:
Page 136 and 137:
Appendix G Ayr Central Conservation
Page 138 and 139:
Appendix H Ayr Central Conservation
Page 140 and 141:
Page 142 and 143:
Page 144 and 145:
Page 146 and 147:
Page 148 and 149:
Page 150 and 151:
Page 152 and 153:
Page 154:
Department of Development, Safety &
show all

Ayr Central Conservation Area Character Appraisal - South Ayrshire ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?