40 Eglinton Street, Beith

The building at 40 Eglinton Street, Beith, dates from the late 18th to early 19th century. It is a two-storey, three-bay building, though it has undergone later alterations. The front has been modified with 20th-century box dormers and shops at ground level. The central doorpiece features pilasters and an entablature with Gothic details to the corner blocks and a fluted lintel. Above the flat blocking course is a raised, curved block. The bay to the left has a later door and shop window, with an original window opening to the outer left. The bay to the right has plate glass shopfronts and a door to the outer right. There are three windows on the first floor. The building is faced with painted render, with raised and painted base, margin, and eaves courses.

The rear elevation has irregular window placement and is constructed of random sandstone rubble with droved, tabbed surrounds. Two original timber sash and case windows with four panes remain; the astragals have been removed, and the glazing is uPVC. The roof is covered with grey slates, with a stone ridge and an off-centre coped ashlar wallhead stack retaining one can. There are shared end stacks.

The interior, partially visible in 2003, includes a stone scale and platt stair within a common close, featuring square-section cast-iron railings and a timber handrail.

Despite later shopfronts and signage, the building retains a good example of a plain, traditional building typical of Eglinton Street, and features an interesting doorpiece. The off-centre wallhead chimneystack is a notable local characteristic. The out-of-character box dormers are a detracting feature. Eglinton Street was once the most important street in the town, with many buildings reflecting the late 18th and early 19th century’s prosperity derived from textiles and tanning. The building is marked on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1858. The statutory address is 40 and 42 Eglinton Street.