Publication Account

Date 1996

Event ID 1017838

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Publication Account

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1017838

This building, also known as the 'Dungeon Clock', is recorded in several early views and in floor-plans of 1754, which correspond closely with a description of 1812. The steeple was a prominent feature on the axis of Robert Adam's New Bridge, and in 1785 Adam drew elevations as it existed, and with proposed classical embellishments. It comprised a six-stage tower 8.2m square and 25m high, carrying a tall square belfry whose ogivaI roof supported an open pillared octagon with a small ogival spire, 40m in overall height. A straight forestair and balustraded platform, on which executions were held, gave access to the first-floor entrance, and two of the upper floors contained prison-cells.

The three-storeyed main block was of the same width as the steeple and 16.5m long, with a lower three-storeyed annexe against the S gable. The ground floor was divided into four vaulted rooms, probably let as shops, and the first floor contained a stair-lobby entered through the tower, and two vaulted cells adjoining a vaulted corridor which led to the debtors' room at the S end. The court-room occupied the main part of the second floor, with a room having a fireplace in the S annexe, whose lower floors had no communication with the main block.

Information from ‘Tolbooths and Town-Houses: Civic Architecture in Scotland to 1833’ (1996).