The Old Town Hall is a municipal building in Queen Charlotte Street,

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

, Scotland. The old town hall, which was the meeting place of Leith Burgh Council, is now used as a police station. It is a Category A

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

The current building replaced a 16th-century

tolbooth A tolbooth or town house was the main municipal building of a Scotland, 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 th ...

in Tolbooth Wynd which had become dilapidated and, despite objections from the author,

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

, and the antiquary,

Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe (15 May 1781 – 17 March 1851) was a Scottish antiquary and artist. Life He was the second son of Charles Sharpe (originally Charles Kirkpatrick) of Hoddam, Dumfriesshire, by Eleonora, youngest daughter of John Rento ...

, was demolished in 1824. After significant industrial growth, particularly associated with the shipbuilding and repair facilities in the town, the Leith Police Act 1827 ( 7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. cxii), which provided for the "Municipal Government of the Town and Suburbs of the Town of Leith", was enacted in 1827. In this context, civic leaders decided to procure a new town hall: the site selected was on the corner of Queen Charlotte Street and

Constitution Street Constitution Street is a thoroughfare in Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland. It runs north from the junction of Leith Walk, Great Junction Street and Duke Street to the Albert Dock in Leith Docks. History The street takes its name from Constitutio ...

, the latter being the main thoroughfare to Leith Docks. The foundation stone for the new building was laid in March 1828. It was designed by R & R Dickson in the

neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

, built at a cost of £3,260 from

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

stone brought from Craigleith Quarry and completed in spring 1829. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto Constitution Street; there was a small round door in the centre bay on the ground floor with small round headed windows in the other bays. The first floor featured tall

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 windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double glazing) of glass. History ...

s and the second floor small square sash windows flanked by

Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic classical order, orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric order, Doric and the Corinthian order, Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan order, Tuscan (a plainer Doric) ...

columns (for the middle bays) and

Doric order The Doric order is one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of t ...

pilasters (for the outer bays) supporting a large

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

with a

frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

inscribed "Erected by the Magistrates and Masters / MDCCCXXVIII". The Queen Charlotte Street elevation also involved five bays; the central section of three bays featured a

porch on the ground floor, tall sash windows on the first floor and small square sash windows on the second floor with a large entablature a frieze inscribed "Town Hall / R & R Dickson Architects". Internally, the principal rooms were the sheriffs' courtroom, to the north, and the council chamber to the south. A painting by

Alexander Carse Alexander Carse (c. 1770 – February 1843) was a Scottish painter known for his scenes of Scottish life. His works include a large canvas of Visit of King George IV to Scotland, George IV's visit to Leith and three early paintings of football ...

, depicting the arrival of

King George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, h ...

at Leith Docks during his visit to Scotland in 1822, was hung in the new council chamber. The town became an independent burgh in 1833 with the town hall as its headquarters. The town hall was extended to the east along Queen Charlotte Street by the acquisition and conversion of a section of terraced housing, to a design by James Simpson, in 1868. It was also extended to the north along Constitution Street by the construction of a two-storey section, also to a design by James Simpson, in 1878. This section is still intact as the town jail, containing eight cells at first floor, but ceased to be used for overnight prisoners in the 1990s. The council chamber was remodelled in 1878 and subsequently re-decorated by Thomas Bonnar in 1892. The town hall ceased to be the local seat of government when the burgh of Leith was annexed by the City of Edinburgh in 1920. As a consolation the people of Leith were given a new

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

and

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

complex on Ferry Road, which for a while was referred to as the new town hall. Meanwhile, the old town hall was put to use as commercial offices until 1983 when it was converted for use as a police station.

References

{{Government buildings in Edinburgh Government buildings completed in 1829

Buildings and structures in Leith Category A listed buildings in Edinburgh

History

See also

References