Old Town Hall
Old Town Hall
LocationThe Square, Portsoy
Coordinates57°41′00″N 2°41′31″W / 57.6834°N 2.6919°W / 57.6834; -2.6919
Built1798 (1798)
Architectural style(s)Neoclassical style
Listed Building – Category C(S)
Official nameThe Square, The Hall
Designated22 February 1972
Reference no.LB40311
Old Town Hall, Portsoy is located in Aberdeenshire
Old Town Hall, Portsoy
Shown in Aberdeenshire
Old Town Hall, Portsoy is located in Scotland
Old Town Hall, Portsoy
Old Town Hall, Portsoy (Scotland)

The Old Town Hall is a municipal building on the north side of The Square in Portsoy, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The structure, which is used for religious gatherings, is a Category C listed building.[1]

History

The building was commissioned as an events venue in the late 18th century.[2] It was designed in the neoclassical style, built in brick with a harled finish and was completed in 1798.[1] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto The Square. The central bay, which projected forward, featured a sash window with a pediment, 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 architraves and square-shaped fanlights. The sash windows and fanlights all featured a distinctive bordered glazing pattern.[1]

The building, which was remodelled in 1892,[3] was used for recruitment meetings at the start of the First World War[4] 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, before the battalion was deployed for service to the Western Front in November 1914.[5][6][7] 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.[8][9]

Following its own recruitment campaign, the local branch the Salvation Army acquired the building in The Square in 1923.[10] The Salvation Army enjoyed a revival of its activities in 1949 but, after its numbers dwindled, the hall closed in 1990.[11] The building was subsequently used by the local branch of the Jehovah's Witnesses and was designated the local Kingdom Hall.[12] 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.[13] Organisations which subsequently chose to use the building included the local branch of the Destiny Church, which is a Pentecostal Charismatic Christianity group served by a local pastor.[14]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Historic Environment Scotland. "The Square, The Hall (LB40311)". Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  2. ↑ "Town Hall". Aberdeenshire Council. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  3. ↑ McKean, Charles (1990). Banff & Buchan: An Illustrated Architectural Guide. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publications Ltd. p. 42. ISBN 978-1851582310.
  4. ↑ "Portsoy in 1914" (PDF). The North East Folklore Archive. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  5. ↑ "6th (Banff and Donside) Battalion, The Gordon Highlanders". Wartime Memories Project. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  6. ↑ "Portsoy Soldiers at the Western Front" (PDF). The North East Folklore Archive. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  7. ↑ "Gordon Highlanders". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  8. ↑ O'Connor, Susan (2017). "Architecture, power and ritual in Scottish town halls, 1833–1973" (PDF). p. 245. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  9. ↑ "Portsoy Town Hall". Right Lines. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  10. ↑ "Salvation Army Hall, Portsoy". 1923. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  11. ↑ Armistead, David (2017). "The Army of Alba: A History of The Salvation Army in Scotland (1879-2004)" (PDF). The Salvation Army. p. 271.
  12. ↑ Historic Environment Scotland. "Portsoy, The Square, Town Hall (111853)". Canmore. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  13. ↑ "Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 30 April 2018". Portsoy Community Church: Charity No. SC046193. p. 3. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  14. ↑ "Aberdeenshire polling places confirmed". Fraserburgh Herald. 6 May 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
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