Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

PORTPATRICK HARBOUR INCLUDING OUTER AND INNER HARBOUR WITH LIFTING CRANE, LIFEBOAT SHED AND WAREHOUSE, SOUTH PIER, LIGHTHOUSE, LIGHTKEEPER'S COTTAGE AND OLD LIGHTHOUSE POTTERYLB16776

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
B
Date Added
17/12/1979
Last Date Amended
30/03/1998
Supplementary Information Updated
30/03/1998
Local Authority
Dumfries And Galloway
Planning Authority
Dumfries And Galloway
Parish
Portpatrick
NGR
NW 99890 53981
Coordinates
199890, 553981

Description

John Rennie's, 1820-36; Mr Hannay, 1865, inner harbour; original pier (mostly collapsed) John Smeaton, 1774. U-plan harbour with 1820 South pier; remains of original 1774 pier branching of South pier; natural skerry opposite with remains of unfinished N pier; 1865 inner basin to N and rear retaining wall to E.

OUTER HARBOUR: U-plan. Welsh limestone.

INNER HARBOUR: improved 1857-63, engineer Harray. Rectangular-plan behind stub of Rennie's unfinished N pier (see Notes). Ashlar. Rectangular-plan whinstone lifeboat house; whinstone warehouse; painted boat shed. LIFTING CRANE: Mid 20th century lifting crane, still in use. LIFEBOAT SHED: rectangular-plan whinstone lifeboat shed with brick dressings. Grey slate roof. WAREHOUSE: rectangular-plan whinstone warehouse with brick dressings. Grey slate roof.

S PIER: straight pier. With stone bollard at E end & similar bollard (largely encased in concrete) to W. Ruinous remains of original 1774 pier to N of lighthouse. Welsh limestone. LIGHTHOUSE: Round brick lighthouse of 1896. Deep plinth; steps to entrance; railings to light. LIGHTKEEPER'S COTTAGE AND OLD LIGHTHOUSE POTTERY: Whinstone to Old Lighthouse Pottery (substantial additions to original building); exterior stair; 12-pane replacement timber windows; grey slate roof. Painted whinstone to Lighthouse Cottage; grey slate roof.

Statement of Special Interest

Portpatrick, both as a seaport and as a town, owed nearly all its former importance to commanding the shortest communication route from Britain to Ireland. A weekly mail service between Portpatrick and Donaghadee in Ireland was established in 1662, and by 1677 there were two crossings a week. However, Portpatrick's first pier by John Smeaton described by Groome as, "... one of the finest in Britain" was not built until 1774. The harbour works by Rennie, cost ?500,000. Rennie's scheme was for a U-plan harbour with N and S piers, each with a lighthouse running out from the shore. The S pier was completed in 1836, but the need to deepen the harbour for steams ships, which had by then replaced sailing vessels on the Scotland-Ireland route, and to repair the S pier after a storm in 1839, pushed the cost of the full scheme to such a height that work on the incomplete N pier was abandoned. The railway from Stranraer to Portpatrick, with a branch line to the harbour, was opened in 1862. The remains of an arch from the railway can still be seen to the N of the harbour. Rennie's 46ft high lighthouse at the end of the S pier was removed to Sri Lanka in 1869 when the end of the pier started to break up. In 1874 it was decided that the port was unsafe, a Bill was passed relieving the Government of responsibility for its upkeep and the mail route was transferred to Stranraer.

References

Bibliography

F H Groome ORDNANCE GAZETTEER OF SCOTLAND VOL V (1882), p218; Photograph (Stranraer Library Gwa4/387, circa 1914); I Donnachie INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY OF GALLOWAY (1971) pp26, 126, 149, 169, 180-185, 231, 239; J R Hume THE INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY OF SCOTLAND VOL I THE LOWLANDS AND BORDERS (1976) p270; J Gifford DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY (1996), pp491-2; J D Mackenzie and R R Cunningham OLD PORTPATRICK (1997), pp3, 6.

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

Listed building consent is required for changes to a listed building which affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. The relevant planning authority is the point of contact for applications for listed building consent.

Find out more about listing and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.

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