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Summary

Description

Dated 1881; extended mid and late 20th century; Cold War Nuclear Bunker 1988. 2-storey and attic, 5-bay, L-plan villa with keystoned round-headed doorpiece with flanking decoratively-capitalled columns, and adjacent single storey bowed bay with large tripartite window incorporating engaged colonette mullions, all under modillioned cornice and quatrefoil piercing to balustrade with relief carved lion on shield; corbelled oriel window and stylised buttresses. Stugged squared rubble with ashlar dressings. Base course moulded string courses and eaves course. Architraved openings, stone mullions, timber transoms and mullions, and chamfered arrises.

E (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: advanced finialled gabled bay to centre with full-height canted window incorporating relief carved quatrefoil band between floors, cornice and decoratively pierced balustrade, and window in gablehead; re-entrant angle to right with 2-leaf part-glazed timber door and semicircular fanlight with tripartite bow window beyond and further light on return to right, single window and wide-centre tripartite to set-back face above; penultimate bay to left with single window to each floor, and bay to outer left with square-plan tripartite under carved balustrade with pedimented centre and blank stepped bay above.

S ELEVATION: variety of elements to altered elevation incorporating gabled bay with canted oriel window to 1st floor right and lower flat-roofed wing projecting at left.

N ELEVATION: broad gabled elevation with single window to each floor at left, bipartite to each floor at right and stepped full-height chimney breast at centre incorporating carved panel with monogrammed 'WM' '1881'. 1950s flat roofed wing at outer right incorporating moulded doorpiece with 2-leaf panelled timber door at centre; 1st floor with 7 decoratively-astragalled windows, that to centre larger.

Largely plate glass glazing in timber sash and case windows. Grey slates. Corniced, coped and banded ashlar stacks with some cans; stepped ashlar-coped skews with trefoil-detailed mitre skewputts. Square-section downpipes with decorative rainwater hoppers and fixings.

INTERIOR: largely modern with lowered ceilings but retaining 6-panelled architraved doors, some picture rails, cast-iron radiators and timber-balustered staircase. Council chamber (ground floor SE) and members room with timber dado panelling. 1950s entrance hall with broad dog-leg staircase, braced ironwork balusters and square-section timber newels. Coloured glass panel to large centre stair window.

NUCLEAR BUNKER: reinforced concrete nuclear bunker entered from E in steep bank beneath car park. Doubled as Grampian Council Standby Emergency Centre; disused 1992. Steel blast doors form airlock before decontamination chamber, plant room to side with Perkins standby generators, Scientific Advisor's Room, Communications Room with BT TSX50 system, Control Room, Dormitory and offices. Emergency escape hatch leads to car park.

ANCILLARY BUILDING, BOUNDARY WALLS AND GATEPIERS AND RAILINGS: small rectangular-plan, slated, rubble ancillary to W. Coped rubble boundary walls, some with inset decorative cast-iron railings; pyramidally-coped square-section ashlar gatepiers with wrought-iron arch supporting finialled and corniced lamp; flight of steps with flanking octagonal ashlar dies and lamp bases.

Statement of Special Interest

The fine details at Viewmount, including parapets, main doorpiece, rainwater goods, gatepiers and lamp combine to produce an interesting building sited on raised ground overlooking Arduthie Road. Originally a private house, Viewmount was built for William Mowat (owner of the former Carron Tan works in Allardice Street) who, in 1897, donated a hall to the South Church in Cameron Street. The 1923-24 Valuation Roll records the owner as the Education Authority of the County of Kincardine, and by the mid 20th century the building had been converted to council offices with a new north entrance and stairhall exhibiting some interesting detail in glasswork redolent of its period.

References

Bibliography

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