Burgh Hall, Church Street, Dumbarton

Burgh Hall, located on Church Street in Dumbarton, was designed by the architects Melvin & Leiper of Glasgow, with the foundation stone laid on June 23, 1865. The building suffered damage from a fire on December 11, 1882, and was restored in 1883 by architect William Leiper. This large, symmetrically planned former academy is built in the French Gothic style and features two storeys and an attic, highlighted by a square, central, four-stage tower. The exterior is constructed of snecked ashlar with polished dressings.

Most openings are hoodmoulded, with some featuring cusped heads under pointed-arched mouldings. The windows flanking the tower primarily have columned jambs and mullions, adorned with foliated capitals. The tower is supported by square piers with arched openings between them, and the main door is recessed. The second stage of the tower includes a window with columns and a gabled canopy on the front elevation, while simple single lights are found on the flanks. The third stage rises above the eaves level, showcasing tall slender paired lancets on each face. At the top stage, there are corbelled, octagonal angle turrets, each topped with slender shafts and pinnacles, and a simple rose window is recessed in a pointed and gabled panel on each face in between.

The tower is flanked by arcaded five-light windows at the ground floor, with a single window in the outer bays. At the first floor, there are three plate-traceried windows with a single narrow light in the outer bay. The roof features three gabled and barge-boarded dormers with eight-pane upper sashes. An additional gabled doorway is located at the extreme left, with a corresponding gabled pend to the right. Continuous strings are present at the cill and impost level of each floor, along with an eaves course and a bracketed main cornice, all of which continue across the tower. The roof is slate-covered.

On the east (rear) elevation, there are scars at ground level from a formerly adjoining burgh hall, which has since been demolished. This elevation also features two stair towers, each with pointed and facetted roofs, the one on the left being taller and reaching into the attic. The windows are narrow, mullioned, and transomed, complemented by rectangular roof lights and ventilators. The interior of the building is simple.