Custom House Greenock
Standing at the waterfront, the Custom House in Greenock is one of the few remaining buildings representative of the shipping and trading heritage of the area. Vessels from around the world would have unloaded cargo at the Victoria Dock near this spot at the Custom House Quay.
As the photo shows, it is a fine building, which was designed by William Burn in 1818 AD.
It was used until 2010 AD when it was closed due to “restructuring” within HM Revenue and Customs. It now stands empty. Such a waste and a shame.
Part of the building contained a “Customs and Excise Museum” which I recall visiting around the time these photographs were taken in 2000. Sadly I was unable to record the building’s interior at the time. As you may guess, the interior has impressive styling commensurate with the exterior.
The Coat of Arms adorning the lintels is inscribed with the motto, “Dieu Et Mon Droit”, which from French means literally, “God and my Right”. It also has the motto, “Hon Soit Mal Y Pense” which is derived from Old French and means “Shamed be he who thinks evil of it”.
According to Wikipedia and other sources these mottos were attributed to English sovereignty and the Monarch’s “Divine right to govern”. The references were careful to note that it was “English” and “British, outside of Scotland” which makes it a curious thing to be present on a Scottish building, albeit an instrument of the United Kingdom Government. Having said that, “Dieu Et Mon Droit” is not unheard of in Scotland, although the second motto is lesser known.
The grandly ornate lamppost and clock between the Custom House and the harbour towers above the modern ones in both stature and style, even although the modern ones seek to mimic the older styles.
The Coat of Arms on the lamp post bears the inscription in English, “God Speed”.
This is possibly a variant of the Greenock Coat of Arms that has a ship in full sail with 2 herring beneath and the motto “God Speed Greenock”. This one has other features and is missing the herring, unless I’m missing something. You will see the obvious similarities as well as the appropriate maritime symbols.
The “Port and Harbour Hotel” is adjacent to the Custom House. As well as accommodation, it has a Bar and Restaurant which used to be good enough within the genre many years ago, but I haven’t been in it since the mid 1990s. I guess it could be better or worse by now. Anyone care to review it?
The white anchor on a raised rocky bed surrounded by trees and gardens is one of only a few remaining artefacts from the past. It is in a pleasant setting beside the “Custom House” and “Port and Harbour” which are both close to the modern concrete carbuncle that is used as the Police Station.
These photographs were taken in May 2000 using a Sony S70 3MP PAS. Processed in Photoshop CS2
All the photographs were taken by Scottish photographer Norman Young and are copyright ©. Please respect copyright.
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