Building record MAB37043 - OLD TOWN HALL, HIGH STREET, BRECHIN

Former Town Hall, now in use as a museum, built on the site of an old tollbooth in 1789-90, with alterations in 1855-6.

Former Town Hall, now in use as a museum, built on the site of an old tollbooth in 1789-90, with alterations in 1855-6. The first reference to a tollbooth in Brechin occurs in 1450. In 1580 and 1697 there were notices of repairs being carried out on the tollbooth, which would appear to have stood on the corner of High Street and Nether West Wynd (Church Street). The council and bailies' court met on the first floor of the tollbooth, and part of the ground floor was used as a jail. It is shown from the 1st edition OS map onwards as a rectangular building. On the 1st edition OS map it is depicted as 'Town House', and current maps depict it as a museum. It is a two-storey rectangular building, constructed of grey-brown Ashlar with rusticated raised quoins and a slate roof. It has a gabled front to High Street, with a Venetian window above the frontage of a Victorian shop, which replaced three square-headed lights. The east gable also has an inset clock surmounted by a rectangular Roman-Doric column bell cupola, with an ogee top. The south front to Church Street has four bays with a central two-bay wide wallhead gable with the date-stone '1789', and a truncated chimney. Inside the Hall at first floor level, has a coved ceiling and semi-elliptically arched recess flanked by wooden Adamesque pilasters. The ground floor was used initially as a shop, courtroom, debtor's prison and two cells, one a 'black hole'. The cells had a grating onto the street by which the prisoners could communicate. The prison was branded 'one of the worst' the prison inspector had seen in 1835, and a new prison was built in 1844. Part of the ground floor was subsequently used as a police station. Interior alterations made in 1855-6 and more recently to the first floor. A standing building survey was carried out by MAS in January and February 2009 during reconstruction works. A blocked internal doorway that would have given access to the cells was recorded, and a draining trench below the floor inside the new toilets revealed a short section of wall foundation which may be part of the wall footings of the original tollbooth.

Period Notes
The tollbooth previously on the site is first mentioned in 1450, and there are repair notices for the tollbooth in 1580 and 1697. The current building is dated 1789, with alterations in 1855-6 and later. It was listed on 11/06/1971.

AN 6175 (1975), AN 6175 (1975) (Ground Photograph). SAB21571.

C 39497 (1885), C 39497 (1885) (Ground Photograph). SAB21570.

Black, D D, 1839, [Untitled], 108, 172, 278 (Bibliographic reference). SAB9326.

Thoms, D B, 1977, [Untitled], 11, 140 (Bibliographic reference). SAB11206.

GOURLAY, R, 1977c, HISTORIC BRECHIN, 8 (Bibliographic reference). SAB2586.

RCAHMS, 1996, [Untitled], p 47 (Bibliographic reference). SAB11502.

MAS, 2009, BRECHIN TOWN HOUSE STANDING BUILDINGS SURVEY (Bibliographic reference). SAB4630.

ARCHAEOLOGY SCOTLAND, 2010, DISCOVERY AND EXCAVATION IN SCOTLAND: VOL 10, 2009, p.31 (Bibliographic reference). SAB3514.

Jul 13 1990 , B 39151,3,5, B 39151,3,5 (Ground Photograph). SAB21572.

Jul 13 1990 , B 39152 CN, B 39152 CN (Ground Photograph). SAB21573.

Jul 13 1990 , B 39154 CT, B 39154 CT (Ground Photograph). SAB21574.

Mar 7 2000 , D 78438,40, D 78438,40 (Ground Photograph). SAB21575.

Mar 7 2000 , D 78439 CN, D 78439 CN (Ground Photograph). SAB21576.

Record last edited

Apr 1 2024 3:55PM