Documents

There are no additional online documents for this record.

Summary

Description

James Pearson Alison, 1898. 2-storey and attic, 2-bay, symmetrical tenement and shops forming part of terrace, with bipartite windows and inscribed escutcheon (see NOTES) flanked by Dutch-inspired, consoled, pedimented dormers breaking eaves. Squared, snecked yellow sandstone with polished ashlar dressings to front; predominantly brick to rear. Consoled, corniced fascia to left shopfront; 1st-floor string course; dentilled 2nd-floor cornice; eaves cornice. Roll-moulded window margins; bipartite, stone-mullioned windows at 1st and 2nd floors, with projecting cills and conch details above at 1st floor, and corbelled projecting cills and label-stopped hoodmoulds at 2nd floor. Projecting, piend-roofed, central stair bay to rear, flanked by piend-roofed dormers

Some 3-pane and 4-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows. Grey slate roof with stone ridge; ashlar-coped skews; coped ashlar end stacks with circular buff clay cans. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: Mosaic lobby floor now concealed within left shop; stone tenement stair with decorative cast-iron balusters, polished timber handrail, and timber-boarded doors with tall 2-pane fanlights to 2 closets on left and right of each landing (see NOTES).

Statement of Special Interest

An elegant, well-proportioned, late-19th-century block with earlier portions to the rear, situated at the centre of Hawick's High Street and making a significant contribution to the streetscape.

James Pearson Alison (1862-1932) was Hawick's most prominent architect. He commenced practice in the town in 1888 and remained there until his death, during which period he was responsible for a large number of buildings of widely varying types and styles, including a considerable proportion of Hawick's listed structures.

The escutcheon between the dormers is inscribed: 'TAK TENT O' TIME ERE TIME BE TINT'. No date is visible but published sources state that it is a fragment of a 1683 sundial which had been incorporated into a mid-18th-century building that previously stood on the site. The right dormer is dated 1898.

The closets on the tenement stair landings were probably communal water closets for the flats, and their survival is uncommon.

No 25 was previously listed jointly with Nos 23, 27 and 29, now split into separate listings. List description revised following resurvey (2008).

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.