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Inveraray Jail

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Coordinates: 56°13′48″N 5°04′20″W / 56.2299°N 5.0723°W / 56.2299; -5.0723
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Inveraray Jail
Inveraray Jail
LocationChurch Square, Inveraray
Coordinates56°13′48″N 5°04′20″W / 56.2299°N 5.0723°W / 56.2299; -5.0723
Built1820
ArchitectJames Gillespie Graham and Robert Reid
Architectural style(s)Neoclassical style
Listed Building – Category A
Official nameFormer Inveraray Court House, Crown Point, Inveraray
Designated28 February 1966
Reference no.LB35030
Listed Building – Category B
Official nameOld Jail, Crown Point, Inveraray
Designated4 August 1966
Reference no.LB35034
Listed Building – Category C(S)
Official nameNew Jail, Crown Point, Inveraray
Designated4 August 1966
Reference no.LB35033
Inveraray Jail is located in Argyll and Bute
Inveraray Jail
Shown in Argyll and Bute

Inveraray Jail is a former prison and courthouse in Church Square, Inveraray, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It was built in 1820 and is a Category A listed building. The prison closed in 1889 but the building remained in use as a courthouse until the mid-twentieth century, in which time it was also used for some meetings of Argyll County Council. Since 1989 it has been a museum.[1]

History

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The old court house on Front Street

The building was commissioned to replace the old town house on Front Street which dated from 1755 and which had been deemed too small.[2] The original plans for the new building had called for a courthouse and three prisons, one for males, one for females and one for debtors, but the scheme was deemed too expensive and was curtailed.[1]

The new courthouse was designed by James Gillespie Graham based on initial drawings by Robert Reid in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone and was completed in 1820.[1] The design of the courthouse involved a symmetrical main frontage of three bays facing onto Church Square. The central bay featured a doorway with a fanlight on the ground floor and a Venetian window on the first floor. The outer bays were fenestrated with round headed windows on the ground floor, sash windows on the first floor and small oblong windows at attic level. All the windows on the first floor had balustrades in front of them and were flanked by paired Tuscan order pilasters supporting an entablature, a cornice and a balustraded parapet. The building was bowed at the back. Internally, the principal room was the main courtroom at the rear of the building on the first floor with views across Loch Fyne.[1]

A two-storey prison block, the "old prison block", which was also designed by Graham, was built in coursed rubble to the northeast of the courthouse and was completed at the same time as the courthouse.[3] Following the implementation of the Prisons (Scotland) Act 1839, which brought about various changes including the separation of prisoners, a three-storey prison, the "new prison block", which was designed by Thomas Brown, was built in coursed rubble to the southwest of the courthouse and completed in 1845.[4]

The Prisons (Scotland) Act 1877 brought in further changes, including the transfer of the management of prisons from local authorities to the UK Government and the closure of smaller prisons in favour of larger ones. After the prisoners had been transferred to Barlinnie Prison in Glasgow, Inveraray Prison closed in 1889.[5]

The courthouse was also used for meetings of the Argyll Commissioners of Supply, which was the main administrative body for the county prior 1890.[6] Elected county councils were established in 1890 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, and the new council needed to identify a meeting place.[7] The County Council's first meeting was held at the courthouse at Inveraray on 22 May 1890, when over three hours were spent debating where the council should meet thereafter, with proposals put forward in favour of meeting in Lochgilphead, Inveraray, Oban, Dunoon, or even Glasgow (despite the latter being outside the county). It was decided to meet at Dunoon between May and September and at Oban for the rest of the year.[8] The council did subsequently hold meetings in more places than just those two towns, including occasionally meeting at the courthouse in Inverary, but it established its main offices at Lochgilphead.[9][10]

By the mid-20th century the courthouse had become dilapidated and, in 1954, an order was made that there should be no more sheriff court hearings at Inveraray. Police and Justice of the Peace Court hearings continued for a while but, in 1962, Argyll County Council sold the courthouse.[11]

The courthouse complex at Inveraray was refurbished to a design by Ian Gordon Lindsay & Partners in 1965 and converted into a visitor attraction as "Inveraray Jail" in May 1989.[1][12]

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  • The old two-storey prison block
    The old two-storey prison block
  • The new three-storey prison block
    The new three-storey prison block

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Historic Environment Scotland. "Former Inveraray Court House, Crown Point, Inveraray (LB35030)". Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  2. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Town House, West Front Street (LB35007)". Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  3. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Old Jail, Crown Point, Inveraray (LB35034)". Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  4. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "New Jail, Crown Point, Inveraray (LB35033)". Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  5. ^ "Inveraray Prison". Argyllshire Herald. 20 July 1889. the prison of Inveraray will be closed on 31st August
  6. ^ "Argyllshire Quarter Sessions". Oban Times. 27 October 1877. p. 4. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  7. ^ 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 – via Internet Archive.
  8. ^ "Argyllshire County Council". Oban Telegraph. 30 May 1890. p. 5. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  9. ^ Slater's Royal National Commercial Directory of Scotland. 1903. p. 172. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  10. ^ Giarchi, George Giacinto (1980). "Between McAlpine and Polaris" (PDF). Glasgow University. p. 232. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  11. ^ Fraser, Alexander (1977). The Royal Burgh of Inveraray. St Andrew Press. p. 85. ISBN 978-0715203545. In 1962, the Argyll County Council sold the Court House and it was decided next year that Quarter Session Meetings of County Justices of the Peace, formerly held in the Burgh of Inveraray, should take place in Lochgilphead.
  12. ^ "Inveraray Jail". Secret Scotland. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
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