East Ayrshire ~ Townscape Images 
John Finnie Street, Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire
1. The northern end of John Finnie Street (viewed from Langlands Brae) with the Opera House and the Ossington Hotel.
Date: ca. 1935
2. The New Theatre or Operetta House, John Finnie Street.
Date: ca. 1875.
Dean Castle Photographic Collection
©East Ayrshire Council.
3. The northern end of John Finnie Street looking towards the Railway Station. The building to the right, with the clock, is the former Cooperative Society Headquarters.
Date 22 February 2010
©Mike Bailey
4. George Tannahill, Cabinetmakers and Upholsterers, John Finnie Street, showing the original shop front.
Date 3 March 2011
©Mike Bailey
Nearly mile long, John Finnie Street was laid out in 1864. It provided a grand thoroughfare for the town linking the newly built sheriff courthouse in the south with the railway station to the north. Not long after the street was built, Archibald Adamson, in his Rambles Round Kilmarnock, remarked favourably on the number of handsome buildings that had been constructed.
The street's master planner was William Atkinson Railton (1820 - 1902), who had designed the Sheriff Courthouse (1852) and the Union Bank (1853). The surveyor was Robert Blackwood. Business and commerce spread to this street and rows of high quality, 3-storey or more, red sandstone buildings were constructed. The ground floors were given over to shops, offices or workshops while living accommodation was above. The street dominated the lower, narrower streets, filled with traditional buildings, of the town centre to the east.
One of the earliest buildings, now in ruins, was the New Theatre or Operetta House (seen in each of these images). The foundation stone for this building was laid by John Gilmour Esq. of Elmbank. Built in the Italian style, to designs by James and Robert Ingram, the new operetta house seated 1500. The first lessees of the building were Messieurs Glover and Francis, managers of the Royal Theatre in Glasgow. The first show to be performed in the building was 'Guy Mannering' by Sir Walter Scott.
Many of the key buildings on eastern side of the street were designed by the practice of J and R. S. Ingram, notably the numbers 6 - 14 (New Theatre 1874), numbers 14 - 28 (1880) and numbers 30 - 38 (1895). The completion of numbers 16 to 28 was linked to changes in the roof profile of the opera house, a feature that can be recognised when the 1875 image is compared with the image from the mid-30's.
The property at the corner of John Finnie Street and West George Street (seen in the 1935 image) was the Ossington Hotel dating from 1883. A 2-storey corner block in Renaissance style, with attic and basement, the property is much altered, with ground floor modernised to form estate agents and public house.
This building was presented to the town by Lady Ossington, lady of the manor, as a temperance coffee house. It was entered by the grand door on John Finnie Street, now the entrance to The Gathering public house. Originally, there were large stone vases ornaments in the squared plinths still visible at roof level, these have since been removed. Above the central window of the John Finnie Street elevation of the estate agents is a balcony. This originally had a free-standing gold lettered sign proclaiming OSSINGTON with a stone balustrade to the window behind (see 1935 image).
In 2010, the corner of this building and the West George Street facade was damaged by a runaway lorry. The sandstone blocks below the estate agent's windows in John Finnie Street are in very poor condition. The property is listed as category C(S).
Numbers 14 - 28 (1880), designed by the practice of J and R. S. Ingram, are described as French Renaissance commercial building with modern shops and tenement accommodation. In the past, this building housed the Howard De Walden Photographic Club, William Calderwood & Sons (merchants), Mrs B Douglas' Tearoom and Daniel Wilson's Chemist shop. The building was damaged by fire in 2001.
Numbers 30 - 38 (1895), also designed by the practice of J and R. S. Ingram, is a 3-storey building, with attic and basement. There are modern shops to ground floor, with tenements above, with the Blue Triangle Cafe still remaining glazed as it was when built. The building has housed various businesses as diverse as Bright Hosiery Manufacturer, the Department of Health for Scotland, Wellbeck Estate Company and Portland Estate Office. The upper floors contained tenements and rooming apartments. The diversity of the residents was interesting. By the 1930's, there were motor drivers, a pedlar, a carter, a "boot and shoe operator" at Saxone Shoe Factory and an "engineer and machinery" agent. Currently the building is still in use with retail units on the ground floor and accommodation above.
Numbers 72 - 84 (1880) were designed by William Atkinson Railton, in the style of Alexander Thomson. A 3-storey commercial building of a rectangular-plan with Greek Revival details. The ground floor includes modernised Alliance and Leicester offices, a solicitor's office, a take away food outlet and a shop. The Upper storeys remaining partially in residential use in addition to extensive offices for the Royal Liver Assurance Office. It is noted that the building was at one time the post office, replaced when the new building by Oldrieve was completed.
One other building of note on the eastern side of this street is the former Headquarters of the of the Kilmarnock Equitable Co-operative Society (1879,) located at number 40 - 56, overlooking Dunlop Street. Designed by Gabriel Andrew, this is a large 3-storey and basement commercial block building in Free Renaissance style, with classical details, and a 4-storey domed tower and clock.
By 1889, such was the success of the Co-op, an extension had to be built at a cost of nearly £14,000. The annual turnover of the Kilmarnock Co-op's 13 branches was at the time £63,000 per annum. Many separate departments operated within this main branch. The basement was used for general storage. The ground floor housed the reading room; boot & shoe shop; fleshers; fish shop; central grocery; china; readymades; drapery; general merchandise; tailors' cutting and fitting room; check office; fruit; egg and linoleum departments. On the first floor could be found the library; education committee; general office; savings bank; auditor's room; board room; dressmakers' cutting and fitting rooms; dressmakers' work rooms; general stores office; tailors' workrooms; tailoresses' room and machine room.
Two halls were situated on the 2nd floor, the larger one accommodated 600 people and the smaller one 250-300 people. The latter was used for marriage ceremonies, where the unions were effected at the hymeneal altar.
The Co-op building is now used by East Ayrshire Council as council offices with the original halls and staircases still surviving.
The 2010 photograph was taken on a weekday morning. The volume of traffic on the road that forms part of the inner ring route obstructs the view and the clutter of street furniture almost overwhelms the majestic buildings at the northern end of the street.
Passing along John Finnie Street, Adamson comments on buildings at the foot of the road, close to the junction with St Marnock Street.
. . . the next building worthy of notice is that destined for the office of Archibald Finnie & Son, coalmasters. It is in the ornate Corinthian style of architecture, and for beauty of design and sculptured embellishment there is nothing, with the exception of the Corn Exchange, to equal it in town. It stands opposite the opening in front of the Union Bank, and attracts universal attention. The Union Bank, although situated in Bank Street, faces John Finnie Street. It is of recent erection, large, and very ornamental, and forms a fine background to the short street that connects both thoroughfares.
Arriving at the termination of John Finnie Street I pause and look around me. In front is Dundonald Road; to the right, Portland Road; and to the left Saint Marnock Street. The two last-named are parallel and form a splendid line of street that merges into Irvine Road. At the corner of Dundonald and Portland Roads is Trinity Episcopal Church and Parsonage. Its style of architecture is early English, and altogether it is a very neat place of worship. It was erected in 1857. Opposite it in Portland Road stands what is termed Portland Road U.P. Church (the Rev. George F. James’s). It is an elegant structure, and is what may be termed Byzantine in style. It was erected in 1859 by the congregation of Gallows Knowe Church, who desired to have their place of worship more central.
But to return. At the corner of John Finnie and Saint Marnock Streets stand the Court House and Prison. The former is a massive building in the Grecian order of architecture. It was erected in 1852, and consists of a centre and two wings. The façade fronts Saint Marnock Street and is very imposing.
On the opposite side of Saint Marnock Street, and a little farther down than the Court House, stands Saint Marnock’s Church (the Rev. John Thomson’s). It was erected in 1836, and like the other churches in its neighbourhood is a very handsome building. From its front rises a massive square wing Gothically ornamented, symmetrical, and chaste in design. It became a Parish Church in 1862, and is well attended.
Rambles Round Kilmarnock, A R Adamson( 1875)
Numbers 75 to 79 John Finnie Street (George Tannahill) were designed as a shop on the ground floor. The doorway to the left leads to the upper floor accommodation which may have been used by the proprietor of the shop. Tannahill's has always been listed as a cabinetmaker and upholsterer in the Kilmarnock Street Directories, although now they are branded furniture retailers too.
The vehicular arch (ground floor left) was used to access the yard at the rear of the premises where timber and supplies were kept in the workshop. The "showroom" (shop) was extended after the building was built, but kept its original style. This is one of a few surviving buildings still in retail / accommodation use with its original vehicular access.The ground floor still in use as a furniture retailer, with many original features in shop remaining: timber shop fittings and skirting boards, plaster cornicing, timber and plaster columns to open-plan shop.
Further views of the street and information on the individual buildings can be found by following this LINK
1. The northern end of John Finnie Street (viewed from Langlands Brae) with the Opera House and the Ossington Hotel.
Date: ca. 1935
2. The New Theatre or Operetta House, John Finnie Street.
Date: ca. 1875.
Dean Castle Photographic Collection
©East Ayrshire Council.
3. The northern end of John Finnie Street looking towards the Railway Station. The building to the right, with the clock, is the former Cooperative Society Headquarters.
Date 22 February 2010
©Mike Bailey
4. George Tannahill, Cabinetmakers and Upholsterers, John Finnie Street, showing the original shop front.
Date 3 March 2011
©Mike Bailey
Nearly mile long, John Finnie Street was laid out in 1864. It provided a grand thoroughfare for the town linking the newly built sheriff courthouse in the south with the railway station to the north. Not long after the street was built, Archibald Adamson, in his Rambles Round Kilmarnock, remarked favourably on the number of handsome buildings that had been constructed.
The street's master planner was William Atkinson Railton (1820 - 1902), who had designed the Sheriff Courthouse (1852) and the Union Bank (1853). The surveyor was Robert Blackwood. Business and commerce spread to this street and rows of high quality, 3-storey or more, red sandstone buildings were constructed. The ground floors were given over to shops, offices or workshops while living accommodation was above. The street dominated the lower, narrower streets, filled with traditional buildings, of the town centre to the east.
One of the earliest buildings, now in ruins, was the New Theatre or Operetta House (seen in each of these images). The foundation stone for this building was laid by John Gilmour Esq. of Elmbank. Built in the Italian style, to designs by James and Robert Ingram, the new operetta house seated 1500. The first lessees of the building were Messieurs Glover and Francis, managers of the Royal Theatre in Glasgow. The first show to be performed in the building was 'Guy Mannering' by Sir Walter Scott.
Many of the key buildings on eastern side of the street were designed by the practice of J and R. S. Ingram, notably the numbers 6 - 14 (New Theatre 1874), numbers 14 - 28 (1880) and numbers 30 - 38 (1895). The completion of numbers 16 to 28 was linked to changes in the roof profile of the opera house, a feature that can be recognised when the 1875 image is compared with the image from the mid-30's.
The property at the corner of John Finnie Street and West George Street (seen in the 1935 image) was the Ossington Hotel dating from 1883. A 2-storey corner block in Renaissance style, with attic and basement, the property is much altered, with ground floor modernised to form estate agents and public house.
This building was presented to the town by Lady Ossington, lady of the manor, as a temperance coffee house. It was entered by the grand door on John Finnie Street, now the entrance to The Gathering public house. Originally, there were large stone vases ornaments in the squared plinths still visible at roof level, these have since been removed. Above the central window of the John Finnie Street elevation of the estate agents is a balcony. This originally had a free-standing gold lettered sign proclaiming OSSINGTON with a stone balustrade to the window behind (see 1935 image).
In 2010, the corner of this building and the West George Street facade was damaged by a runaway lorry. The sandstone blocks below the estate agent's windows in John Finnie Street are in very poor condition. The property is listed as category C(S).
Numbers 14 - 28 (1880), designed by the practice of J and R. S. Ingram, are described as French Renaissance commercial building with modern shops and tenement accommodation. In the past, this building housed the Howard De Walden Photographic Club, William Calderwood & Sons (merchants), Mrs B Douglas' Tearoom and Daniel Wilson's Chemist shop. The building was damaged by fire in 2001.
Numbers 30 - 38 (1895), also designed by the practice of J and R. S. Ingram, is a 3-storey building, with attic and basement. There are modern shops to ground floor, with tenements above, with the Blue Triangle Cafe still remaining glazed as it was when built. The building has housed various businesses as diverse as Bright Hosiery Manufacturer, the Department of Health for Scotland, Wellbeck Estate Company and Portland Estate Office. The upper floors contained tenements and rooming apartments. The diversity of the residents was interesting. By the 1930's, there were motor drivers, a pedlar, a carter, a "boot and shoe operator" at Saxone Shoe Factory and an "engineer and machinery" agent. Currently the building is still in use with retail units on the ground floor and accommodation above.
Numbers 72 - 84 (1880) were designed by William Atkinson Railton, in the style of Alexander Thomson. A 3-storey commercial building of a rectangular-plan with Greek Revival details. The ground floor includes modernised Alliance and Leicester offices, a solicitor's office, a take away food outlet and a shop. The Upper storeys remaining partially in residential use in addition to extensive offices for the Royal Liver Assurance Office. It is noted that the building was at one time the post office, replaced when the new building by Oldrieve was completed.
One other building of note on the eastern side of this street is the former Headquarters of the of the Kilmarnock Equitable Co-operative Society (1879,) located at number 40 - 56, overlooking Dunlop Street. Designed by Gabriel Andrew, this is a large 3-storey and basement commercial block building in Free Renaissance style, with classical details, and a 4-storey domed tower and clock.
By 1889, such was the success of the Co-op, an extension had to be built at a cost of nearly £14,000. The annual turnover of the Kilmarnock Co-op's 13 branches was at the time £63,000 per annum. Many separate departments operated within this main branch. The basement was used for general storage. The ground floor housed the reading room; boot & shoe shop; fleshers; fish shop; central grocery; china; readymades; drapery; general merchandise; tailors' cutting and fitting room; check office; fruit; egg and linoleum departments. On the first floor could be found the library; education committee; general office; savings bank; auditor's room; board room; dressmakers' cutting and fitting rooms; dressmakers' work rooms; general stores office; tailors' workrooms; tailoresses' room and machine room.
Two halls were situated on the 2nd floor, the larger one accommodated 600 people and the smaller one 250-300 people. The latter was used for marriage ceremonies, where the unions were effected at the hymeneal altar.
The Co-op building is now used by East Ayrshire Council as council offices with the original halls and staircases still surviving.
The 2010 photograph was taken on a weekday morning. The volume of traffic on the road that forms part of the inner ring route obstructs the view and the clutter of street furniture almost overwhelms the majestic buildings at the northern end of the street.
Passing along John Finnie Street, Adamson comments on buildings at the foot of the road, close to the junction with St Marnock Street.
. . . the next building worthy of notice is that destined for the office of Archibald Finnie & Son, coalmasters. It is in the ornate Corinthian style of architecture, and for beauty of design and sculptured embellishment there is nothing, with the exception of the Corn Exchange, to equal it in town. It stands opposite the opening in front of the Union Bank, and attracts universal attention. The Union Bank, although situated in Bank Street, faces John Finnie Street. It is of recent erection, large, and very ornamental, and forms a fine background to the short street that connects both thoroughfares.
Arriving at the termination of John Finnie Street I pause and look around me. In front is Dundonald Road; to the right, Portland Road; and to the left Saint Marnock Street. The two last-named are parallel and form a splendid line of street that merges into Irvine Road. At the corner of Dundonald and Portland Roads is Trinity Episcopal Church and Parsonage. Its style of architecture is early English, and altogether it is a very neat place of worship. It was erected in 1857. Opposite it in Portland Road stands what is termed Portland Road U.P. Church (the Rev. George F. James’s). It is an elegant structure, and is what may be termed Byzantine in style. It was erected in 1859 by the congregation of Gallows Knowe Church, who desired to have their place of worship more central.
But to return. At the corner of John Finnie and Saint Marnock Streets stand the Court House and Prison. The former is a massive building in the Grecian order of architecture. It was erected in 1852, and consists of a centre and two wings. The façade fronts Saint Marnock Street and is very imposing.
On the opposite side of Saint Marnock Street, and a little farther down than the Court House, stands Saint Marnock’s Church (the Rev. John Thomson’s). It was erected in 1836, and like the other churches in its neighbourhood is a very handsome building. From its front rises a massive square wing Gothically ornamented, symmetrical, and chaste in design. It became a Parish Church in 1862, and is well attended.
Rambles Round Kilmarnock, A R Adamson( 1875)
Numbers 75 to 79 John Finnie Street (George Tannahill) were designed as a shop on the ground floor. The doorway to the left leads to the upper floor accommodation which may have been used by the proprietor of the shop. Tannahill's has always been listed as a cabinetmaker and upholsterer in the Kilmarnock Street Directories, although now they are branded furniture retailers too.
The vehicular arch (ground floor left) was used to access the yard at the rear of the premises where timber and supplies were kept in the workshop. The "showroom" (shop) was extended after the building was built, but kept its original style. This is one of a few surviving buildings still in retail / accommodation use with its original vehicular access.The ground floor still in use as a furniture retailer, with many original features in shop remaining: timber shop fittings and skirting boards, plaster cornicing, timber and plaster columns to open-plan shop.
Further views of the street and information on the individual buildings can be found by following this LINK
East Ayrshire Townscape March 16, 2012