Building record MAB40058 - HARBOUR OFFICES, MONTROSE

Dock buildings, now mostly disused, built in circa 1853-60 by James Leslie, harbour engineer.

Dock buildings, now mostly disused, built in circa 1853-60 by James Leslie, harbour engineer. The 1st edition OS map shows the entire site occupied by a grain storehouse. On the 2nd edition OS the southern end is annotated as 'Custom House', and on 20th century as dock buildings. Current maps show buildings in the central part of the site as ruinous. The main Custom House and warehouse block is a three-storey, 13-bay classical building, with single-storey ancillary buildings to the east and west and a four-storey warehouse to the north. It is constructed from sandstone ashlar at the ground floor, with stugged and pointed masonry at the second and third floors, and squared and snecked masonry to the rear. There are base courses and an eaves band course, and rusticated quoins. The principal south elevation has a vehicle entrance to the central bay, with a segmental-arched, vermiculated and corniced warehouse loft door above at the first and second floors, surmounted by a raised wallhead with an open pediment and clock. There are entrances flanking the main entrance, one of which is plain and the other is rusticated with an entablature. The four-storey, 2-bay by 6-bay warehouse at the north features a central wallhead gable with a circular opening. A Level 1 Standing Building Survey was carried out on the garage building at the north-west by Alder Archaeology in September 2017 prior to proposed demolition. The building is recorded as in use as a garage at the western Ferry Street side, with a dressed, stugged red sandstone exterior and slate roof. The remainder of the building is unroofed and semi-ruinous. Standing building recording of the Customs House building was carried out by Cameron Archaeology in January 2025 ahead of proposed alteration. The building, in a poor state of repair at the time of survey, is 3-storey the ground floor and part of the first floor built as offices, the rest of the building used as warehousing. As shown on the OS 1st and 2nd edition maps rail tracks passed though the centre of the building (in a corridor with a granite sett surface), a pulley wheel recorded above was used to winch sacks of grain to the upper floors warehousing. Various alterations to the building are evident, but have not been possible to date. Following the use as Custom House the building passed from Port Authority ownership but its subsequent use is not clear. A test pit dug prior to the survey to look for a railway turntable determined that this had been previously removed. A watching brief is also being undertaken.

Period Notes
Built in circa 1853-60. The Customs House was listed on 11/06/1971.

Hume, J R, 1977, [Untitled], 142 (Bibliographic reference). SAB4930.

Minchinton, W, 1984, [Untitled], 179 (Bibliographic reference). SAB7219.

ALDER ARCHAEOLOGY, 2017, ARCHAEOLOGICAL STANDING BUILDING RECORD: SPINE ROAD, MONTROSE, ANGUS, L1 SBS (Bibliographic reference). SAB5675.

ALDER ARCHAEOLOGY, 2017, SPINE ROAD, MONTROSE: ARCHAEOLOGICAL BUILDING SURVEY AND WATHCING BRIEF WRITTEN SCHEME OF INVESTIGATION, WSI (Bibliographic reference). SAB6362.

ARCHAEOLOGY SCOTLAND, 2019, DISCOVERY AND EXCAVATION IN SCOTLAND, NEW SERIES, VOLUME 19, 2018, p. 28 (Bibliographic reference). SAB6524.

CAMERON ARCHAEOLOGY, 2024, YARD 79, FERRY STREET, MONTROSE, DD10 8BY, WRITTEN SCHEME OF INVESTIGATION (WSI), WSI (Bibliographic reference). SAB8673.

CAMERON ARCHAEOLOGY, 2025, CUSTOM HOUSE, FERRY STREET, MONTROSE: REPORT ON LEVEL 1 STANDING BUILDING SURVEY, L1 SBS (Bibliographic reference). SAB8925.

Record last edited

Oct 17 2025 10:48AM