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

JOHN FINNIE STREET, COUNCIL CHAMBERSLB35919

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
B
Group Category Details
100000019 - see notes
Date Added
03/07/1980
Local Authority
East Ayrshire
Planning Authority
East Ayrshire
Burgh
Kilmarnock
NGR
NS 42708 37992
Coordinates
242708, 637992

Description

James Montgomery Pearson, 1903 - 1905. Large Free Renaissance commercial block with 3-storey, 3-bay symmetrical front to John Finnie Street with curved angle bays leading to returns on John Dickie Street and College Wynd. Polished red sandstone ashlar with channelled piers to ground floor; giant angle pilasters divide upper bays. Windows, some with carved panels above and below, divided by pilasters above ground floor. Scrolled curved pediments at angles and central pediment, all above broad decorative friezes and linked by balustrades.

W (PRINCIPAL, JOHN FINNIE STREET) ELEVATION: curved angle bay to left: arched door surround with rusticated voussoirs and enlarged keystone; carved figure and scroll detail in each spandrel supporting decorated frieze; tripartite window to 1st floor; band course with triangular detail to centre; tripartite window to 2nd floor; scrolled curved segmental headed pediment with stone finial surmounting. Similar angle bay to right with arched window replacing door. 3 central bays: bipartite window to each at ground floor; to 1st floor, bipartite windows to outer bays with tripartite window to centre; identical fenestration to 2nd floor with arch detail to central bay, leading into decorative frieze and triangular pediment.

S (COLLEGE WYND) ELEVATION: bipartite window to ground floor left, 3 small square high windows to right; cornice. Tripartite window to 1st and 2nd floor, balustraded parapet linking flanking angle pilasters. Single plainer bay adjoining to right with door to ground floor and window to 1st floor; brick right return with regularly placed windows. L-plan elevation of adjacent offices to far right.

E (REAR, LOW CHURCH LANE) ELEVATION: arched angle bay to right (see W ELEVATION for details); to centre, 2 large altered bays to ground floor, rusticated pilasters with carved heads dividing, cornice. Paired windows to 1st & 2nd floor. To left, door with smaller higher window to left; to 1st and 2nd floors, window to left, narrower one to right; enclosed parapet surmounting. Additional former 2-storey, now 3-storey, 7-bay building to far left.

N (JOHN DICKIE STREET) ELEVATION: two 3-storey, stepped blocks of 7-bays to left and 2-bays to right. To right block: tripartite window to left, paired bipartite windows to right. Bipartite window to left on upper floors, tripartite windows to right on upper floors with architraved surround to 2nd floor. To left block: to slightly advanced 5th bay, arched door surround with rusticated voussoirs and enlarged keystone, segmental pediment surmounting; bipartite windows above to 1st & 2nd floors with triangular pediment surmounting. Tripartite window to 6th and 7th bay; elongated windows spanning 1st and 2nd floors above. To left of door, 4 regular bays to ground floor, matching bipartite windows to 1st and 2nd floors. Curved angle bay to far right and left (see W ELEVATION for details). Balustraded parapet spanning all, finial surmounting pilaster plinths.

2-pane timber sash and case windows with horned upper sashes. Some plate glass windows to ground floor windows with 3-pane upper lights to John Dickie Street elevation, fixed arched lights to some doors. Piended grey slate roof concealed behind parapet.

INTERIOR: currently in use as council offices, some modernisation has occurred; some original features survive, plaster cornicing, staircase and internal doors.

Statement of Special Interest

Part of the John Finnie Street A-Group. John Finnie Street is nearly ? mile long and was built around 1864. It provided a grand thoroughfare for the town with the focal point to the north being the railway station. Business and commerce spread to this street and rows of high quality, 3-storey, red sandstone buildings were constructed. The ground floors were given over to retail, offices and accommodation were above. The street dominated the lower, narrower streets in Kilmarnock that were filled with traditional buildings. The street's architect was William Railton, who went on to design the Kilmarnock Infirmary (now demolished) and the surveyor was Robert Blackwood. This building is a block overlooking both John Finnie Street and to the rear the Laigh Kirk. The architect of was James Montgomery Pearson of 51 John Finnie Street. This building was originally called the Wallace Chambers and was built for Messrs William Wallace & Co. In 1790 William Wallace founded a distillery company in Kilmarnock called Wallace Company. The main site of the company was on Low Glencairn Street, although these offices were built in the town centre on John Finnie Street. In the 1920s, Wallace Company was taken over by Johnnie Walker's who had substantial property in the adjacent Dunlop and Strand Street. The building has since been taken over by the East Ayrshire Council and is currently used as offices. An additional building in Low Church Lane has been heightened and is also used by the council.

References

Bibliography

James McKie, PLAN OF THE TOWN OF KILMARNOCK (1868) showing newly constructed John Finnie Street. Charles Reid, PLAN OF THE TOWN OF KILMARNOCK (1880) showing "blocks" on John Finnie Street. 25"/mile ORDNANCE SURVEY MAP (1910). Rob Close, AYRSHIRE & ARRAN - AN ILLUSTRATED ARCHITECTURAL GUIDE (1994) pp103 -105. Rob Close, SOME KILMARNOCK ARCHITECTS (in "Aspects of Local History" 1999) pp57-58. Frank Beattie, STREETS AND NEUKS, OLD KILMARNOCK (2000) p38.

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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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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Printed: 05/08/2025 17:33