Building record MAB17259 - GORDON'S GRANARY, CHURCH STREET, BANFF

Former granary complex and merchant's house, now converted to residential use.

Former granary complex and merchant's house, now converted to residential use. The granary is a U-plan building, open to the east, which was originally described as dating to the 19th Century although subsequent research has suggested that the earliest section of the building, the west wing (probably originally a merchant's house), may date to the 16th Century, with the north and south wings likely to the date to the 18th and early 19th Centuries. A Level 2 Standing Building Survey was undertaken by the Banff THI between January and March 2010 over the building complex known as Gordon's Granaries in Banff in advance of a proposed redevelopment of the property. The survey revealed that a building has occupied this site since at least the early 18th Century, and that a granary is known to have operated on the site from as early as 1843. It was also discovered from census records that during the 19th Century, the building complex was home to a number of families at the same time as it was being used for industrial purposes. Several interesting architectural features were recorded during the survey, particularly in what appears to be the earliest building on the site (facing on to High Shore), including decorative stone mouldings and an unusual arched fireplace. Where possible, these features have been preserved during the recent redevelopment. The building is of stone rubble construction, with lime harl on the north, west and south elevations. The east elevation is exposed rubble with cement margins, imitating tooled ashlar margins, around the window and door openings. All of the roofs are slated, but this does not appear to be the original roof structure and covering. The majority of the roof is covered with poor quality thin Welsh slate. The north facing roof of Building 2 is covered with Scots graded slate. It is possible that the roof was originally entirely covered with Scots graded slate, but this cannot be said with any certainty because the skews are all in poor condition, and formed from in situ concrete thus are not original. It is therefore possible that the roof was wholly or partly covered with clay pantiles or indeed thatch. The complex was previously named as Robertson's Granary. This refers to William Robertson, a local merchant, who took ownership in 1892 adding to his already extensive property portfolio. At the granary, the oats and barley were 'dressed' before being shipped out by road, rail and sea. The company was not only a grain merchants but also traded in coal and manure. Indeed, Robertson's was the largest coal merchant in the district and even boasted its own cargo vessels for shipping out its produce. In 1951, Gordon's Granaries was sold to Mr G. Gill, a Grain, Coal and Manure merchant based in Macduff. The Gill family continued to operate out of this building until 1992. Phase two of the building survey was carried out between June and July 2011, and was carried out after the exterior harl had been removed. This revealed a number of formerly hidden blocked openings (windows and doors), and gave a clearer view of the oldest building of the complex, that which faces onto High Shore. This architecture of this building appears to date it to the 16th Century, probably a merchant's house, while pottery found in this building beneath the later concrete floor has been dated to the 13th/14th Century. A watching brief was carried out over groundbreaking works associated with the redevelopment by MAS in October 2011 and October 2012. The watching brief revealed evidence for medieval activity predominantly in the S side of the site at the southeast corner of the west wing and in the excavations of the pend between the Ssouth wing and the north boundary of St Mary's Kirkyard (NJ66SE0032). A midden was recorded in the area between the South wing and St Mary's kirkyard. A quantity of large sherds of 13th-14th Century pottery was discovered which seems to be of similar date and type to that found at the Castle Hill Pumping Station in 2001 (NJ66SE0106). The pottery includes body sherds, base sherds, handle and rim sherds, of Scarborough-type ware, White Gritty ware, and Scottish Redware. The evidence from both sites would conclude that the stretch of shoreline along this W side of the Deveron was of vital importance to the burgh of Banff in the early period of its development. A mason's mark has been recorded on one of the stones.

Author unknown, , PRESS & JOURNAL, 07/01/10 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1416.

Author unknown, , PRESS & JOURNAL, 17/02/15 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1416.

Hume, JR, 1977, Industrial Archaeology of Scotland, 170 (Bibliographic reference). SAB730.

HERBERT, C, 2010, GORDON'S GRANARIES, DEVERONSIDE, BANFF: LEVEL 2 BUILDING SURVEY (PHASE 1) (Bibliographic reference). SAB4350.

ARCHAEOLOGY SCOTLAND, 2012, DISCOVERY AND EXCAVATION IN SCOTLAND. NEW SERIES, VOLUME 12, 2011, p.13 (Bibliographic reference). SAB5536.

MURRAY ARCHAEOLOGICAL SERVICES, 2012, GORDON'S GRANARIES, CHURCH STREET, BANFF - WATCHING BRIEFS OCTOEBR 2011 & 2012, WB report (Bibliographic reference). SAB5023.

Mar 1 2010 , GR1439-63, GR1439-63 (Ground Photograph). SAB20031.

SDD, n.d., BLDS OF ARCH & HIST INTEREST, BANFF BURGH 82 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1827.

Sep 19 1977 , H77/95/11, H77/95/11 (Ground Photograph). SAB20443.

Record last edited

Aug 23 2024 3:53PM