County Buildings is a municipal structure in English Street, Dumfries, Scotland. The structure, which is the headquarters of Dumfries and Galloway Council, is a Category B listed building.[1]
Following the implementation of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, which established county councils in every county, the new county leaders decided to commission offices for Dumfriesshire County Council.[2] The site they selected formed the storehouse for the local militia barracks.[3] The main part of the old militia barracks, which was on an adjacent site to the southwest, was retained and incorporated into the new complex as additional office space.[4]
The foundation stone for the new building was laid in September 1912.[5][6] It was designed by John Dick Peddie and James Forbes Smith in the Renaissance Revival style, built in red ashlar stone at a cost of £21,000[7] and was completed in 1914.[1] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with seven bays facing onto English Street with the end bays projected forward to form wings; the central bay, which slightly projected forward, featured a doorway flanked by brackets supporting a pediment. On the first floor there was a balustrade and a three-light window flanked by pilasters, and, at attic level, there was a gable containing a Diocletian window and a blind panel. Internally, the principal room was the council chamber at the rear of the building.[1]
Following the abolition of Dumfriesshire County Council, the complex became the headquarters of Dumfries and Galloway Regional Council in 1975,[8][9] and then, after the introduction of unitary authorities, it became the headquarters of Dumfries and Galloway Council in 1996.[10]
The Queensberry Monument, which was designed by Robert Adam in memory of Charles Douglas, 3rd Duke of Queensberry, was originally erected in Queensberry Square in 1780.[11] It was moved to the forecourt of the County Buildings in 1934 but then returned to Queensberry Square as part of a project to pedestrianise the area in 1990.[12]