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

VICTORIA STREET, THE WINTER GARDENSLB40454

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
A
Date Added
12/04/1978
Local Authority
Argyll And Bute
Planning Authority
Argyll And Bute
Burgh
Rothesay
NGR
NS 08755 64794
Coordinates
208755, 664794

Description

Walter MacFarlane & Co. (Saracen Foundry, Glasgow) in collaboration with Alex Stephen (burgh surveyor), 1923-4; incorporating Victorian octagonal-plan bandstand (converted for use as cinema late 20th century). Circular-plan domed winter garden (25m diameter); square-plan towers flanking entrance; bowed loggia to S; squared N end (restaurant) with raised octagonal tower to former bandstand; flanking single storey piended pavilions. Panelled walls; vertical glazing to upper levels; regularly disposed engaged columns with decorative cast-iron brackets beneath cantilevered awning to outer ambulatory; architraved eaves; volute corner cartouches; tapering finials. Radial steel ribs supporting central dome; glazed inner ambulatory; flat roof above forming upper promenade enclosed by continuous decorative cast-iron handrail; regularly disposed cast-iron lamp standards; decorative Art Nouveau panels.

S (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: glazed entrance centred at ground recessed beneath bowed portico comprising cast-iron Doric columns flanking centre; volute capitals; surmounting lampstandards set in upper promenade. 2-storey pagoda-roofed pavilions to left and right of entrance; panelled walls at ground; diamond glazing at 1st floor beneath wide eaves; corner roof cartouches; surmounting finials; pagoda-roof surmounting glazed oculus centred above dome (spherical finial missing).

N (REAR) ELEVATION: bracketed eaves beneath octagonal-roofed, 2-storey tower at centre; decorative Art Nouveau glazing at 1st floor; projecting polygonal bow at ground to front (restaurant); surmounting cast-iron railings to promenade; piended square-plan pavilions at ground to outer left and right.

INTERIOR: boarded central dome comprising radiating steel girders (solid in section towards apex); moulded boss; girders curve towards ground with skeletal circular infils; glazed clerestory; boxed piers at ground; glazed ambulatory beyond. Decorative handrail encloses inner floor; polygonal part-glazed booth set on platform to SE; 'Pay Here' parapet with cast-iron detailing. Segmental-arched girder to N frames stage; cinema behind (entered from W); restaurant beyond. Access to upper promenade via balustraded stairs set in pavilions flanking entrance.

Predominantly vertical glazing; decorative fanlights; diamond-glazing to pagoda towers; part-stained decorative glazing to former bandstand. Red-felt roofing to dome; red-felt fish-scale tiled towers; cast-iron rainwater goods.

Statement of Special Interest

Original plans dated 5th December 1923, incorporating earlier bandstand. A remarkable and relatively intact example of flamboyant seaside architecture. With its pagoda roofs, curvilinear Art Nouveau decoration, inner and outer promenades, cartouches and finials, this glazed steel-framed structure remains true to its original form. Furthermore, the steel ribbed dome is now one of the most important pieces of work from the renowned Saracen foundry surviving in Scotland (the majority of their work having been exported). Prefabricated in Glasgow using MacFarlane Foundry Castings, the structure was shipped across the Clyde and erected on Rothesay's Esplanade. Most girder roofs are confined to train sheds such as that at Wemyss Bay (James Miller, 1903). The Winter Garden therefore is of great significance - a key example of the firm's large-scale work.

Rothesay is one of Scotland's premier seaside resorts, developed primarily during the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries, and incorporates an earlier medieval settlement. The town retains a wide range of buildings characteristic of its development as a high status 19th century holiday resort, including a range of fine villas, a Victorian pier and promenade.

The history and development of Rothesay is defined by two major phases. The development of the medieval town, centred on Rothesay Castle, and the later 19th and early 20th century development of the town as a seaside resort. Buildings from this later development, reflect the wealth of the town during its heyday as a tourist destination, and include a range of domestic and commercial architecture of a scale sometimes found in larger burghs. Both the 19th and early 20th century growth of the town, with a particular flourish during the inter-war period, included areas of reclaimed foreshore, particularly along the coast to the east of the town and around the pier and pleasure gardens.

(List description revised as part of Rothesay listing review 2010-11).

References

Bibliography

Bandstand appears on Ordnance Survey map, 1896; J MacCallum "WISH YOU WERE HERE": A PICTURE POSTCARD VIEW OF EDWARDIAN BUTE (bandstand p6); B Edwards SCOTTISH SEASIDE TOWNS (1986) p115; D N Marshall HISTORY OF BUTE (1992) p56; F Walker & F Sinclair NORTH CLYDE ESTUARY: AN ILLUSTRATED ARCHITECTURAL GUIDE (1992) p156; A B D A plans (Entertainment Hall for Rothesay Town Council, Alexander Stephen, Burgh Surveyor, 1923).

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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Printed: 29/03/2024 13:49