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

GALLOWAY HYDROELECTRIC POWER SCHEME, EARLSTOUN POWER STATIONLB9725

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
B
Date Added
23/04/1990
Local Authority
Dumfries And Galloway
Planning Authority
Dumfries And Galloway
Parish
Kells
NGR
NX 61410 81879
Coordinates
261410, 581879

Description

Sir Alexander Gibb consulting engineer; Merz and McLellan Electrical engineers; E M Carmichael, Office of Public Works; dated 1936. Symmetrical 2-storey, 6-bay rectangular-plan Classical Modern power station with lower terminal bay to right (NE). Painted reinforced concrete. Full height pilasters with recessed parapet above. Slightly advanced door surround with large vehicular opening and steel shutter. Inscribed above: THE GALLOWAY WATER POWER SCHEME, EARLSTOUN POWER STATION, 1936. Large full-height rectangular multi-pane windows; regular fenestration to lower block with pedestrian doors at ground floor.

Multi-pane glazing in metal frame windows. Flat platform roof behind parapet with integrated cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: plain interior with large roller crane on steel girders supported by corniced concrete piers. Engineered steel roof trusses.

Statement of Special Interest

Earlstoun power station is a significant example of a hydroelectric power station and was an important part of phase II of the highly influential Galloway Hydropower Scheme. It is prominently sited adjacent to the A762 road and B listed Allangibbon bridge. The power station comprise two turbines with water from the nearby Earlstoun reservoir conducted by aqueduct to the penstocks behind the station. The Galloway scheme was a significant technological achievement and the first example of run of the river technology to be successfully utilised on a large scale in Scotland. The Galloway scheme was a significant technological achievement and the first example of run of the river technology to be successfully utilised on a large scale in Scotland.

The architectural design of Earlstoun combines the necessary engineering requirements of a large commercial power station and an understated Modernist classical design. The clean lines and minimal architectural articulation are characteristic of the modern style. The stark roofline and rhythmic articulation of the façade characterise the modern, dynamic attitude with which hydroelectricity was viewed in this period.

The development of the Galloway Hydroelectric Scheme predates the 1943 Hydroelectric (Scotland) Act which formalised the development of Hydroelectricity in Scotland and led to the founding of the North of Scotland Hydroelectric Board. Those developments which predated the 1943 act were developed by individual companies as a response to particular market and topographic conditions. The completion of a number of schemes (including Galloway, Grampian and those associated with Alcan (see separate listings) without a national strategic policy framework is groundbreaking as is the consistency of high quality aesthetic and engineering design across all of the schemes.

The Galloway scheme was influential on the future development of hydropower in Scotland. After initial opposition to the parliamentary act granting powers for the completion of the scheme it was approved with a number of safeguards on the landscape and amenity of the area. This necessitated the high quality design of both power stations and dams which characterises the Galloway scheme. This condition also proved influential during the drafting of the Hydroelectric (Scotland) Act of 1943 where the visual impact of future schemes was a primary concern.

Sir Alexander Gibb and Partners was a pioneering engineering company, responsible for a number of high profile works in Scotland, including the Kincardine Bridge (see separate listing). The company was founded by Alexander Gibb in 1921 and quickly became the UK's largest firm of consulting engineers with numerous international clients. Gibb was personally involved in the design and construction of the Galloway scheme, and the pioneering nature of the Galloway development is due, in large part, to his abilities as an engineer. Merz and McLellan were pioneering British electrical engineers and developed a high profile practice, working on a number of power stations across Britain, including Dunstan B, as well as completing hydroelectric work in Italy in the 1980s.

(Reviewed as part of Hydroelectric Power Thematic Survey, 2011)

References

Bibliography

Peter Payne, The Hydro: a study of the development of the major hydro-electric schemes undertaken by the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board, 1988, p. 25; Emma Wood, The Hydro Boys ,2002, p. 51; Anon The Galloway hydro-electric development, Reprint of papers presented to the Institution of Civil Engineers, 22 February 1938; George Hill, Tunnel and Dam; The Story of the Galloway Hydros, 1984.

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.

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Printed: 29/03/2024 07:05