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

2 Commercial Street, excluding 20th century extensions and detached outbuilding to rear, Port WilliamLB19575

Status: Designated

Documents

Where documents include maps, the use of this data is subject to terms and conditions (https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/termsandconditions).

Summary

Category
C
Date Added
17/12/1979
Last Date Amended
11/03/2016
Supplementary Information Updated
16/03/2016
Local Authority
Dumfries And Galloway
Planning Authority
Dumfries And Galloway
Parish
Mochrum
NGR
NX 33899 43520
Coordinates
233899, 543520

Description

Late 18th century former inn; raised to 2-storeys after the mid-19th century. In accordance with Section 1 (4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 the following are excluded from the listing: the single storey 20th century extensions and the late 19th century detached outbuilding to the rear.

The roughly rectangular plan building has 3 wide bays (4-bays at ground floor) with asymmetrically arranged openings. The building is rendered (coursed rubble at the ground level and brick at the 1st floor) with painted margins to the door and windows. There are smaller, windows of varying size at the ground floor and projecting cills to the windows at the 1st floor.

The principal (north) elevation has a 2-leaf timber panelled door to the left of centre and a fanlight; there is a semicircular panel above the door (probably early 20th century).

The east elevation is gabled to the right, with a timber gate adjoined. There is a window to left at the 1st floor. The west elevation has an offset chimney breast and there is a rendered brick wall to the left. The rear (south) elevation has a full height gabled jamb to the right, and a single storey gabled jamb at centre; both are fronted by further lean-to additions to the south dating to the early and late 20th century.

Predominantly 12-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows throughout. Red sandstone coped skews. Slated roof with rendered gablehead chimneystacks to the east, west and south, with ridge chimneystacks to the west of centre of main roof, all with octagonal cans.

The interior was seen in 2015 and has some 19th century detailing including a tiled floor to the entrance vestibule, a decorative painted iron balustrade and a timber handrail to the stair, moulded timber architraves and some window shutters.

Statement of Special Interest

In accordance with Section 1 (4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 the following are excluded from the listing: the single storey 20th century extensions and the late 19th century detached outbuilding to the rear.

The former Commercial Hotel dating to the late 18th and 19th century is a good surviving example of a commercial inn and groups well with buildings of similar date within the context of this rural planned village. The plan form is typical for its building type. While the property has been incrementally altered from its previous use as an inn and public house to become a private dwelling, its street elevation is largely intact.

The building is built of coursed rubble at the ground and predominantly brick at the later first floor. There are some architectural features which are typical of the late 18th and early 19th century such as the widely spaced, smaller window openings at the ground floor.

The building was constructed sometime between 1770 and 1800. The port of Port William appears on John Ainslie's map of 1789, however buildings are not evident due to the map scale. The street known today as Commercial Street is first depicted on John Ainslie's map of southern Scotland of 1821, however the building first appears on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map (surveyed 1848 and published 1850), labelled as the Ship Inn and Post Office. The Ordnance Survey name book (of 1845-49) notes that this building was one of four inns in the town, it was one storey high and slated. The building was therefore a second storey was likely added after this date.

The improvement in road communications and travel infrastructure in Scotland from the mid-18th century gradually increased the number of available inns. For Port William this, and the construction of the new harbour, increased the travel trade from labourers visiting the area and would have necessitated the establishment of inns for their accommodation. Many inns around this time were recorded to have included a commercial room, a parlour, bedrooms and stabling. It is unclear whether the commercial room was a requirement for the inns of the time, however according to D Walker (in Scottish Life and Society: A compendium of Scottish Ethnology, 2003), this feature was present in 'nearly all nineteenth and earlier twentieth century hotels, enabling coachmen and travelling servants to dine separately. It also catered for commercial travellers, tradesmen and passing trade, with the title 'Commercial Hotel' becoming a common indicator of premises specialising exclusively in that type of business at moderate charges by the mid nineteenth century.' (Walker, p133) Walker also notes that in the countryside, the inn-keeper was often also the farmer, blacksmith and postmaster (see p139), as is the case at the former Commercial Inn in Port William.

Port William is a village situated on the east shore of Luce Bay. It was founded in around 1770 by Sir William Maxwell of Monreith, to whom it owes its name. At the time of the first Statistical Account in 1791-99, the village consisted mostly of rows of single storey houses, 'well built, covered with slate, and fronting the sea.' (OSA, Vol XVII, p561). The harbour was constructed around this time, owing to the abundance and variety of fish in the bay, as well as kelp, which was carried and sold to the English market. As one of the largest landowners in Mochrum Parish in the late 18th century, Sir William Maxwell carried out extensive improvements on his estate in the late 18th and early 19th century. The population increase to the area at this time is largely due to these improvements. Port William was the principal village and the only sea port of the parish in the 19th century.

While there were previously 4 inns in Port William, the Monreith Arms is the only other hotel in Port William (listed at category C - LB19592). The building at 2 Commercial Street was in use as a public house and hotel up until circa 2004, and was formerly called the Commercial Hotel.

Statutory address and listed building record revised in 2016. Previously listed as 'Port William, 2 Commercial Street, Commercial Hotel'.

References

Bibliography

Canmore: http://canmore.org.uk/ CANMORE ID 62837

Old Statistical Account (1791-99) Number XLI, Parish of Mochrum. Rev John Steven. Vol XVII. pp559-573

Ainsley, J. (1789) Scotland, drawn from a series of angles and astronomical observations. Edinburgh: J. & J. Ainslie & W Faden.

Ainsley, J. (1821) Map of the Southern Part of Scotland. Edinburgh: Macreadie Skelly & Co., 1821.

Ordnance Survey (Surveyed 1848, Published 1850) Wigtownshire, Sheet 29 (includes: Glasserton; Kirkinner; Mochrum). 6 inches to the mile. 1st Edition. London: Ordnance Survey.

New Statistical Account (1839) Parish of Mochrum. Rev Alexander Young. Vol IV. p60-65.

Ordnance Survey (Surveyed 1894, Published 1895) Wigtownshire 030.11 (includes Mochrum). 25 inch to the mile. 2nd Edition. London: Ordnance Survey.

Innes Watt J.H., Patterson A. (1994) Mochrum: A Parish History, 1794-1994. Wigtown: GC Book Publishers Ltd. p187.

Walker, D. Inns, Hotels and Related Building Types in Stell, Shaw and Storrier Scottish Life and Society: A compendium of Scottish Ethnology (2003) Volume 3. pp127-190.

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.

Images

2 Commercial Street, Port William, north elevation facing street, looking south, on a sunny day, with black painted doorway surround and widely spaced windows

Printed: 28/03/2024 18:19