Stonehaven Sheriff Court

Stonehaven Sheriff Court
Stonehaven Sheriff Court
Location	Dunnottar Avenue, Stonehaven
Coordinates	56.9614°N 2.2086°W / 56.9614; -2.2086
Built	1865
Architect	James Campbell Walker
Architectural style(s)	Neoclassical style
Listed Building – Category B
Official name	Stonehaven Sheriff Court House and Police Station, including boundary walls, Dunnottar Avenue, Bogwell Lane, Stonehaven
Designated	18 August 1972
Reference no.	LB41617
Shown in Aberdeenshire

Stonehaven Sheriff Court, formerly known as County Buildings, is a judicial structure in Dunnottar Avenue, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The structure, which was used as the headquarters of Kincardineshire County Council as well as a courthouse, is a Category B listed building.[1]

History

After sheriff court hearings were transferred from Kincardine to Stonehaven in 1660,[2] judicial proceedings were initially held in the Stonehaven Tolbooth which had been erected on the old pier in the late 16th century.[3] However, in the early 1760s, the Commissioners of Supply decided to commission a dedicated courthouse for the county of Kincardineshire: the site they selected was in Dunnottar Avenue in the "Auld Toon" part of Stonehaven. The new building was completed in 1767 and expanded in 1788.[4]

The courthouse was rebuilt, incorporating elements of the earlier structure including three prison cells, to a design by James Campbell Walker in the neoclassical style and it re-opened in 1865.[1][5] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of eleven bays facing Dunnottar Avenue, with the end two bays on either side slighted projected forward. The central bay, which also slightly projected forward, featured a portico which was formed by a round headed opening with colonnettes and a carved keystone, flanked by pilasters supporting a balustrade. The ground floor, which was rusticated, was fenestrated by round headed windows, while the first floor was fenestrated by square headed sash windows. At roof level, there was a balustraded parapet. Internally, the principal room was the main courtroom on the first floor.[1]

Following the implementation of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, which established county councils in every county, the new county leaders needed to identify a meeting place for Kincardineshire County Council[6] and decided to use the courthouse for that purpose.[7] Additional offices in Evan Street were acquired in around 1920.[8][9]

In 1930, the county council absorbed the functions of the abolished county education authority, which had been based at offices in a converted house called Viewmount on Arduthie Road in Stonehaven. Viewmount burnt down in January 1932, and the county council took the opportunity to reconstruct and extend it to become a new headquarters, including a council chamber. The rebuilt Viewmount opened as the county council's meeting place and main offices in May 1935.[10][11]

The sheriff court then reverted to being purely a judicial building. It was used for hearings of the sheriff's court and, on one day a month, for hearings of the justice of the peace court until the court hearings were transferred to Aberdeen in 2015.[12][13] Ownership of the building was transferred to the Stonehaven Town Partnership for a nominal sum in May 2018.[14][15] The Stonehaven Town Partnership subsequently initiated refurbishment works to the building costing £150,000.[16]

See also

• List of listed buildings in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire

References

1. Historic Environment Scotland. "Stonehaven Sheriff Court House and Police Station, including boundary walls, Dunnottar Avenue, Bogwell Lane, Stonehaven (LB41617)". Retrieved 26 December 2022.
2. Finden, William; Finden, Edward Francis; Chatto, William Andrew; Beattie, William (1842). The Ports, Harbours, Watering-places, and Coast Scenery of Great Britain Illustrated by Views Taken on the Spot. Vol. 2. George Virtue. p. 29.
3. Napier, James (1870). Stonehaven and its historical associations being a guide to Dunnottar Castle and other places of interest. John Taylor. p. 3.
4. Napier, James (1870). Napier. p. 6.
5. "Stonehaven Sheriff Court". Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
6. Shennan, Hay (1892). Boundaries of Counties and Parishes in Scotland: as settled by the Boundary Commissioners under the Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1889. Edinburgh: William Green & Sons – via Internet Archive.
7. County Council Notes. The County and Municipal Record. 7 March 1905. p. 341.
8. "No. 18384". The Edinburgh Gazette. 10 June 1948. p. 609.
9. Historic Environment Scotland. "33 Evan Street, Kinnear House, and 1 Robert Street including boundary walls, gatepiers and railings (LB41622)". Retrieved 26 December 2022.
10. "Ideal working conditions for Kincardine's public servants: Home of efficiency and comfort arises from ashes of Viewmount". Mearns Leader. Stonehaven. 9 May 1935. p. 12. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
11. Historic Environment Scotland. "Arduthie Road, Viewmount, Council Offices including nuclear bunker, ancillary building, boundary walls, gatepiers and railings (LB50245)". Retrieved 11 August 2024.
12. "End of an era for Stonehaven court". Mearns Leader. Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
13. "Closure of Stonehaven court being marked by sheriffs". BBC. 30 May 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
14. "Great verdict for bid to revitalise old court". The Press and Journal. 27 November 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
15. "Court building transferred to Stonehaven Town Partnership". Scottish Courts and Tribunals. 18 May 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
16. "Stonehaven's former court building passes into community for £1". The Press and Journal. 18 May 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2022.

External links

• Media related to Stonehaven Sheriff Court at Wikimedia Commons