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

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Part One Ayr Central Conservation Area Character Appraisal High Street from the south end Architecture The architecture of the High Street and its surrounds comprises a mixture of tenements and Ayr’s main retail buildings. Many of the High Street buildings were redeveloped in the 19th century and 20th century. Less sympathetic late 20th century developments have concentrated in and around this commercial heart. Stylistically there is a huge range of buildings, from refined classical tenements of the early 1800s to the more florid historicist styles of the late 19th century and touches of Art Nouveau in the early 20th century. The scale is mainly 2– or 3–storey; taller in the northern part of the area, lower in Kyle and Alloway Streets. At the junction with Sandgate, the Town Buildings (described in the Sandgate Character Area) dominate. The other principal public building on the High Street, Wallace Tower (1833), is also by the architect Thomas Hamilton, this time in the style of a Tudor-Gothic folly. Between the High Street and the River Ayr, on the lands of the Greyfriars, stands the Auld Kirk (1654–66) and its associated gateway and kirkyard. One of four churches of the Cromwellian occupation period in Ayrshire (Ayr, Fenwick, New Cumnock and Sorn), the size and design of the Auld Kirk expresses the wealth and urban confidence of the burgh at this period – it cost nearly ten times the grant given by Cromwell for the replacement of St John’s Kirk at the Citadel. For the most part Newmarket Street comprises simple 2–storey houses of about 1830, but Nos. 4–10 and 27–35 of circa 1780 show the earlier building typology of this street. On the corner with the High Street is a lively baronial tenement of 1886 by Allan Stevenson containing William Reid’s 1810 statue of William Wallace. Banks to rival those in the Sandgate were drawn to the High Street. Among the best remaining buildings are those at 128–130 High Street for the Union Bank (1856) in Grecian style by Robert Paton, 67 High Street for the Savings Bank of Glasgow (1937) in miniature Tuscan style by Eric A Sutherland, and 119–123 High Street for the Bank of Scotland (1902) in neo- Georgian style by Peddie & Washington Browne. 48
Ayr Central Conservation Area Character Appraisal Part One There are few remaining historic shopfronts in the High Street. Perhaps the finest can be found at the early 19th century bow-fronted shop at the division of Kyle and Alloway Streets: No. 2 Kyle Street and 1–3 Alloway Street. Hourstons department store at 22–30 Alloway Street has a good 1950s shopfront of grey marble effect. Several shops on the north side of the High Street near Sandgate were constructed in the 1930s: Nos. 12–24 High Street (1933–35, built as Woolworths), Nos. 34– 40 (1936–37, built as Burton’s) and Nos. 42–48 (1935, built as Marks & Spencer). The High Street frontages appear to be of low to moderate interest for their period, but substantial damage was caused to the historic rig pattern and the appearance of the waterfront by the construction of these stores. Last remaining thatched cottage on the High Street: Tam O’Shanter Inn, 230 High Street. None of the historic domestic buildings on the High Street remains as originally constructed. No. 45 High Street, at Fish Cross opposite the end of Old Bridge Street, was a typical mid 18th–century tenement with a ‘nepus’ (wallhead) gable, but it was reconstructed to a similar design in the 1990s following a structural failure. 8–10 High Street is a fine late 18th century tenement, altered at the ground floor for shops. Its pair on the corner with Sandgate (see bottom photo on page 18) is now demolished. Mid 19th century frontages to the buildings at 18–24 High Street might conceal earlier fabric. The town houses at 85–103 High Street have also been changed at the ground floor for retail purposes, but above the appearance is little-altered from its early 19th century form. Photographs from the 1880s show a number of 2–storey thatched cottages at the southern end of the High Street. Of these only the Tam O’Shanter Inn, 230 High Street, now remains. It is likely that this end of the High Street was always less intensely developed. Early shopfront, 2 Kyle Street/1–3 Alloway Street. At Smith Street and Burns Statue Square the building heights increase from Kyle and Alloway Streets to finish the block with a confident sweep of red sandstone shops and tenements at 1–23 Burns Statue Square (1894–1901), 18 Smith Street (1897), and 48–52 Smith Street (c 1895). 77–85 Dalblair Road continues this style of development. Late 20th century retail developments, such as Marks & Spencer (1974) and BHS (1984, Ian Burke & Partners) at 66–90 High Street and 147–149 High Street (1968– 69), took a comprehensive approach to redevelopment in monolithic blocks. The Kyle Centre (1987, Shepherd Robson with Cowie & Partners) is largely screened from Former Union Bank, 128–130 High Street 49
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 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
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Appendix B Ayr Central Conservation
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Appendix B Ayr Central Conservation
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Appendix C Ayr Central Conservation
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Appendix D Ayr Central Conservation
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Appendix D 5. Citadel North Bastion
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Appendix D Significance: Of local h
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Appendix E Ayr Central Conservation
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Appendix F Ayr Central Conservation
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Appendix G Ayr Central Conservation
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Appendix H Ayr Central Conservation
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Department of Development, Safety &
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