Documents

There are no additional online documents for this record.

Summary

Description

Later to late 19th century with later additions and alterations. Single storey with attic, 5-bay, classically-detailed ballroom and restaurant with lower single storey with attic, 8-bay range adjoined to left. Principal block: coursed and stugged cream sandstone (rendered in part); ashlar dressings; rubble sides Base and eaves course; modillioned eaves; corniced parapet; pilastered bays. Lower range: lined render. Stepped base course; eaves course; tall, coped parapet; pilastered bays.

E (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: principal block to right with consoled, pedimented doorpiece off-set to right of centre; deep-set timber panelled door within. Later shallow-pedimented opening at ground off-set to left of centre with 2-leaf boarded timber door. Blind in remaining bays at ground. 2 piended dormers set behind parapet off-set to left of centre. Later flat-roofed entrance corridor adjoined to outer right. Lower block: 3-bay gable end to outer left with steps to deep-set, 2-leaf timber panelled door at ground to right; bipartite window at ground to left; bipartite window centred in surmounting gablehead. 5-bay range to right with boarded timber door centred at ground; blind in remaining bays to left and right.

W (REAR) ELEVATION: not seen 1999.

Part-louvred dormer windows to ballroom; rooflights to side; plate glass timber sash and case windows to later block (opaque in part). Grey slate roofs throughout (piended roof to ballroom).

INTERIOR: rectangular-plan ballroom (slightly bowed to W) with boarded timber floor; boarded timber dado panelling; timber panelled doors. Moduled cornice; open boarded timber pitched roof with hammerbeam supports on moulded springers; various coats-of-arms set between. Tiered timber seating abutting walls. Timber balcony projecting at upper level in S wall with ball-finialled newels and cross-braced front; arched opening centred behind. Further room adjoined to S with square-plan timber columned arcade dividing room in 2. Timber panelled dado throughout with half-timbering above. Bar to W; boarded timber dance floor to E. Combed ceilings; timber panelled doors. Timber panelled vestibule to S. Restaurant to N (linked to ballroom) with boarded timber dado panelling; continuous upper balcony; plain cornices. Public bar in basement below.

Statement of Special Interest

Built to accommodate Oban's annual Gathering Ball and still in use as such 1999. Following the success of the Gathering's first Highland Games in 1873 and the subsequent ball (which took place in a tent), a committee was established to obtain plans, specifications and estimates for the erection of a more suitable building to house the event. By 1874 the committee had feued a site in Breadalbane Street for ?12 per annum and the members had raised ?1,215 towards the cost of the scheme. The existing building is thought to date from the later to late 19th century and either incorporated or replaced a slate-roofed, timber structure recorded as having been used by the Gathering for a meeting, and presumably the ball, in 1877.

References

Bibliography

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.