Canongate Tolbooth | |
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![]() Canongate Tolbooth | |
Location | Old Town, Edinburgh |
Coordinates | 55°57′05″N3°10′48″W / 55.9515°N 3.1800°W |
Built | 1591 |
Architectural style(s) | Scottish medieval style |
Listed Building – Category A | |
Official name | 163 Canongate, Canongate Tolbooth |
Designated | 14 December 1970 |
Reference no. | LB27582 |
Canongate Tolbooth is a historic landmark of the Old Town area of Edinburgh, built in 1591 as a tolbooth, that is, the centre of administration and justice of the then separate burgh of the Canongate which was outside the Edinburgh town walls. [1] It ceased to be a municipal building in 1856 and it is now occupied by The People's Story Museum and is protected as a category A listed building. [2]
The tower of the tolbooth was built in 1591, and the block to the east of it at that time or slightly after, by Sir Lewis Bellenden, baron of Broughton and feudal superior of the burgh of Canongate and Lord Justice Clerk of Scotland. [2] [3] It served as the courthouse, burgh jail and meeting place of the town council. [2]
Many Covenanters were held in the tolbooth in poor conditions in the 17th century [4] [5] and a riot took place in the building in May 1692. [6] It ceased to be the meeting place of the burgh council when Canongate was annexed by Edinburgh in 1856. [7]
In 1875 the City Architect, Robert Morham, extensively restored and remodelled the exterior. Internally the first and attic floors were combined to make a single floor, now The People's Story Museum. [8] [9]
The tolbooth was designed in the Scottish medieval style: it comprises a bell tower with a lower block to the east that contained the council chamber and courtroom. [10] The tower has two bartizans with ornamental gunloops on either side of a clock, dated 1884 and manufactured by James Ritchie & Son, which is suspended over the Royal Mile by wrought iron brackets. [1] [3] [8] Above the bartizans is a conical spire [8] while at street level there is a round-arched pend that leads into Tolbooth Wynd. [11] Architectural features of the east block include a stone forestair which leads to a door next to the tower, [10] an oriel window, [3] and four pedimented dormers by Morham, based on Gordon of Rothiemay's map of 1647, that replaced three piended ones. [12]
To the east of the tolbooth, down the Royal Mile, is the Kirk of the Canongate and the Canongate Kirkyard. [11]
The Royal Mile is a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. The term was first used descriptively in W. M. Gilbert's Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century (1901), describing the city "with its Castle and Palace and the royal mile between", and was further popularised as the title of a guidebook by R. T. Skinner published in 1920, "The Royal Mile (Edinburgh) Castle to Holyrood(house)".
The Canongate is a street and associated district in central Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The street forms the main eastern length of the Royal Mile while the district is the main eastern section of Edinburgh's Old Town.
There have been several town walls around Edinburgh, Scotland, since the 12th century. Some form of wall probably existed from the foundation of the royal burgh in around 1125, though the first building is recorded in the mid-15th century, when the King's Wall was constructed. In the 16th century the more extensive Flodden Wall was erected, following the Scots' defeat at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. This was extended by the Telfer Wall in the early 17th century. The walls had a number of gates, known as ports, the most important being the Netherbow Port, which stood halfway down what is now the Royal Mile. This gave access from the Canongate which was, at that time, a separate burgh.
The Chambers Institution is a municipal structure in the High Street in Peebles, Scotland. The structure, which was designed to accommodate a library, a museum, an art gallery and Peebles Burgh Hall, is a Category A listed building.
The City of Edinburgh Council is the local government authority covering the City of Edinburgh council area. Almost half of the council area is the area of Edinburgh, capital of Scotland. With a population of 514,990 in mid-2019, it is the second most populous local authority area in Scotland.
The Old Tolbooth was an important municipal building in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland for more than 400 years. The medieval structure, which was located at the northwest corner of St Giles' Cathedral and was attached to the west end of the Luckenbooths on the High Street in the Old Town, was first established in the 14th century by royal charter. Over the years it served a variety of purposes such as housing the Burgh Council, early meetings of the Parliament of Scotland and the Court of Session. The Tolbooth was also the burgh's main jail where, in addition to incarceration, physical punishment and torture were routinely conducted. From 1785 public executions were carried out. In 1817 the buildings, which had been rebuilt and renovated several times, were demolished.
A tolbooth or town house was the main municipal building of a Scottish burgh, from medieval times until the 19th century. The tolbooth usually provided a council meeting chamber, a court house and a jail. The tolbooth was one of three essential features in a Scottish burgh, along with the mercat cross and the kirk (church).
Kirkcudbright Tolbooth is a historic municipal building in Kirkcudbright in Kirkcudbrightshire in the administrative area of Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Built between 1627 and 1629 to serve the town as a centre of commercial administration, a meeting place for the council, and a prison, it was used for all these roles until the late eighteenth century when the council moved much of its business to new, larger premises they had constructed across the street; the tolbooth remained in use as a prison until the early nineteenth century, after which it remained in council ownership and was put to a variety of uses.
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Hawick Town Hall is a municipal building in the High Street, Hawick, Scotland. The structure, which served as the meeting place of Hawick Burgh Council, is a Category A listed building.
Galashiels Burgh Chambers is a municipal building in Albert Place, Galashiels, Scotland. The building, which was the headquarters of Galashiels Burgh Council, is a Category B listed building.
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Crail Tolbooth and Town Hall is a municipal structure in Crail, Fife, Scotland. The building, which stands in Marketgate, at its junction with Tolbooth Wynd, is Category A listed.
Maybole Town Hall is a municipal structure in the High Street in Maybole, South Ayrshire, Scotland. The structure, which is used as a community events venue, is a Category B listed building.
The New Galloway Town Hall is a municipal building in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, situated on the town's high street. A tolbooth has existed on the site of the current building since at least 1711; in 1875, it was rebuilt and enlarged. In 1971 it was designated a Category B listed building.
Falkland Town Hall is a municipal building in the High Street, Falkland, Fife, Scotland. The structure, which has been converted for use as offices and as shops, is a Category A listed building.
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Tain Tolbooth is a municipal building in the High Street, Tain, Highland, Scotland. The structure, which is used as a courthouse, is a Category A listed building.
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