Location
North side of harbour, Stonehaven
Stonehaven, Kincardine
OS Map Reference
NO 878 855
Description
Heavy wrought iron gates in a grid pattern with protruding scrolls at top and bottom of the vertical bars. The building dates from the 1500s but I do not know if the gates are contemporary with it.
Related Information
The Old Tolbooth is the oldest surviving building in Stonehaven. It was probably built as a store in the late sixteenth century by George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal (founder of Marischal College in Aberdeen), during the construction of nearby Dunnottar Castle, and whose arms are said to have appeared on a skewputt at the west gable. After Stonehaven became the county town in 1600, the building was used as tolbooth, courthouse and prison. The courthouse was situated on the first floor, with the ground floor as prison and the enclosed area forming an exercise yard. After 1767, when new County Buildings were opened in Dunnottar Avenue, it was also used to store grain, coal and lime. One of the most famous episodes of the building's history was the imprisonment of the three Episcopal clergymen of Stonehaven, Muchalls and Drumlithie during the winter of 1748-9, for refusing to pray for George II, and for conducting services for congregations of upwards of five people. During their imprisonment the clergymen conducted secret baptisms (through a barred window) of children brought to the tolbooth hidden in fishing creels. The image was popularised by the Victorian painter George Washington Brownlow, and is further illustrated in a stained glass window at the category 'A' listed St James, James the Great Episcopal Church in Arbuthnott Street. Two wall-mounted metal plaques to the outer left of the principal elevation commemorate the erection, history and restoration of the building. The Old Tolbooth is now used as a museum and restaurant.
Era
Unknown
Information Source
RCAHMS http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/
Related Artefacts
Categories
Photographer
- Mark Woodfin
Unavailable Data
- Date
- Iconography
- Creator
- External Links
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