The Old Town Hall is a municipal building on the north side of The Square in

Portsoy Portsoy ( gd, Port Saoidh) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Historically, Portsoy was in Banffshire. The original name may come from ''Port Saoithe'', meaning "saithe harbour". Portsoy is located on the Moray Firth coast of northeast Scotlan ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

, Scotland. The structure, which is used for religious gatherings, is a Category C

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

The building was commissioned as an events venue in the late 18th century. It was designed in the

neoclassical style Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The pr ...

, built in brick with a

harled Harling is a roughcast, rough-cast wall finish consisting of lime and aggregate, known for its rough texture. Many castles and other buildings in Scotland and Ulster have walls finished with harling. It is also used on contemporary buildings, w ...

finish and was completed in 1798. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto The Square. The central bay, which projected forward, featured a

sash window A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned window (architecture), paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double gla ...

with a

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

, and a date stone in the centre of the gable above, which was itself surmounted by a chimney. The bays on either side of the central bay were fenestrated with plain sash windows while the outer bays contained doorways with

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can ...

s and square-shaped

fanlight A fanlight is a form of lunette window, often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, and is sometimes hinged to a transom. Th ...

s. The sash windows and fanlights all featured a distinctive bordered glazing pattern. The building, which was remodelled in 1892, was used for recruitment meetings at the start of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and then briefly served as a drill station for the local platoon from A company of the 6th (Banff and Donside) Battalion, The

Gordon Highlanders Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...

, before the battalion was deployed for service to the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

in November 1914. After the war, the burgh council established itself in a new hall in Seafield Street which had been built as a church and completed in 1875. Following its own recruitment campaign, the local branch

the Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestant church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. The organisation reports a worldwide membership of over 1.7million, comprising soldiers, officers and adherents col ...

acquired the building in The Square in 1923. The Salvation Army enjoyed a revival of its activities in 1949 but, after its numbers dwindled, the hall closed in 1990. The building was subsequently used by the local branch of the

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...

and was designated the local

Kingdom Hall A Kingdom Hall is a place of worship used by Jehovah's Witnesses. The term was first suggested in 1935 by Joseph Franklin Rutherford, then president of the Watch Tower Society, for a building in Hawaii. Rutherford's reasoning was that these bu ...

. In 2015, the building was transferred to the management of a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) known as the "Portsoy Community Church", which leased the former Salvation Army Hall from

Aberdeenshire Council Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially different boundaries. The Aberdeenshire Council area includ ...

. Organisations which subsequently chose to use the building included the local branch of the Destiny Church, which is a

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

Charismatic Christianity Charismatic Christianity (also known as Spirit-filled Christianity by its supporters) is a form of Christianity that emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts, and modern-day miracles as an everyday part of a believer's life. Practi ...

group served by a local

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

References

{{reflist Government buildings completed in 1798 City chambers and town halls in Scotland Category C listed buildings in Aberdeenshire Listed buildings in Portsoy 1798 establishments in Scotland

History

See also

References