The McCosh Hall, 17/19 Patna Road, Kirkmichael

The McCosh Hall, 17/19 Patna Road, Kirkmichael

A two-storey former Working Men's Club designed by Ayrshire architect and builder John Stewart Baxter and opened in 1899. This is Baxter's only recorded building. The hall is constructed of hammer-dressed ashlar in red Ballochmyle freestone with long and short ashlar margins, a band course and a moulded eaves course. The design mixes classical and gothic styles and is characterised by its red sandstone construction and prominent corner clock tower. The building is largely rectangular on plan with small additions to the rear.

The principal south elevation is five bays wide. It features tripartite windows flanking a central entrance (with a later entrance ramp). The outer bays project and break the eaves. The outer left bay carries a block parapet inscribed 'MCCOSH CLUB / OPENED 15TH DEC / 1899'. The outer right bay extends upwards as a gothic-detailed clock-bell tower. The first stage of the tower has pointed windows and moulded cornicing. The second stage has a block parapet intersected by an offset bell tower with pointed louvered openings. The upper stage is parapeted with a round clock face to each side. Historic postcards and contemporary accounts confirm that the clock tower was originally surmounted by a flagstaff, which has since been removed. The bell was produced by John C. Wilson Brass and Bell Founders at Gorbals Foundry and purchased by John Templeton of Maybole in 1898; it has since been electrified.

The side elevations are generally three bays. The rear north elevation has two irregular openings with a brick stair and lean-to adjoining to the right and an early 21st-century addition to the left. A small brick extension was added to the rear, probably shortly after original construction, to accommodate a principal staircase. A further extension was added in 2012 to accommodate a lift.

The roof is pitched and slated with ashlar skews and ashlar chimneystacks to each end and one wall-head chimney at the rear. Cast-iron rainwater goods are throughout. Window openings are largely square-headed on the ground floor and round-headed to the first floor. The windows are largely double-glazed timber sash and case replacements with traditional glazing patterns replicated.

The interior comprises a number of meeting rooms accessed via a central entrance hall with a stair to the rear leading to a large hall on the first floor. On the ground floor, former caretaker's accommodation to the left of a smaller hall now houses a shop and café. Rooms to the far left are occupied by the local bowling club and accessed by a separate door to the west elevation. A secondary stair to the clock tower provides access to the final stage via wooden ladder.

The interior retains decorative features dating from its late-19th-century construction, including timber dado panelling, moulded cornicing and timber doors and doorpieces in the principal ground floor rooms. Some large fireplaces remain but are covered over. The entrance hallway stone staircase has decorative cast-iron balusters and a timber handrail. The main hall has a vaulted ceiling with simple moulded cornicing.

The building fronts Patna Road with a matching low red sandstone boundary wall with decorative cast-iron railings and later gates, and a large bowling green to the rear.

Historical context

The McCosh Hall, formerly known as Kirkmichael Working Men's Club and the McCosh Club, was gifted to the people of Kirkmichael by Dr John McCosh, a local surgeon and photographer who served in India under the East India Company. Dr McCosh retired in 1856 and returned to Britain. When he died in London in 1885, he left a sum of money for three purposes: to provide bursaries for medical students at Edinburgh University; to provide bursaries for pupils at Ayr Academy; and to build a village hall and working men's club in Kirkmichael. In 1889, a newspaper article noted that Dr McCosh would gift a portion of his estate to the Kirkmichael Working Men's Club to build a new clubhouse with a tower and a striking clock for the benefit of the village.

The foundation stone was laid by Frederick Shaw-Kennedy on 24 May 1898 to celebrate Queen Victoria's birthday. The hall was formally opened on 15 December 1899. William Berry, a blacksmith, was the first hall-keeper, holding the position until 1917. The building first appears on the Ordnance Survey map revised in 1908 and published in 1909. The footprint has undergone little alteration since construction, as confirmed by successive Ordnance Survey maps.

The original accommodation consisted of a recreation room, kitchen, parlour and bowl house on the ground floor, and a large hall on the first floor with two ante rooms. The toilets, originally located to the right of the principal staircase and reserved for men only, were later subdivided to provide facilities for women.

In 2013–2014, the building was used temporarily by the local primary school whilst their new building was being constructed on Woodside Avenue. The building is currently in use (2024) as a village hall with a community shop, café and a bowling club.