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

STIRLING ARCADE 1-43, 2-50 AND 32, 34 KING STREET INCLUDING THE FORMER DOUGLAS HOTEL FRONTING MURRAY PLACE, FORMER ALHAMBRA THEATRELB41204

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
B
Date Added
28/10/1976
Local Authority
Stirling
Planning Authority
Stirling
Burgh
Stirling
NGR
NS 79636 93454
Coordinates
279636, 693454

Description

John McLean 1879-1882; 1964, theatre converted to shop; Honeyman, Jack & Robertson, early 1980s restoration; circa 2000 further restoration. Rare classically-detailed shopping arcade on ground sloping to NE, with entrances at King Street (former Temperance Hotel) and Murray Place (former Douglas Hotel) and incorporating shell of Alhambra Theatre (former Arcade Theatre).

DESCRIPTION:

1. 32, 34 KING STREET (originally Temperance Hotel) late classical 4-storey and mansard attic, ashlar, plain slim pilasters flank bipartite central bay, tripartite outer bay with canted bays 1st and 2nd floors. Ground floor shop at left. Slated roof with dormers, acroters.

2. SOUTH-WEST ARCADE MALL (36-50, 31-43 Arcade) 2-storey 4-double-bay shopping arcade with glass roof carried on timber transverse arches, ground floor altered.

3. CENTRAL SQUARE (26-34, 15-19 Arcade) 3-storey, 3-broad bays of superimposed orders timber and glass roof braced in wrought-iron, late classical facades of superimposed pilasters, more elaborate treatment on NE side at facade of former Town Hall, now gutted as department store.

4. NORTH-EAST MALL ARCADE (6-24, 5-19 Arcade) Nos 20-24, 15-19, single-storey with flat ceilings; nos 6-16, 5-13, 3 double

bays similar to those in South-West Mall Arcade.

5. FORMER DOUGLAS HOTEL

Murray Place, 2, 4 and 1, 3 Arcade. Free Victorian Renaissance, 4-storey and mansard attic, 3 bays wide, arched window over Arcade entrance, canted 1st and 2nd floor bays to either side. Roofless, burnt 1971, under repair 1975-6.

Statement of Special Interest

This shopping arcade, now known as the Stirling Arcade, is a fine example located between Stirling's principal shopping streets and the Castle. It is one of just five remaining in Scotland. Built for William Crawford, local councillor and china merchant, at a cost of about £30,000, it was also home to the Arcade Theatre.

Crawford's Arcade, as it was known, links King Street and Murray Place. Narrow street facades at each end lead into the ramped shopping arcade. Entering at King Street on higher ground to the SW, the arcade runs down to the NE, it dog-legs to the left into a lofty rectangular-plan level centre court and back again to the right to slope down to Murray Place. The Arcade, together with the Alhambra Theatre and Douglas Hotel were sold by auction in 1920 after the death of William Crawford.

The Arcade Theatre was situated within the arcade above the shops. Access was by the extant elegant cantilevered dog-leg staircase with decorative cast iron balusters and serpentine curved top landing on thin cast iron columns, with some fine decorative plasterwork. In 1964 the space was converted to a furniture showroom for Thomas Menzies Limited. The fine interior detail was removed owing to its poor condition but managing director, Mr Stirling Farquhar, had a pictorial record made. The auditorium 'had two U-shaped balconies, supported on iron columns, with a vaulted ceiling of painted panels. It seated 1,200 and had a chequered start with various short leases' (Peter). It was sold to William Crawford in 1912 and renamed the Alhambra Music Hall. It was then used for cine-variety and became a full-time cinema in 1930. The cinema closed in 1939 due to perceived fire risk owing to limited access.

Scotland's other shopping arcades are at: Central Arcade, Ayr (1880), North Bridge Arcade, Edinburgh (1900), Argyle Arcade, Glasgow (1827), and Market Arcade, Inverness (1860).

References and Notes updated as part of the Cinema Thematic Study 2007-08.

List description further updated as part of the Theatres Thematic Study 2010.

References

Bibliography

ohn Gifford and Frank Arneil Walker The Buildings of Scotland Stirling and Central Scotland (2002), pp709, 740. Margaret MacKeith Shopping Arcades 1817-1939 (1985), pp131-2. Bruce Peter Scotland' Splendid Theatres (1999), pp226-7.

www.scottishcinemas.org.uk [accessed 31.12.07].

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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