Stonehaven Town Hall
Stonehaven Town Hall
LocationAllardice Street, Stonehaven
Coordinates56°57′50″N 2°12′29″W / 56.9640°N 2.2080°W / 56.9640; -2.2080
Built1878
ArchitectJames Matthews and William Lawrie
Architectural style(s)Renaissance style
Listed Building – Category B
Official nameTown Hall, 32-36 Allardice Street, Stonehaven
Designated25 November 1980
Reference no.LB41534
Stonehaven Town Hall is located in Aberdeenshire
Stonehaven Town Hall
Shown in Aberdeenshire

Stonehaven Town Hall is a municipal building in Allardice Street, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The building, which is largely used as an events venue, is a Category B listed building.[1]

History

The clock tower of 1790

The first municipal building in Stonehaven was the Stonehaven Tolbooth which was erected on the old pier in the late 16th century.[2] It was used as a courthouse and as a prison and later as a storehouse[2] and was followed by the town house and clock tower which were erected by public subscription in the High Street, a short distance to the west of the tolbooth, in 1790.[3]

In the 19th century the focus of development moved north of the Carron Water to what became known as the "New Town": the market buildings were built on the west side of Allardice Street and completed in 1827.[4] In the 1870s the burgh leaders decided to commission a dedicated civic events venue for the town: the site they selected was on the east side of Allardice Street facing the market buildings.[5] The new building was designed by James Matthews and William Lawrie in the Renaissance style, built in rubble masonry at a cost of £4,000 and was officially opened on 7 May 1878.[6][7] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto Allardice Street together with an additional recessed bay on the left which featured an arched carriageway on the ground floor; the central bay featured a doorway flanked by pilasters supporting an entablature and a frieze inscribed with the words "Town Hall".[1] The first floor was fenestrated with round headed sash windows in all the bays including the recessed bay.[1] At roof level there was a cornice, a parapet and a central panel inscribed with the date of construction and, behind the parapet, there were also five dormer windows.[1] Internally, the principal rooms were the assembly hall, a billiard room and a reading room.[8]

The building was used as an events venue from an early stage: the showman, Walford Bodie, conducted his first public performance of hypnosis, ventriloquism and magic in the town hall, at the age of 15, in 1884.[9] The market buildings and the town hall were transferred to an elected board of trustees, who held the properties for the benefit of the burgh, in 1901,[10] shortly before the town hall was altered to a design by Duncan McMillan and John Ross McMillan in 1903.[1] Although the town hall was used as a venue for civic events, burgh council officers and their staff were located in offices in Cameron Street.[11]

In summer 1975, an annual art exhibition was instituted in the town hall, involving artists from all over the north-east of Scotland.[12] The community-run radio station, Mearns FM, was based at the town hall from its inception in 2007 until late 2019: after broadcasting from temporary studios, the station moved permanently to a new studio on Ann Street on 13 September 2020.[13]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Historic Environment Scotland. "Town Hall, 32-36 Allardice Street, Stonehaven (LB41534)". Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  2. 1 2 Napier, James (1870). Stonehaven and its historical associations being a guide to Dunnottar Castle and other places of interest. John Taylor. p. 3.
  3. ↑ Historic Environment Scotland. "Town House And Clock Tower, High Street, Stonehaven (LB41615)". Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  4. ↑ Historic Environment Scotland. "Market Square, Market Buildings (LB41640)". Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  5. ↑ "Ordnance Survey Map". 1903. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  6. ↑ "Stonehaven Town Hall". Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  7. ↑ The British Architect and Northern Engineer. Vol. 9. J.F. Wells for the Proprietors, The British Architect Company. 10 May 1878. p. 224.
  8. ↑ "Stonehaven". Gazetteer of Scotland. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  9. ↑ Tait, Derek (2018). The Great Illusionists. Pen and Sword History. ISBN 978-1473890763.
  10. ↑ "No. 11354". The Edinburgh Gazette. 5 November 1901. p. 1271.
  11. ↑ "No. 17998". The Edinburgh Gazette. 12 January 1962. p. 19.
  12. ↑ "Art display will be absent from Stonehaven's town hall for first time since 1975". Press and Journal. 11 August 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  13. ↑ "About us". Mearns FM. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
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