Old Municipal Buildings, Falkirk
| Old Municipal Buildings | |
|---|---|
.jpg) The building in 2023 | |
| Location | Newmarket Street, Falkirk |
| Coordinates | 56°00′03″N 3°47′11″W / 56.0008°N 3.7863°W |
| Built | 1879 |
| Architect | William Black |
| Architectural style(s) | Scottish baronial style |
Listed Building – Category C(S) | |
| Official name | Social Work Department (Former Municipal Buildings) Newmarket Street |
| Designated | 23 April 1979 |
| Reference no. | LB31207 |
  Shown in Falkirk | |
The Old Municipal Buildings is a municipal structure on Newmarket Street in Falkirk in Scotland. The building, which accommodates the local register office, is a Category C listed building.[1]
History
[edit]The first municipal building in the town was the Falkirk Steeple which was completed in 1814.[2] After the area became a police burgh in 1859,[3] the burgh council decided to procure dedicated municipal buildings. The site they selected was on the north side of Newmarket Street.[4]
The new building was designed by William Black in the Scottish baronial style, built in rubble masonry and was completed in 1879.[5] The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage of four bays facing onto Newmarket Street. The first two bays were fenestrated by mullioned and transomed windows and surmounted by gables, the left gable containing a quatrefoil and the right gable containing a cinquefoil. The third bay featured a segmental headed doorway flanked by colonettes supporting a hood mould; there was a mullioned and transomed window facing onto a balcony on the first floor, and a gable containing a quatrefoil above. The right-hand bay was fenestrated by a pair of transomed windows on the ground floor and by an oriel window on the first floor with a gable above. There was a small bartizan on the right-hand corner and, at roof level, there was a pyramid-shaped roof with brattishing. Internally, the principal room was the council chamber.[1]
A memorial by the sculptor William Grant Stevenson, in the form of a Highlander protecting his fallen comrade, mounted on a pedestal and intended to commemorate local service personnel who had died in the Second Boer War, was erected in front of the municipal buildings in 1905.[6][7][8] King George V, accompanied by Queen Mary and Princess Mary visited the municipal buildings in July 1914,[9] King George VI, accompanied by Queen Elizabeth, attended the municipal buildings in June 1946,[10] and Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, met with civic leaders at the municipal buildings in July 1955.[11][12][13]
The building ceased to be the local seat of government when modern municipal buildings were built on West Bridge Street in 1965.[14] The old municipal buildings were then re-purposed to accommodate the social work department of the local council, before being converted to serve as the local registration office, with the old council chamber becoming the marriage room.[15][16]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b Historic Environment Scotland. "Social Work Department (Former Municipal Buildings) Newmarket Street (Category C Listed Building) (LB31207)". Retrieved 21 September 2024.
- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Falkirk Town Steeple, High Street (Category A Listed Building) (LB31178)". Retrieved 14 September 2024.
- ^ "Falkirk Burgh". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
- ^ "Ordnance Survey Six-inch 1st edition, 1843–1882". Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ "Falkirk Town Centre Conservation Area Appraisal" (PDF). Falkirk Council. 12 January 2010. p. 21. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "South African War Memorial, Newmarket Street, Falkirk (Category C Listed Building) (LB31203)". Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ "Eastern Division of Stirlingshire Memorial". Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ "Falkirk Boer War Memorial" (PDF). Falkirk Local History Society. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ "Visit of King George V, Queen Mary and Princess Mary to Falkirk". Falkirk Community Trust. 11 July 1914. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ "King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visit to Falkirk Burgh Buildings". Falkirk Community Trust. 1946. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ "Visit of Queen Elizabeth to Falkirk". Falkirk Community Trust. 1955. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ "The Royal Tour". British Pathé. 1955. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ "Queen Elizabeth II: Her Majesty's visits to Falkirk district in pictures". The Falkirk Herald. 8 September 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ "Demolition of Falkirk Municipal Buildings and Town Hall on hold". The Falkirk Herald. 13 April 2023. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ "Falkirk Registration Office". Falkirk Council. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ "The Old Burgh Buildings". Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 19 September 2024.