Town Hall, 104 High Street, Burntisland

Town Hall, 104 High Street, Burntisland

This is a 2-storey gothic Town Hall designed by John Henderson in 1843, with a west wing added in 1903 and alterations made in the 1950s and 1964. The building is distinguished by a 4-stage battered spire with an ornamental blind arcaded parapet and pepperpot turret, and features a timber fleche.

The exterior is constructed in ashlar with stone cills and quoins, a chamfered base course, moulded string course and eaves course. Stone mullions and transoms have deeply chamfered arrises, and openings are detailed with hoodmoulds featuring label-stops and voussoirs. Pointed arch doors and windows and traceried windows are characteristic features throughout.

The north elevation fronting High Street is the principal facade. A slightly advanced door positioned to the left of centre sits at the foot of the spire. To the right are a bipartite window and tripartite window, followed by a 2-leaf gothic panelled door with 2-light fanlight at the outer right. The first floor shows regular fenestration with cusped window heads and hoodmoulds with label-stops below a decorative parapet featuring a corbelled pepperpot turret to the outer right. A broad gabled bay to the left at ground level contains 2 windows, with a large window above displaying curvilinear tracery, hoodmould with label-stops and a small quatrefoil opening in the gablehead.

The spire is an engaged 4-stage tower. Slightly advanced to the north, it rises from a plinth with a boarded door featuring a quatrefoil in timber tympanum and moulded doorcase. The 2nd stage is defined by saw-tooth coped batter beneath saw-tooth coped buttresses flanking a pointed lancet with hoodmould and label-stops. The 3rd stage comprises an octagonal towerhead with small pointed-arch lights with hoodmoulds and label-stops on north, south, east and west sides, below a single arcaded frieze. The 4th stage has saw-tooth coped batter below the belfry, which contains 8 deeply chamfered pointed-arch louvred openings with colonnettes. Roman clock faces occupy the northeast, northwest, southeast and southwest positions. A single blank course surmounted by billetted cornice sits beneath the slated octagonal spire, which is finished with louvred stone gablet lucarnes to north, south, east and west and a cockerel weathervane.

The east elevation is a 4-bay arrangement with bipartite timber doors to left and right of centre, both equipped with plate glass fanlights. Windows occupy the outer right and left positions. The first floor displays regular fenestration with cusped bipartite windows featuring hoodmoulds and diamond label-stops.

The west elevation features a quatrefoil opening in the gablehead to the left, with a flat-roofed extension to the right.

The south elevation is partly obscured by the west wing at ground level. A broad gable to the left of centre contains 3 regular pointed lancets at first floor level, with 2 windows to the right and a further narrow window to the outer right. A pointed lancet appears in the gablehead with a large rooflight to the right. A timber fleche functions as a birdcage bellcote disguising a ventilation flue, detailed with cusped arches and leaded work, swept pyramidal roof with diminutive gablet lucarnes and decorative finial.

Small-pane leaded glazing patterns appear on the first floor to the north, while plate glass glazing is used in fixed windows at ground and first floor levels to the east. The roof is covered in grey slates with ashlar coped skews, gablet skewputts and gablet-coped ashlar skews. Coped ashlar stacks and cans are present. Cast-iron downpipes with decorative rainwater hoppers (lion design to the east) and fixings are visible throughout.

The interior features a gothic decorative scheme in principal rooms. A top-lit stone stair with colonnetted timber balustrade and fine carved lion newel post finial rises through the building. A brass chandelier presented by Robert Johnston of London in 1819 hangs within.

The Magistrates Room is fitted with a carved armorial panel over the door. The panelled Burgh Chamber in the new west wing contains a large rectangular rooflight and carved armorial panel.

The Council Chamber displays an open beam ceiling, dado height panelling and an ornamental gallery incorporating a model galleon named The St Michael.