Court House, St Marnock Street, Kilmarnock

Court House, St Marnock Street, Kilmarnock

A classical court house designed by William Railton and completed in 1852, with substantial enlargements to the rear undertaken in 1870, 1910, and circa 1985. The building is constructed in pink and white sandstone ashlar for the main structure, with coursed rubble used for the 1910 extension and red and pink ashlar for the later addition.

The principal south elevation presents a striking formal composition. A deep central portico features arched bays to each side with prominent keystones and architraved voussoirs, supported on Corinthian piers and topped by a cornice. Adjacent to this are five arcaded arched bays in matching style, with an architraved arched doorway containing a timber panelled door and semi-circular fanlight in the central bay. Recessed arched windows occupy bays two and four, while bays one and five—which serve as linking sections to the flanking wings—contain later arched windows that replaced original doors. The first floor of the main building displays three bays to the centre, each with windows featuring eared architraves; the outer bays have cornices, while the central window is flanked by Corinthian pilasters supporting an entablature. Decorative roundels ornament the frieze, and the central bay is crowned with a dentilled cornice and pediment bearing acroteria. Single-storey gabled wings project from each flank, each containing a central architraved window with bracketed cornice beneath a triangular pediment with acroteria.

A dentilled cornice and blocking course runs across the main building, with plainer cornicing to the wings. Principal pediments carry acroteria throughout.

The west elevation displays a single-storey, three-bay wing at ground floor level, featuring an architraved tripartite window to the left bay, a gabled central bay with a bipartite window beneath a triangular pediment formed by the eaves course, and a smaller window to the left of the right bay. A tiny window sits at the extreme left of the left return. Four elongated windows similar in character to those on the left return occupy the first floor of the main building to the rear. A later building adjoins the rear left of the wing, displaying paired bipartite windows to each floor with a band and eaves course.

The north rear elevation features a two-storey 1910 building to the left with paired windows to each floor and a projecting gabled end to the third bay, irregular bays to the left return, and paired windows to each floor on the right return. A later two-storey building stands to the right, with a band and eaves course; it contains a door to the ground floor left and two regularly placed windows to each floor, with two bipartite windows to each floor on its right return.

The east elevation shows a single-storey wing at ground floor with six regularly placed bays, and four elongated bays on the first floor of the main building. A seventh bay projects to the ground floor right, featuring a blind architraved window to the centre beneath a gable pediment, with a tripartite window to the left return. A two-storey gabled building, dating to circa 1910, adjoins to the right return with a bipartite window to the first floor left. A stepped rubble wall adjoins to the right.

All windows are replacements. Arched five and seven lying-pane windows with margin panes occupy the ground floor of the main elevation. The first floor of the principal elevation and its returns contain two-pane timber sash and case windows with margin panes. The wings feature twelve lying-pane timber sash and case windows with four-pane upper sashes and eight-pane lower sashes, together with twelve-pane timber sash and case windows to the wing returns. Eight-pane timber sash and case windows serve the rear extensions, with four panes to each sash. The main building and rear extensions are roofed in piended grey slate, while the wings carry corrugated metal roofs with ventilation flues. Cast-iron rainwater goods and downpipes drain to the side and rear elevations, with gutters concealed behind the cornice. Coursed ashlar chimney stacks have been removed.

The interior has been refurbished for office use. Some original details remain, including a panelled section in the former court room, most internal doors and skirting boards, and some cornicing.

The boundary is defined by low coursed ashlar walls with matching squared ashlar piers, topped with painted cast-iron railings featuring wide spear tops and matching dog bars.