Kirkintilloch, 13, 15 Alexandra Street, Roman Fort Masonic Lodge

The Barony Chambers, also known as the Town-house and the Steeple (NS 6528 7399, Category B-listed, figs 21 & 29.11), were opened in 1815. Built on the site of the old tolbooth, at the junction of High Street and Cowgate, it had three separate apartments: the ground floor had a court hall and two small prison cells, the first floor contained a council room, and the upper floor a school, known as the ‘steeple school’. From an early date the steeple housed a bell and a clock, which have been repaired and replaced on a number of occasions. The steeple bell is now in the Auld Kirk Museum. By 1860 the whole building was in need of extensive repairs. The Barony Chambers were replaced by the opening of the Town Hall (Category B-listed) on Union Street (fig 29.31) in September 1906. There had been no real Town Hall in the nineteenth century. The Black Bull Inn (fig 29.14), on High Street, had been the principal hall in the town, a mantle which was transferred to the Temperance Hall in Alexandra Street (fig 29.32), built in 1872, although it was also inadequate.

Information from ‘The Scottish Burgh Survey, Historic Kilsyth: Archaeology and Development’ (2009).

Headland Archaeology (UK) Ltd was commissioned by DTA Chartered

Architects Ltd to assess the impact that proposed development of land

adjacent to the Forth and Clyde Canal at Southbank Road, Kirkintilloch, may

have on the heritage resource both within and in proximity to the

development area. The proposed scheme consists of the construction of

housing fronting Southbank Road with landscaping of the towpath and

embankment areas lying between this housing and the canal (Figure 1). The

proposed development area, hereafter referred to as the Site, is just under

0.6ha in extent and centred on NGR 265440 673700.

Headland Archaeology March 2012