2020

NS4175 : Former site of the County Buildings

taken 4 years ago, near to Bellsmyre, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland

Former site of the County Buildings
Former site of the County Buildings
The buildings were located at Crosslet, at the foot of Dumbarton's Garshake Road. A competition to design the building was (according to a 1960 edition of the journal "Builder") won by three architects who devised the plans in their spare time while carrying out their National Service in the RAF: J Armstrong Lane, Duncan S Bremner, and J Alan Bristow. The practice that carried out the work was Lane Bremner & Garnett, formed in 1961 after Bristow had relinquished his interest in the project for personal reasons, and had been amicably replaced by Dennis J R Garnett (as described in the book "Winners & losers: Scotland and the architectural competition", Roger Emmerson, 1991). The winner of the competition was announced in 1960; fittingly, then, the 288 rooms of the building would have 1,960 windows. See LinkExternal link / LinkExternal link / LinkExternal link (all at Scottish Architects) for more on the above.

Work began on the site on September 1962. The buildings were officially opened by the Queen on the 28th of June, 1965. The foundation stone had been laid by Dr Hugh Gillies, Convener of the County Council. The southeastern part of the complex, the single-storey county hall, was 60 feet (18m) square. The central building, oriented SW—NE, was about 360 feet (110m) long by about 50 feet (15m) wide, and housed the Council Suite, Health and Welfare, and the Assessors, Education, Architects, Surveyors, and Engineering Departments. The northwestern part of the complex, with its long axis perpendicular to that of the central building, measured about 210 feet (64m) long by about 120 feet (37m) wide, and housed the County Clerks, Treasurers, Weights and Measures, and Children's Departments, and the Civil Defence Headquarters. A Mother-and-Child-themed statue by James Barclay stood near the main entrance, and was chosen to be symbolic of the council's role in the community. The offices were originally used by Dumbarton County Council, later by Strathclyde Regional Council, and finally by West Dunbartonshire Council. Over time, the concrete facing of the buildings deteriorated and presented some problems.

As part of the Knowle Burn Flood Alleviation Scheme, a flood storage pond —
Link — was built c.2014 on the lower ground just to the west, between the buildings and the angle formed where Garshake Road meets Stirling Road. The County Buildings themselves were demolished in 2019, after the construction — Link — of new Council Offices behind the facade of the old Dumbarton Academy: NS3975 : New Council Offices, Dumbarton.

See other images of The County Buildings, Crosslet

Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Lairich Rig and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: Construction, Development Primary Subject: Demolition Site
1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
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1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
TIP: Click the map for more Large scale mapping
Grid Square
NS4175, 113 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Lairich Rig   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Sunday, 22 March, 2020   (more nearby)
Submitted
Tuesday, 5 May, 2020
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NS 411 757 [100m precision]
WGS84: 55:56.9169N 4:32.7640W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NS 411 757
View Direction
West-northwest (about 292 degrees)
Clickable map
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NW N NE
W Go E
SW S SE
Image Type (about): geograph 
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