County Offices, Golspie
| County Offices | |
|---|---|
 The building in 2016 | |
| Location | Main Street, Golspie |
| Coordinates | 57°58′30″N 3°58′15″W / 57.9750°N 3.9707°W |
| Built | 1892 |
| Architectural style(s) | Victorian style |
  Shown in Sutherland | |
County Offices is a former municipal building on Main Street in Golspie in Scotland. The building, which used to be the headquarters of Sutherland County Council, is now divided into seven residential properties known as 1-7 The Old Post Office.
History
[edit]In the 18th and 19th centuries, the county town of Sutherland was Dornoch; it was home to the Dornoch Sheriff Court (also known as County Buildings) and to Dornoch Cathedral.[1][2] At that time, Golspie was regarded as no more than a holiday village.[3] However, by the 20th century, Brora and Golspie were the more significant population centres.[4]
In 1890 county councils were established in each county of Scotland under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889.[5] It also directed that the existing clerk to each county's Commissioners of Supply should automatically become the first clerk to the county council.[6] Whilst the Sutherland commissioners met at the County Buildings in Dornoch, their clerk at the time, George Tait, was based in Golspie. His offices therefore became the county council's first offices. The first provisional meeting of the council was held on 13 February 1890 at the County Buildings in Dornoch, but it was decided that a more accessible location was needed for the council's meetings. Although Dornoch was the county's only burgh, it was in the extreme south-eastern corner of the county and lay some seven miles from its then nearest railway station at The Mound.[7] The council's first official meeting was held on 22 May 1890 at Bonar Bridge, and subsequent meetings were generally held at various premises in Lairg, with occasional meetings in other places, including Dornoch, Golspie, Brora and Lochinver.[8]
In 1892 a new post office for Golspie was completed on the south-eastern side of the main street in Golspie, and from the outset part of the building served as the main administrative offices for the county council's staff. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of three bays facing onto Main Street. The central bay featured a doorway with a rectangular fanlight and a single sash window on the first floor. The outer bays were fenestrated by tri-partite casement windows on the ground floor and by bi-partite windows on the first floor.[9]
Around 1910 the post office moved to a new building next door,[10] after which the county council expanded to take over the rest of the 1892 building, which became known as the County Offices.[11][12][13][14] As the responsibilities of the county council grew, a modern extension was erected at the rear.[15]
The County Offices did not include a council chamber, and throughout the county council's existence meetings were held in various hired premises across the county, usually in Lairg. In 1938 the council decided to combine its offices and meeting place in a new building at Dornoch, but following the outbreak of the Second World War the scheme was not implemented.[16] In 1966 the council resolved to build itself a new headquarters in Lairg, but that scheme was abandoned due to budget pressures and protests from the council's staff, most of whom lived in the Golspie and Brora area.[17]
After the abolition of Sutherland County Council in 1975, the County Offices in Golspie served as the main offices of Sutherland District Council, before passing to the Highland Council when local government was reorganised into single-tier council areas in 1996. After the council acquired and refurbished Drummuie between August 2006 and March 2008,[18] the building on Main Street became surplus to requirements, was sold and subsequently converted into seven flats, called 1–7 The Old Post Office, one of which (number 6) is used as holiday accommodation.[19][20][21]
References
[edit]- ^ Cumming, Annie; Cumming, Anna; Stuart, Jane; Munroe, Willie W.; Gunn, Andrew; MacLean, Henri J.; Sutherland, Minnie (1897). Golspie: Contributions to Its Folklore. David Nutt. p. 334. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
- ^ Macrae, Kenneth (30 September 1971). "Fine roads and sandy beaches". The Glasgow Herald. p. 5. Archived from the original on 12 May 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
- ^ Keay, John; Keay, Julia (1994). Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland. London: HarperCollins. pp. 246–247. ISBN 978-0007103539. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
- ^ Dorian, Nancy C. (2010). Investigating Variation The Effects of Social Organization and Social Setting. Oxford University Press. p. 58. ISBN 978-0199738250. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
- ^ Shennan, Hay (1892). Boundaries of Counties and Parishes in Scotland: as settled by the Boundary Commissioners under the Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1889. Edinburgh: William Green & Sons. Retrieved 16 September 2024 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, section 83. Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales. 1889. p. 252. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
- ^ "Sutherland County Council". Highland News. Inverness. 15 February 1890. p. 3. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
- ^ "Sutherland County Council". Inverness Courier. 23 May 1890. p. 5. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
- ^ "Notes from Golspie". Northern Ensign. Wick. 13 December 1892. p. 3. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Post Office, Main Street, Golspie (LB12916)". Retrieved 17 September 2024.
- ^ "Main Street". cosuthgolspie.blogspot.com. 3 January 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
- ^ "No. 18541". The Edinburgh Gazette. 3 March 1967. p. 179.
- ^ "List of properties in Main Street, Golspie" (PDF). Retrieved 16 September 2024.
- ^ Contracts. Vol. 74. The Builder. 2 April 1898. p. 338. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
- ^ "4 The Old Post Office, Main Street, Golspie". S1 Homes. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
- ^ "New County Buildings for Dornoch". Aberdeen Press and Journal. 5 March 1938. p. 5. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
- ^ "Freeze halts county plan for offices". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 29 July 1966. p. 6. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
- ^ "Open Evening at Drummuie, Golspie". Caithness Business. 7 April 2008. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
- ^ "The old post office". Booking.com. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
- ^ "The Old Post Office". Ravlling. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
- ^ "The Old Post Office". Sky Scanner. Retrieved 16 September 2024.