Monument record MHG41153 - 14 High Street, Dingwall

William Cumming Joass, dated 1901. Tall, narrow, symmetrical, 2- storey commercial premesis with Edwardian-Rennaissance Dutch gable fronting High Street and shop to ground distinguished by curved glazed corner angles. Pale and pink sandstone ashlar. Shop: projecting double-front with recessed entrance to centre;
mosaic tiles with number 14 to lobby; timber and glazed panel door with glazed fanlight over; flanking timber framed plate-glass windows, curving at outer angles. Moulded timber cornice above also rounded out at corner angles.
Large tripartite window at 1st floor with carved hood-mould to lintel; blind roundel with keystones above. Shaped gable with scrolled shoulders, surmounted by 3 urn finials. Long range to rear (extending to S): predominantly red brick incorporating earlier rubble fabric (see Notes). Section to far S harled with later 20th century shopfront to gable end; 4 windows to 1st floor. Timber-framed fixed-glaze windows. Grey slate. Polychromatic brick
wallhead stack with octagonal clay cans to W elevation; stugged ashlar stack to N. Cast-iron rainwater goods.
INTERIOR: some early 20th century fixtures and fittings survive to principal retail area including timber counter, shelves and drawers and staircase with timber balustrade.

No 14 is notable for its well-detailed Edwardian-Renaissance Dutch-gable fronting the High Street and elegant projecting timber shopfront to ground floor with distinctive curved glass corners. The building largely retains the integrity of its early 20th century shop design, making a valuable contribution to the architectural and social interest of Dingwall. Designed by local architect W C Joass in 1901, the building incorporates an earlier, possibly 18th century rubble building on the site and extends it in red brick. The long plan-form with gable-end to street and narrow court running alongside follows the medieval feuing pattern created around the time Dingwall became a Royal Burgh in 1226, adding broader historic interest. Joass was the first partner of the pre-eminent and prolific Highland architect Alexander Ross. Parting ways in 1865, Joass practised in Dingwall until his death in 1919, producing a number of confident and inventive buildings in the area, including The Ross Memorial Hospital on Ferry Road, The Royal Bank of Scotland on Dingwall High Street in 1906 and the remodelling of Dingwall Town Hall in 1905 (see separate listings). <1>