Forres, High Street, Tolbooth
Tolbooth (19th Century), Tolbooth (18th Century)(Possible), Town House (19th Century)
Site Name Forres, High Street, Tolbooth
Classification Tolbooth (19th Century), Tolbooth (18th Century)(Possible), Town House (19th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Tolbooth Street; Town House
Canmore ID 15799
Site Number NJ05NW 22
NGR NJ 03732 58929
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/15799
- Council Moray
- Parish Forres
- Former Region Grampian
- Former District Moray
- Former County Morayshire
NJ05NW 22 03732 58929
(NJ 0372 5892) The present tolbooth of Forres, built about 1839, occupies the site and perpetuates the design of its predecessor, which was built about 1700.
W Rhind 1839; R G Cant 1948.
No trace of the earlier tolbooth is to be seen.
Visited by OS (RDL) 18 September 1963
Finely stugged ashlar, rubble to Tolbooth Street; tooled ashlar dressings. 3-storey courthouse, with imposing 3-stage tower and belfry much resembling its predecessor. Entrance on W face of tower with round-arched head in deeply splayed reveals. String course rising over door, and window on N elevation. Round-arched windows above with string course raised as square hoodmould over; corbelled stepped parapet with bartizans; smaller clock stage with similarly detailed parapet bartizans with conical caps. Tall belfry stage with round-arched openings, cable moulded cornice, tall bell-cast roof with crowning cupola; weather vane with gilded cock. Courthouse and jail to E and S; 3 storeys, 2 bays(W) to High Street, 9 bays(E) to Tolbooth Street. Square-headed windows to High Street with corbelled, squared bartizans to outer bay. Courtroom to S with 2 round-head windows at 1st floor E and W; 3 smaller round-headed windows and pend to ground floor. Tolbooth Street; multi-pane glazing. 4 bays to jail, facing E to Tolbooth Street.
Built on site of previous Tolbooth. Juts into High Street; corner site with Tolbooth Street. Cells remain within. Building used as Moray District Record Office. Stained glass window depicts St Laurence, patron saint of Forres; gifted by Mr William Smith of Colithie, Huntly, a native of Forres. Provost's Chair, 1893. Pair of Provost's lamps in front of main entrance. (Historic Scotland)
Publication Account (1982)
The first reference to the tolbooth of Forres occurs in 1586. A short-stay jail was built upon the tolbuith stairs 'sufficient for keeping prisoners for one day (Douglas, 1934, 276). Another seventeenth century reference to the structure noted that the walls of the tolbooth were ruinous and could not carry the thatch. The present town hall dates from 1839 but 'its distinctive tower perpetuates the design of its historic predecessor' (Cant, 1948, 7).
Information from ‘Historic Forres: The Archaeological Implications of Development’ (1982).
Watching Brief (20 October 2023)
NJ 03701 58907 - NJ 03725 58920 A watching brief was conducted in October 2023 on the south side of Forres High Street, Elgin for a cable trench for new lighting close to the Market Cross and the Tolbooth. Work was partially limited due to depth of excavation with area being heavily disturbed by existing services. No archaeological features or deposits were revealed.
Information from Stuart Farrell
