Basic Site Details

Name: Rutherglen Town Hall
Town, district or village: Rutherglen
City or county: Lanarkshire
Country: Scotland
Parish:  
Status:  
Grid ref:
Notes:
The buildings of the new Town Hall are in the main street, immediately to the east of the parish churchyard. They have a frontage of 61 feet to the street, and a depth of 79 feet 6 inches. The ground floor is occupied by a spacious entrance-hall and a lofty staircase, which conduct to the Town Hall on the upper floor, and to a court hall in the rear of the buildings, the front portion of the ground floor being arranged for two double shops. In the treatment of these shop-fronts the architect has endeavoured to overcome the injurious effect which so often attends the introduction of shops into a public building. The public hall measures 75 feet by 40 feet inside: it extends over the shops and lower hall, and is lighted on the west side by five large four-light mullioned and transomed windows, and on the south by a large oriel of six lights. The ceiling of this hall is composed wholly of dressed timbers, stained and varnished. It is semicircular in section, divided into compartments by arched, coupled beams, springing from impost shafts, with foliated capitals, attached to the side walls and arranged in couples under the arched beams. The exterior of the building is in the Scottish baronial style, quaintly varied and ornamental in its details. The shop windows have round, arched heads, with string mouldings encircling them, and indicating the division of the floors. The centre of the front is occupied by the large oriel, which seems almost to fill the end of the hall. It is projected on elaborate corbelling from between the arches of the ground floor, and is panelled and ornamented with escutcheons and armorial devices. The angles of the building are crowned with bartisan turrets, with high peaked conical roofs. A high pitched gable occupies the centre of the front over the oriel, in the centre of which is a panel carved with the armorial bearings of the burgh, and on either haunch of this gable a carved lion and unicorn is placed, the apex being finished with a pile of armour, bearing the Scottish crown. The other panels in the front are carved with the armorial bearings of England and Scotland, and with ornamental devices displaying the charters of the burgh, granted by David I, 1136 ; William I, 1180 ; Robert I, 1324, and James V, 1542. The entrance door is at the east side of the front, under the tower, and forms a prominent feature of the elevation, from its size, the character of its arch and iamb mouldings, and its position under the plain solid mass of the tower. The height of the building from pavement to apex of centre gable is 72 feet, the entire height of the tower is 110 feet. The tower is very plain in the lower portion, above the doorway, but becomes broken in outline at the top ; the angles are terminated with bartisan turrets with domed roofs, the walls between being terminated in crow-stepped gables, with clock dial-plates in each side. The dials of the clock, we believe, are so designed that the hands and figures will appear white at night on a dark dial, and the reverse during the day, Mr Muirhead, of Glasgow, is tbe maker. The contractors are: for the mason work, Mr Lawrie; for the carpenter work, Mr Lindsay; for the plumber work , Mr Lockhast; for slater work, Mr Morrison; and, for the plaster work, Mr Gilately. Mr. Robert Balfour is the clerk of the works. The works are being carried out from the designs and under the superintendence of Mr. Charles Wilson, of Glasgow. [Building News 10 January 1862 p22]

Interior subsequently gutted.

Alternative Names

The following alternative names are associated with this building/design:
 NameCurrent name?Notes
Item 1 of 1Glasgow District Council OfficesYes 

Building Type Classification

The building is classified under the following categories:
 ClassificationOriginal classification?Notes
Item 1 of 1Town hall  

Street Addresses

The following street addresses are associated with this building:
 AddressMain entrance?Notes
Item 1 of 1131, 139, Main StreetYes 

Events

The following date-based events are associated with this building:
 FromToEvent typeNotes
Item 1 of 6 2004Restoration 
Item 2 of 618611862 Original building
Item 3 of 618761877 Addition of municipal offices
Item 4 of 61909  Competition held for extension of Charles Wilson building
Item 5 of 6Before 1947 ProposedScheme for restoration - or proposal for new building?
Item 6 of 61967 Alteration/conversionInterior gutted during conversion to offices.

People

Design and Construction

The following individuals or organisations have carried out design/construction work. Where architects or practices worked together, matching letters appear beside their names in the Partnership Group column.
 NameRolePartnership GroupFromToNotes
Item 1 of 20Douglas Fotheringham L 2004Restoration
Item 2 of 20Hamish Clark L 2004Restoration
Item 3 of 20Honeyman, Jack & Robertson L 2004Restoration
Item 4 of 20Charles Wilson A18611862 
Item 5 of 20George Penrose Kennedy B18761877Addition of municipal offices - carried out in association with John Thomson
Item 6 of 20Kennedy & Dalglish (sometimes misspelt Kennedy & Dalgleish) B18761877Addition of municipal offices - carried out in association with John Thomson
Item 7 of 20Robert Dalglish (sometimes misspelt Robert Dalgleish) B18761877Addition of municipal offices - carried out in association with John Thomson
Item 8 of 20James Thomson & Sons B?18761877Worked in association with Kennedy and Dalgleish (probably this John Thomson)
Item 9 of 20John Thomson B?18761877Worked in association with Kennedy and Dalgleish (probably this John Thomson)
Item 10 of 20James Salmon (junior) C1909 Competition design for extension - not successful (extension not built)
Item 11 of 20John Gaff Gillespie C1909 Competition design for extension - not successful (extension not built)
Item 12 of 20Salmon, Son & Gillespie C1909 Competition design for extension - not successful (extension not built)
Item 13 of 20William Forrest Salmon C1909 Competition design for extension - not successful (extension not built)
Item 14 of 20Wylie, Shanks & Wylie F1947 Scheme for restoration - or proposal for new building?
Item 15 of 20Edward Grigg Wylie FBefore 1947 Scheme for restoration - or proposal for new building?
Item 16 of 20Frederick Robert Wylie FBefore 1947 Scheme for restoration - or proposal for new building?
Item 17 of 20George Ferguson Smellie Shanks FBefore 1947 Scheme for restoration - or proposal for new building?
Item 18 of 20Philip Hill Spence K1967 Interior gutted during conversion to offices.
Item 19 of 20Robert William Kelly Cupples Rogerson K1967 Interior gutted during conversion to offices.
Item 20 of 20Rogerson & Spence K1967 Interior gutted during conversion to offices.

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this building:
 Author(s)DateTitlePartPublisherNotes
Item 1 of 5RIBA1970RIBA Directory 1970   
Item 2 of 5Sinclair, Fiona J, ed1995Charles Wilson Architect 1810-1863: A Question of Style Glasgow: Park Circus Promotions, 1995p24
Item 3 of 5Thomson, David1882Memoir of Charles Wilson13 March 1882Proceedings of the Glasgow Philosophical Society 
Item 4 of 5Williamson, Riches, Higgs1990Glasgow (The Buildings of Scotland)  p494
Item 5 of 5Wilson, Charles Proceedings of the Glasgow Philosophical Society   

Periodical References

The following periodicals contain references to this building:
 Periodical NameDateEditionPublisherNotes
Item 1 of 3British Architect13 April 1877   
Item 2 of 3British Architect1 October 1909   
Item 3 of 3Building News10 January 1862  p22

Archive References

The following archives hold material relating to this building:
 SourceArchive nameSource catalogue no.Notes
Item 1 of 3Historic Environment ScotlandListed Buildings Register33564 
Item 2 of 3Information courtesy of Hamish Clark, partner, Honeyman Jack & RobertsonInformation sent to website Sent 2008
Item 3 of 3RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert MuseumRIBA Nomination Papers George F Shanks: F no4239 (Combined Box 3)