Old Town Hall, Portsoy
The Old Town Hall is a municipal building on the north side of The Square in Portsoy, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The structure, which is used for religious gatherings, is a Category C listed building.[1]
| Old Town Hall | |
|---|---|
.jpg.webp) Old Town Hall | |
| Location | The Square, Portsoy |
| Coordinates | 57.6834°N 2.6919°W |
| Built | 1798 |
| Architectural style(s) | Neoclassical style |
Listed Building – Category C(S) | |
| Official name | The Square, The Hall |
| Designated | 22 February 1972 |
| Reference no. | LB40311 |
  Shown in Aberdeenshire  Old Town Hall, Portsoy (Scotland) | |
History
The building was commissioned as an events venue in the late 18th century.[2] It was designed in the neoclassical style, built in brick with a harled finish and was completed in 1798.[1] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto The Square. The central bay, which projected forward, featured a sash window with a pediment, and a date stone in the centre of the gable above, which was itself surmounted by a chimney. The bays on either side of the central bay were fenestrated with plain sash windows while the outer bays contained doorways with architraves and square-shaped fanlights. The sash windows and fanlights all featured a distinctive bordered glazing pattern.[1]
The building, which was remodelled in 1892,[3] was used for recruitment meetings at the start of the First World War[4] and then briefly served as a drill station for the local platoon from A company of the 6th (Banff and Donside) Battalion, The Gordon Highlanders, before the battalion was deployed for service to the Western Front in November 1914.[5][6][7] After the war, the burgh council established itself in a new hall in Seafield Street which had been built as a church and completed in 1875.[8][9]
Following its own recruitment campaign, the local branch the Salvation Army acquired the building in The Square in 1923.[10] The Salvation Army enjoyed a revival of its activities in 1949 but, after its numbers dwindled, the hall closed in 1990.[11] The building was subsequently used by the local branch of the Jehovah's Witnesses and was designated the local Kingdom Hall.[12] In 2015, the building was transferred to the management of a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) known as the "Portsoy Community Church", which leased the former Salvation Army Hall from Aberdeenshire Council.[13] Organisations which subsequently chose to use the building included the local branch of the Destiny Church, which is a Pentecostal Charismatic Christianity group served by a local pastor.[14]
References
- Historic Environment Scotland. "The Square, The Hall (LB40311)". Retrieved 1 July 2022.
- "Town Hall". Aberdeenshire Council. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
- McKean, Charles (1990). Banff & Buchan: An Illustrated Architectural Guide. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publications Ltd. p. 42. ISBN 978-1851582310.
- "Portsoy in 1914" (PDF). The North East Folklore Archive. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
- "6th (Banff and Donside) Battalion, The Gordon Highlanders". Wartime Memories Project. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
- "Portsoy Soldiers at the Western Front" (PDF). The North East Folklore Archive. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
- "Gordon Highlanders". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
- O'Connor, Susan (2017). "Architecture, power and ritual in Scottish town halls, 1833–1973" (PDF). p. 245. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
- "Portsoy Town Hall". Right Lines. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
- "Salvation Army Hall, Portsoy". 1923. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
- Armistead, David (2017). "The Army of Alba: A History of The Salvation Army in Scotland (1879-2004)" (PDF). The Salvation Army. p. 271.
- Historic Environment Scotland. "Portsoy, The Square, Town Hall (111853)". Canmore. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
- "Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 30 April 2018". Portsoy Community Church: Charity No. SC046193. p. 3. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
- "Aberdeenshire polling places confirmed". Fraserburgh Herald. 6 May 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2022.