Tolbooth

Last updated

An etching showing the Old Tolbooth, Edinburgh before it was demolished in 1817. The Old Tolbooth.jpg
An etching showing the Old Tolbooth, Edinburgh before it was demolished in 1817.
Musselburgh Tolbooth in East Lothian Musselburgh Tolbooth.jpg
Musselburgh Tolbooth in East Lothian
Crail Tolbooth in Fife Tollbooth and town hall - geograph.org.uk - 750656.jpg
Crail Tolbooth in Fife

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).

Contents

Etymology

The word tolbooth is derived from the Middle English word tolbothe that described a town hall containing customs offices and prison cells. [1]

History

Burghs were created in Scotland from the 12th century. They had the right to hold markets and levy customs and tolls, and tolbooths were originally established for collection of these. [2] Royal burghs were governed by an elected council, led by a provost and baillies, who also acted as magistrates with jurisdiction over local crime. The tolbooth developed into a central building providing for all these functions. [3] Most tolbooths had a bell, often mounted on a steeple, and later clocks were added. As well as housing accused criminals awaiting trial, and debtors, tolbooths were also places of public punishment, equipped with a whipping post, stocks or jougs. The tolbooth was occasionally a place of execution, and where victim's heads were displayed. The tolbooth may also have served as the guardhouse of the town guard. Other functions provided in various tolbooths included schoolrooms, weighhouses, storage of equipment and records, and entertainments. [4] [5]

The first record of a tolbooth is at Berwick upon Tweed in the later 13th century, and the earliest known grant of land for construction of a tolbooth is at Dundee in 1325, with many more grants recorded through the 14th century. [6] The oldest tolbooths which survive intact are those of Musselburgh (1590) and Canongate (1591). The tolbooth of Glasgow (1634) has been described as Scotland's "most remarkable civic building of the 17th century". Other Renaissance-style tolbooths were erected at Linlithgow (1668) and Kirkcaldy (1678). By the 18th century, the term "tolbooth" had become closely associated with prison, and the term "town house" became more common to denote the municipal buildings. Classical architectural styles were introduced, as at Dundee (1731) and Sanquhar (1739). In the early 19th century, increasing separation of functions led to purpose-built courthouses and prisons, and the replacement of tolbooths and town houses with modern town halls, serving as council chamber and events venue. [6] The prison functions of tolbooths were overseen by prison boards from 1839, but the jail cell in the Falkirk Steeple remained in use until 1984. [7]

Present

There are around 90 tolbooths surviving in Scotland. [8] Many are still used as municipal buildings, while others have been renovated as museums, theatres, or other attractions.

Some notable tolbooths include:

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sanquhar</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Sanquhar is a town on the River Nith in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, north of Thornhill and west of Moffat. It is a former Royal Burgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Mile</span> Collection of streets in Edinburgh

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)".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenlaw</span> Town in the Scottish Borders

Greenlaw is a town and civil parish situated in the foothills of the Lammermuir Hills on Blackadder Water at the junction of the A697 and the A6105 in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. At the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 661.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calton Hill</span> Hill in central Edinburgh, Scotland

Calton Hill is a hill in central Edinburgh, Scotland, situated beyond the east end of Princes Street and included in the city's UNESCO World Heritage Site. Views of, and from, the hill are often used in photographs and paintings of the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Canongate</span> District of Edinburgh, Scotland

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mercat cross</span> Scottish historic structure

A mercat cross is the Scots name for the market cross found frequently in Scottish cities, towns and villages where historically the right to hold a regular market or fair was granted by the monarch, a bishop or a baron. It therefore served a secular purpose as a symbol of authority, and was an indication of a burgh's relative prosperity. Historically, the term dates from the period before 1707, when the Kingdom of Scotland was an independent state, but it has been applied loosely to later structures built in the traditional architectural style of crosses or structures fulfilling the function of marking a settlement's focal point. Historical documents often refer simply to "the cross" of whichever town or village is mentioned. Today, there are around 126 known examples of extant crosses in Scotland, though the number rises if later imitations are added.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Falkirk Steeple</span> Municipal building in Falkirk, Scotland

The Falkirk Steeple is a municipal building on the High Street in Falkirk in Scotland. The building, which accommodates a heritage centre, is a Category A listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Mylne (died 1657)</span>

John Mylne of Perth was a Scottish master mason who served as Master Mason to the Crown of Scotland. He was born in Perth, the son of John Mylne, also a master mason, and Helen Kenneries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glasgow Cross</span> Street in Glasgow City, Scotland, UK

Glasgow Cross is at the hub of the ancient royal burgh and now city of Glasgow, Scotland, close to its first crossing over the River Clyde. It marks the notional boundary between the city centre and the East End

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canongate Tolbooth</span> Municipal building in Scotland

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. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City of Edinburgh Council</span> Local government body in Scotland

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 built-up area of Edinburgh, capital of Scotland. With a population of 514,990 in 2022, it is the second most populous local authority area in Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Tolbooth, Edinburgh</span> Former municipal building in Edinburgh, 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mercat Cross, Edinburgh</span> Historic marker in Scotland

The Mercat Cross of Edinburgh is a market cross, which stands in Parliament Square next to St Giles' Cathedral, facing the High Street in the Old Town of Edinburgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirkcudbright Tolbooth</span> Historic municipal building in Scotland

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Musselburgh Tolbooth</span> Municipal building in Musselburgh, Scotland

Musselburgh Tolbooth is a municipal building in the High Street in Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland. The tolbooth, which was the headquarters of Musselburgh Burgh Council, is a Category A listed building. At right angles and attached to it is the Musselburgh Town House.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prestwick Burgh Hall</span> Municipal building in Prestwick, Scotland

Prestwick Burgh Hall, also known as Prestwick Freeman's Hall and Prestwick Freemen's Hall, is a municipal building in Kirk Street, Prestwick, Scotland. The structure, which served as the meeting place of Prestwick Burgh Council, is a Category B listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banff Town House</span> Municipal Building in Banff, Scotland

Banff Town House is a municipal building in Low Street, Banff, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The building, which is used as a customer service point and job centre, forms part of a complex consisting of a steeple, completed in 1767, which is a Category A listed building, and a town house, completed in 1797, which is also a Category A listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dingwall Town Hall</span> Municipal Building in Dingwall, Scotland

Dingwall Town Hall is a municipal structure in the High Street, Dingwall, Highland, Scotland. The structure, which is now used as a museum, is a Category B listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sanquhar Tolbooth</span> Municipal building in Sanquhar, Scotland

Sanquhar Tolbooth is a municipal building in the High Street in Sanquhar, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The structure, which accommodates a local history museum, is a Category A listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newburgh Town House</span> Municipal building in Newburgh, Scotland

Newburgh Town House is a municipal building in the High Street in Newburgh, Fife, Scotland. The structure, which is used as a series of artists' studios, is a Category B listed building.

References

  1. "tolbooth". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  2. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), p.1
  3. RCAHMS, pp.4–5
  4. RCAHMS, p.5
  5. Mair, p.46
  6. 1 2 RCAHMS, p.2
  7. Mair, p.48
  8. RCAHMS, pp.16ff.

Sources