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Standing Building Recording
Date 1998
Event ID 1180551
Category Recording
Type Standing Building Recording
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1180551
NS98SE 86 9981 9171
NS 9982 8175 An initial archaeological survey was undertaken in February 1998. Dymock's Buildings occupies a rectangular area between Scotland's Close on the W and North Street on the E, while to the N a car park now occupies an area of reclaimed ground which was the old harbour basin prior to the coming of the railway. The SE limit is abutted by a 19th-century tenement building.
The recorded evidence suggests that the rectangular range and associated yard area was extended at the end of the 17th century to form a T-shaped, complex building, which had by the early decades of the 18th century been converted into an elaborate town house with extensive service structures. It is clear that the property reflected both the fortunes and commercial activities of the residents of Bo'ness, although at present exactly how the two roles evolved is not known.
The floruit of the property seems to have been during the earlier part of the 18th century, under the ownership of Robert Gregorie and Janet Osborne from 1714 to the 1760s. During this period the first floor was graced by the construction of a dining room with a buffet-niche and an associated panelled room, possibly a drawing room. Evidence such as the similarity of a fireplace which survives in the older part of the Scotland's Close Library building, to those in the panelled room, suggests perhaps that in the early 18th century the harbour area of Bo'ness, while being a mercantile centre, was an enclave of urban gentility, or those who aspired to it.
It seems likely that the fortunes of subsequent owners declined thereafter, since the formal apartments were little altered until the mid-20th century. Indeed, anecdotal evidence suggests that a painted panel survived above the dining room fireplace until the mid-1950s.
The surviving structures are a complex fusion of architectural elements and many of the features identified will affect the future redevelopment of the property. It is likely that various fixtures and fittings, such as the doors exposed behind the plasterboard removed on the first floor, remain to be discovered.
Sponsor: National Trust for Scotland
G Ewart 1998