Municipal Buildings

This is a former infirmary built in the Gothic Revival style, dated 1881 as shown in a roundel on the left stack. The architects were Kirk & Sons, whose names are inscribed on the stone at the base of the left stack. The building is constructed of pitch-faced stone with ashlar dressings, and has hipped slate roofs with gables.

The main block is T-shaped, with the top of the 'T' forming the main facade to the road. A long side wing extends to the right, terminating in two square towers with diagonally-set sprocketed pavilion roofs. The main facade is near-symmetrical, featuring five bays over two and a half storeys with a prominent central clock tower. The main entrance projects forward, supported by diagonal buttresses, with a wide, moulded cambered head above. At first-floor level, a canted oriel window sits above an enriched base and is set beneath a steep roof. A carved figure of a woman and three children is placed within a niche with an elaborate cusped and crocketed canopy, flanked by panels with shields within similar canopies. Above the eaves is a four-light group in the base of the clock tower. A deep, enriched corbel table and cornice supports the sprocketed pavilion roof of the clock tower, which features a clock face within an elaborate crocketed gabled dormer, with flanking pinnacles. The side bays of the main facade have single and paired windows with cusped arched lights, arranged symmetrically, each with a gable dormer. The end elevations have projecting stacks with decorative ashlar work. The left side elevation has a central gabled entrance with a wide glass canopy on elaborate iron brackets. A three-light staircase window with plate tracery is above the entrance, with large paired windows to the left and right.

The right side wing has seven bays over three storeys, with second-floor windows featuring cambered heads and pointed arches above. A large, later ground floor extension has been added, consistent in style. The corner towers feature slender two-light windows to the sides and three-light windows to the front. An elaborate stone balcony, supported on massive stone corbels and featuring a pierced parapet, is situated between the towers at second-floor level. The standard of ashlar work throughout is very high.