Forfar Town and County Hall

Forfar Town and County Hall
Forfar Town and County Hall
Location	The Cross, Forfar
Coordinates	56°38′40″N2°53′19″W / 56.6444°N 2.8885°W / 56.6444; -2.8885 Coordinates: 56°38′40″N2°53′19″W / 56.6444°N 2.8885°W / 56.6444; -2.8885
Built	1788
Architect	James Playfair
Architectural style(s)	Neoclassical style
Listed Building – Category B
Official name	Forfar Town and County Hall, Cross
Designated	11 June 1971
Reference no.	LB31496
Shown in Angus

Forfar Town and County Hall is a municipal building in The Cross, Forfar, Scotland. The structure, which serves as the meeting place of Angus Council, is a Category B listed building. ^[1]

History

Early history

The municipal buildings, which were completed in 1824, at the back of the town and county hall

The first municipal building in the town was a medieval tolbooth which was primarily used to the detention of prisoners and which dated back at least to the 16th century. ^[2] In the early 1660s, 42 women were tried for witchcraft at the tolbooth and, in some cases, found guilty and executed by strangulation. ^[3] In the late 1770s the burgh officials decided to demolish the dilapidated tolbooth and to erect a new building in its place. ^[2]

The new building was designed by James Playfair in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone at a cost of £1,100 and was completed in 1788. ^{[1] [4] [5]} The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with four bays facing onto The Cross; the central section of two bays, which slightly projected forward, featured round headed windows on the ground floor, square headed windows on the first floor and a pediment above. ^[1] The outer bays contained doorways on the ground floor and square headed windows on the first floor. ^[1] At roof level, there was originally a bellcote. ^[1] The building was originally intended to operate as a weigh house and butter market. ^[1] Internally, the principal rooms, which were all accessed by passing through the left hand doorway and then up a staircase, were at the front of the building: they were the council chamber on the left, the county hall in the centre and the sheriff courtroom on the right. ^[2] The county hall contained several crystal chandeliers which were presented by the future local member of parliament, David Scott. ^[2]

In the late 18th century, criminals were held in cells behind the town and county hall; they were taken to the courtroom and, if they were found guilty and sentenced to be hanged, the sentence was carried out from the first floor window on the east side of the building. ^[6] The bellcote was removed and the pediment was enhanced by the installation of a clock in the tympanum in 1804, and a dedicated sheriff courthouse, designed by David Neave with a large tetrastyle portico, was erected to the immediate north of the town and county hall at a cost of £5,000 and was completed in 1824. ^{[7] [8] [9]} Internal alterations to the town and county hall, to a design by William Scott, were completed in 1847: the changes involved the removal of the old council chamber and the old sheriff courtroom and the enlargement of the county hall. ^[2]

The sheriff court moved to a new purpose built building adjacent to the county prison in Market Street in the north of the town in 1871. ^[10] Then, in 1883, the county prison in Market Street was converted into offices and, following the implementation of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 which established a uniform system of county councils in Scotland, the new Forfarshire County Council established its headquarters in the Market Street building which later became known as the County Buildings. ^{[11] [12]}

20th century and thereafter

In the 20th century, the town and county hall served as a venue for public events, particularly functions organised by the county council, ^[13] while the former sheriff courthouse behind was re-designated the "municipal buildings": burgh council officers and their departments, including the town clerk's department, were accommodated within the latter building. ^[14] A plaque to commemorate the residence of the 10th Polish Reconnaissance Group in the town from October 1940 to April 1942 was placed on the western elevation of the town and county hall on the unit's departure during the Second World War. ^[15]

At a ceremony attended by the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Scottish Command, Lieutenant-General Sir Colin Barber, in September 1952, a plaque was unveiled on the front of the town and county hall and four stained glass windows were unveiled inside the building to commemorate the lives of local service personnel who had died in the First and Second World Wars. ^[16] Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother visited the town and county hall to receive the freedom of the town in 1956. ^[17]

The municipal buildings ceased to be the local seat of government when the enlarged Angus District Council established its offices at County Buildings in Market Street in 1975. ^{[18] [19]} However, the town and county hall continued to be used as a civic meeting place and continued in that role when the new unitary authority, Angus Council, was formed in 1996. ^[20] It also continued to be used by the Lord Lieutenant of Angus for investitures. ^[21] Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, visited the town and county hall and had lunch with civic officials in July 2004. ^[22]

Works of art in the town and county hall include a portrait by John Hoppner of Admiral Viscount Duncan who lived at Lundie, ^{[23] [24]} a portrait by George Romney of the politician, David Scott, ^[23] and a portrait by Sir Henry Raeburn of Viscount Melville. ^[23]

See also

• List of listed buildings in Forfar, Angus

References

1. Historic Environment Scotland. "Forfar Town and County Hall, Cross (LB31496)" . Retrieved 4 September 2021.
2. Historic Environment Scotland. "Forfar, High Street, The Cross, Town And County Hall, War Memorial (33846)". Canmore . Retrieved 4 September 2021.
3. "The Forfar Witches". Scottish Clans. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
4. "Forfar Town and County Hall". Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
5. "The family name behind some of Scotland's most beautiful buildings". The National. 21 July 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
6. Bruce, Ken. "Spotlight on Forfar, Angus, Scotland" . Retrieved 4 September 2021.
7. Historic Environment Scotland. "Municipal Buildings, Castle Street (LB31542)" . Retrieved 4 September 2021.
8. Lewis, Samuel (1846). "'Fillan's, St - Forfarshire', in A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland". London: British History Online. pp. 429–441. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
9. Dennison, Elizabeth Patricia (2017). The Evolution of Scotland's Towns: Creation, Growth and Fragmentation. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN   978-1474409810.
10. Historic Environment Scotland. "Forfar Sheriff Court House including steps, boundary walls and piers, Market Street and Brechin Road, Forfar (LB31609)" . Retrieved 4 September 2021.
11. Historic Environment Scotland. "County Offices, Market Street, Forfar (LB31610)" . Retrieved 4 September 2021.
12. "No. 21215". The Edinburgh Gazette . 5 November 1982. p. 1608.
13. "No. 17129". The Edinburgh Gazette . 20 November 1953. p. 609.
14. "Archives of the Royal Burgh of Forfar". p. 67. Retrieved 4 September 2021. Agreement between the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board and the royal burgh of Forfar per the Town Clerk, Municipal Buildings, Forfar in respect of electric lines
15. "10th Polish Reconnaissance Group". War Memorials Online. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
16. "Forfar". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
17. "Queen Mother's Visit To Forfar To Receive Freedom". British Pathe. 1956. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
18. "Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
19. "No. 19844". The Edinburgh Gazette . 23 March 1976. p. 369.
20. "Council Meeting" (PDF). Angus Council. 5 December 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
21. "Colin Brown recognised by Her Majesty (BEM)". Forfar Farmington Football Club. 21 June 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
22. "Royal Circular". 2 July 2004. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
23. Gazzard, Katherine (1 June 2019). "Portraiture and the British Naval Officer: 1739-1805" (PDF). University of East Anglia. pp. 13, 194–195. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
24. "The Right Honourable Adam Duncan Viscount Duncan of Camperdown and Baron Duncan of Lundie in the Shire of Forfar Admiral of the Blue Squadron and Knight of the Russian Imperial Order of St. Alexander Nevsky". Royal Museums, Greenwich. Retrieved 4 September 2021.

Further reading

• McCulloch, William Scott (1968). A History of the Town and County Hall, Forfar. Forfar: Oliver McPherson. ISBN   978-0-9500666-3-9.