Arbroath Town House

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Arbroath Town House
The sheriff court - geograph.org.uk - 1195590.jpg
Arbroath Town House
LocationHigh Street, Arbroath
Coordinates 56°33′31″N2°34′54″W / 56.5587°N 2.5818°W / 56.5587; -2.5818 Coordinates: 56°33′31″N2°34′54″W / 56.5587°N 2.5818°W / 56.5587; -2.5818
Built1808
ArchitectDavid Logan
Architectural style(s) Neoclassical style
Listed Building – Category B
Official nameNo. 88 High Street (Former Town House), Arbroath
Designated11 October 1971
Reference no.LB21172
Angus UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Shown in Angus

Arbroath Town House is a municipal building in the High Street, Arbroath, Scotland. The town house, which was the headquarters of Arbroath Burgh Council, is a Category B listed building. [1]

Contents

History

The first municipal building in the town was the tolbooth which was built on the east side of the High Street using stones from Arbroath Abbey in 1686. [2] It was rebuilt, after becoming dilapidated, in 1779. [3] In the early 19th century, in the context of the growing importance of the town as a coastal port, civic leaders decided to procure a town house for the royal burgh on the west side of the High Street. [4]

Work started on the new building in 1803. [1] It was designed by a local architect, David Logan, in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone and completed in 1808. [1] It was altered and extended to the rear to a design by David Smith of Dundee in 1844. [5] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with three bays facing onto the High Street; the central bay, which slightly projected forward, featured a doorway flanked by brackets supporting a cornice; there was a tri-part round headed window on the first floor flanked by paired Doric order columns supporting a frieze containing carved rosettes with a parapet above containing a clock decorated with festoons. [1] Internally, the principal rooms were the great hall, the town clerk's office and the burgh chamber which could also be used for court hearings. [4] A new gaol, a gaoler's house and a police station were erected behind the town house and formed part of the complex. [4] The magistrates held hearings once a week and cells were provided for holding prisoners. [4] In 1900 the magistrates moved to No. 78 High Street allowing the whole of the building to be used for municipal purposes. [1]

Following further population growth, largely related to the jute and sailcloth industries, the area became a large burgh with the town house as its headquarters in 1936. [6] The building continued to serve as the headquarters of the burgh council, [7] but ceased to be the local seat of government when the enlarged Angus District Council was formed in 1975. [8] In 1977 the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service decided that No. 78 High Street was no longer suitable for judicial use and moved back into the town house, converting the burgh chamber into a courtroom. [1] In 2007 the significance of the town house was recognised by the European Union when it ruled that, for Arbroath smokies to have "protected status", they must be produced within "a coastal corridor with an inland boundary 8 kilometres radius from Arbroath Town House". [9]

After all court hearings moved to Forfar in May 2014, the building closed as a courthouse. [10] The Arbroath Court House Community Trust, which was formed at the time of the closure, acquired the building for a nominal sum in December 2020 [11] and outlined its proposals for converting the building into a community hub in May 2021. [12]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Historic Environment Scotland. "No. 88 High Street (Former Town House), Arbroath (Category B Listed Building) (LB21172)" . Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  2. ↑ Historic Environment Scotland. "Arbroath Tolbooth (35551)". Canmore . Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  3. ↑ Robson, Peter; Rodger, Johnny (2017). The Spaces of Justice: The Architecture of the Scottish Court. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. p. 64. ISBN   978-1683930884.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Lewis, Samuel (1846). "'Andrew's, St - Arbroath', in A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland". London: British History Online. pp. 45–59. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  5. ↑ "Arbroath Town House". Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  6. ↑ "Arbroath Burgh". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  7. ↑ "No. 19595". The Edinburgh Gazette . 10 January 1975. p. 23.
  8. ↑ "Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  9. ↑ EU protected food names scheme: protected geographical indication: Arbroath Smokies (PDF). Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. 2007. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  10. ↑ "Gathering marks Arbroath Sheriff Court's closure". The Courier. 30 May 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  11. ↑ "Keys to Arbroath Courthouse handed to community six years after closure". The Courier. 22 December 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  12. ↑ "Step inside Arbroath's former courthouse as £2 million community hub plan enters crucial next stage". The Courier. 12 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
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