Traditional Buildings Health Check

• Research by Stirling Local History Society

• Art project by Iona Leishman with Allan’s Primary School and S6 pupils from DunblaneHigh School

• Photography by Jo Cound

• Artefacts and photographs from Smith Art Gallery & Museum

• Drawings, books, photographs and articles from Stirling Archives and Stirling Libraries

• Books from Fife Council archives and assisted with research

John Allan: A collaborative project

Drawing for 29-31 Friars Street, 1902Courtesy of Stirling Council Archives

• To build on existing knowledge of this important local architect

• To make use of local resources in the archives, library and museum highlighting their research value

• To involve local school children in the project to teach them about the buildings on their doorstep

• To raise awareness of the contribution which John Allan made to Stirling’s townscape through the exhibition and publications

Aims of the project

Iona Leishman with pupils from Allan’s Primary School

Who was John Allan?• Born in Gowkhill, Carnock, Fife on 21 April

1847• Father was a wright• The oldest of three children, brother Robert

and sister Margaret• Originally worked with Dunfermline

architect, Robert Hay (1819-1867)• Moved to Stirling around 1870 and set up in

Shore Road as a surveyor and architect• His style has been described as strange,

quirky, and maverick. In reality it is often clever, thoughtful and expresses a variety of architectural influences

• He was an intellectual man with wide-ranging interests

Early designs

Lion’s head at Royal Gardens©Jo Cound 2017

Cliff Bank, home of John Allan©Smith Art Gallery & Museum

King’s Park

Clarendon Place with dormer windows

Date stoneOS map, 1865Crown Copyright

Tudor inspired architecture- Baker St

55 Baker Street1890 on a Tudor style with jettied windows

Tudor inspired architecture- Batterflats

• Built from 1893-95 for Peter Drummond• Originally sited in 6 acres of grounds, one of the largest and most

distinctive mansions in Stirling.. • In 1929, the house was bequeathed to the Church of Scotland as a

home for deaconesses.• In 1954, it was sold to Stirling Town Council and converted as a home

for the elderly in use until 1993.• It now contains 6 individual apartments.The building in Tudor style has red-tiled roofs, black and white jettied upper floors and red Ruabon bricks many with decorative detailing.

©Smith Art Gallery & Museum

Images from 1994 by RCAHMS

John Allan: Wolf Craig

Wolf Craig is John Allan’s most important and original contribution to the architecture of Stirling. It is a celebration of the evolution of his unique architectural style. Built for grocer’s Robertson & MacFarlane, it was the first building in Stirling to have electricity.

©Smith Art Gallery & MuseumDean of Guild plans, courtesy of Stirling Council Archives

John Allan: Wolf Craig

John Allan: Healthy HousingWhen John Allan first moved to Stirling in 1870, he lived in Spittal Street at the Top of the Town. This was a place of high density housing, poverty, disease and infant mortality. Within a few years he had built his own elegant villa on the edge of King’s Park. The contrast could not have been starker.

He became a vocal advocate for housing improvement and social reform. Around 1883, he published a book entitled ‘A Practical Guide on Healthy Houses and Sanitary Reform’, the book specifically written to be ‘available for all classes’. He felt that health, of both body and mind, went hand-in hand with improved housing for all.

OS map, 1895 Crown Copyright

Spittal Street, early 1900s ©Stirling Council Archives

TenementsBridgehaugh, 1911

Spittalmyre, Wallace Street, 1906

Mona Place, 1897

Tenements were designed with healthy living in mind:• Proper drainage and

sanitation• Large windows to provide

good light• Well ventilated• Separated rooms and

improved layouts

This was to encourage improved health but in buildings which were affordable for all. His ideas were encouraged by his friend and neighbour, Dr Drew.

John Allan: Technological Advances

“The structure of a house, irrespective of its size, … is to be determined by the climate to which it will be subjected – Though, it is true, that many houses are built, as if in spiteful defiance of the climate…”(’A Practical Guide on Healthy Houses and Sanitary Reform’, 1883:17)

John Allan’s approach to technology was visionary, experimental and brave. He promoted everything from water closets, lead plumbing and drainage to damp proofing, insulation and ventilation.

John Allan: SymbolsJohn Allan stamped his personality on Stirling’s townscape through his architectural decoration using age-old methods in a style which remained unique to him. He was fascinated with the idea of connecting symbols with art and religion.

Over the course of his career, John Allan developed his use of symbols and mottos in his architecture.

Symbols are art, and religion their essence… They give us hints of the customs, manners, and movements of the past, enabling us to detect their survivals in the present”(‘The Historic Development of Architecture Ancient and Modern’, 1913:29)

Friars St: Consecration markFriars Street:

prehistoric cup & ring mark

Friars Street: incised panel

Signatures

Mona Place

Spittalmyre, 1907

Wolf Craig, 1897

John Allan signed and dated many of his buildings.His stylised signature is found on many, particularly from 1897

Bridgehaugh

John Allan: Tablets and MottosJohn Allan’s later work frequently included mottos. Incised stone tablets are first found on Wolf Craig in 1897 and continued to his last known building on Spittal Street in 1915. These may have been inspired by ancient tablets and mottos and also by those found in Stirling such as in Spittal Street.

Main Street, DouneSpittal Street

Friars Street

Panel in Spittal Street, 1530

John Allan: Tablets and MottosThe most famous of John Allan’s tablets is from a

former tenement on Albany Crescent built in 1898. Originating from Shakespeare, the motto

is:

What E’erThou ArtAct well they part

It inspired David Oman McKay (1873-1970) whenon church missionary work in Scotland in the late1890s. He became President of the Church in1951.When Albany Crescent was demolished in 1965,it was purchased by the Church of Jesus Christ ofLatter Day Saints and transported to Salt LakeCity and is now located in their Church HistoryMuseum.

The ‘Magic Square’ comprises asquare grid of 9 symbolsrepresenting numbers. Each row,diagonal and column add up to18. If one is changed then the‘magic’ is lost.Reputedly this symbolism was atalisman to ward off the Devil.

John Allan 1847-1922

Dumbarton Road

Mr Downs and the Primary 7 class of Allan’s Primary School

S6 pupils at DunblaneHigh School

Iona Leishman

Jo Cound Photography