Publication Account

Date 1981

Event ID 1018074

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Publication Account

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1018074

A tolbooth in the Canongate was in existence by 1477 (RMS, ii , 217) .The present attractive structure was built in 1591 on the site of a previous one. It contains a hall which in former days served the dual purpose of Council Room and Courthouse. Although the tolbooth was used as a prison until 1848 (Wright, 1974, 25), it would not appear that it was always a secure institutional deterrent. In 1654, several Scots prisoners of war effect.ed their escape from the building by rending their blankets and sheets into strips (Grant, 1882, ii, 31) The tolbooth, which now serves primarily as a museum, was also extensively restored in 1879.

Information from ‘Historic Edinburgh, Canongate and Leith: The Archaeological Implications of Development’ (1981).