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

51-57 Grant Street (Odd Nos Only) including gatepiers, InvernessLB35246

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
15/06/1981
Last Date Amended
30/08/2016
Local Authority
Highland
Planning Authority
Highland
Burgh
Inverness
NGR
NH 66085 46041
Coordinates
266085, 846041

Description

51-57 Grant Street is a circa 1821-1850, 2-storey and attic classical tenement and shops with a bowed corner bay on an acute-angled junction corner site. It is constructed in red sandstone laid in courses. The northeast elevation has three windows and four doors to the ground floor and four windows to the first floor. The bowed corner bay has a piended roof. The building has raised ashlar margins, a banded string course and a banded eaves course. There are three small piended dormers set into the pitch of the roof which is of grey slate. The 3-bay elevation to Upper Kessock Street has the lower section of a wallhead chimney stack at the first bay and to the right, a pair of square-plan, capped sandstone gatepiers accessing a courtyard to the rear.

The interior, seen in 2016, has been reconfigured. The main staircase at 57 Grant Street has a scrolled timber handrail.

Statement of Special Interest

51-57 Grant Street is a good surviving example of an early 19th century classically detailed residential and commercial property. It is distinctive in the streetscape because of the acute-angle corner site and it groups well with other 19th century buildings in its immediate vicinity. The exterior of the building largely maintains its early 19th century form and simple classical details, with a distinctive bowed bay, raised sandstone margins, banded string course and banded eaves course, piended corner roof and twin doors.

Age and Rarity

Grant Street, Inverness was largely developed from 1808 onwards when a wooden bridge was built across the Ness between Waterloo Place and Grant Street in 1808.

51-57 Grant Street occupies a V-plan, corner site on the south side of road. The building is shown on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1874, and the footprint of building with a yard to the rear remains largely unchanged since this date. The building is not shown on John Wood's town plan of Inverness of 1821, indicating that it was likely to have been built between 1821 and 1850. The proportions and stonework detailing of the building indicate the earlier end of that period.

55-57 Grant Street was occupied by John Ross, cabinet maker in 1873 (The Inverness Directory, 1873-74) and as a licensed grocer for much of the later 19th century. The business changed hands in 1910 (The Scotsman, 03 December 1910) and remained in use as a grocers and associated dwelling house until at least 1928 (Inverness Burgh Directory, 1928). The building continues to operate on a commercial basis with shops at the ground floor (2016).

Architectural or Historic Interest

Interior

The property has been largely reconfigured internally with no internal fixtures or fittings of particular note evident at the site visit carried out in 2016. The staircase at 57 Grant Street has a scrolled timber handrail and is typical for a property of this date.

Plan form

The use of a bowed end to the building on a V-plan corner site is a distinctive feature of this building and is used to address the irregular layout of the site. The enclosed courtyard area to the rear with capped sandstone gatepiers at the entrance evidences the commercial use of the building during the 19th century.

The internal plan form in terms of room layout has been partially re-worked and there is no particular internal interest in listing terms.

Technological excellence or innovation, material or design quality

The simple classical proportions of 51 to 57 Grant Street, with its bowed corner bay, raised margins, banded string course and banded eaves course detailing mark the building out as an example of early 19th classical burgh architecture in this area of Inverness, away from the town centre.

Setting

51-57 Grant Street is among the earliest surviving buildings in the street with classical proportions and detailing indicative of an earlier 19th century date. It is a distinctive in the streetscape because it is prominently sited on an acute-angle corner site and has a bowed corner bay with a piended roof. It forms a good group with later 19th century buildings in the vicinity.

Regional variations

None known at present.

2.3 Close Historical Associations

There are no known associations with a person or event of national importance at present (2016).

Statutory address, category of listing changed from B to C, and listed building record revised in 2016. Previously listed as '51-57 Grant Street (Odd Numbers Only)'.

References

Bibliography

Canmore: http://canmore.org.uk/ CANMORE ID: 228798 and 228799

Maps

Ordnance Survey (surveyed 1867-8) IV.13.24. Inverness Town Plan. 10.56 feet to the mile. London: Ordnance Survey

Ordnance Survey (surveyed 1870, published 1874) Inverness Mainland Sheet IV.13. 25 inches to the mile. 1st edition. London: Ordnance Survey.

Printed Sources

Inverness Burgh Directory (1928) Inverness: printed by Robert Carruthers and Sons, p.73.

The Inverness Directory (1873-74) Inverness: printed by Robert Carruthers and Sons, p.134

The Scotsman (03 December 1910) p.4.

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

51-57 Grant Street, Inverness, Grant Street elevation, looking south, during daytime, on dry day with white sky.
 51-57 Grant Street, Inverness, Upper Kessock Street, looking southeast, during daytime, on dry day with white sky.

Map

Map of 51-57 Grant Street (Odd Nos Only) Including Gatepiers, Inverness

Printed: 28/03/2024 19:11