Fraserburgh, 1, 3 Saltoun Square, Town House
Town House (19th Century)
Site Name Fraserburgh, 1, 3 Saltoun Square, Town House
Classification Town House (19th Century)
Alternative Name(s) 1 Kirk Brae
Canmore ID 173558
Site Number NJ96NE 47
NGR NJ 99817 67105
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/173558
- Council Aberdeenshire
- Parish Fraserburgh
- Former Region Grampian
- Former District Banff And Buchan
- Former County Aberdeenshire
NJ96NE 47 99817 67105
(Location cited as NJ 9982 6710). Fraserburgh Town House: privately owned, regularly visited by public, easy access.
A 19th century Town House built in the Renaissance style. It is two-storey, ashlar, with an arched ground floor and curved corner with Doric columns. A statue of Lord Saltoun stands at first floor level with a tall domed Corinthian rotunda above. A granite extension (police station) was added in 1906. Above the main door is a funeral hatchment which shows the arms of the 16th Lord Saltoun (died 1853).
Architects: Thomas Mackenzie (1853); Reid and McRobbie (1906 extension).
Newspaper reference: Aberdeen Daily Journal 3 December 1906.
NMRS, MS/712/106.
Publication Account (2010)
Changes in the burgh’s administration, along with commercial success, led to the provision of a suitably new and impressive Town-house in 1853–55. The old tolbooth had staggered on in an increasingly ruinous condition until demolished in 1852. The replacement was designed by the brilliant young Thomas Mackenzie, who exploited its location at the junction of Saltoun Square and Kirk Brae by giving it a principal façade to each (fig 28).On the corner he placed a cylindrical entrance tower. Above the door stands a statue of the ‘Waterloo Saltoun’ (1785–1853), presented after his death by his nephew, the 17th Lord Saltoun, and unveiled in 1859. Far grander than its predecessor, and sophisticated Italianate in appearance, the Town-house had a rear wing offering a covered market on the ground floor and a meeting room above.
Information from ‘The Scottish Burgh Survey, Historic Fraserburgh: Archaeology and Development’, (2010).
