Old Town House Toll Booth (Jail) situated at 'The Cross', High Street
(Article published in the Dundee Courier on Thursday 23 October 1997)
Time-travelling Brechin historian Eric Walker has uncovered a fascinating insight into the many previous uses of one of the town centre's ancient buildings. He has dug deep into the history of the town house which has undergone a major refurbishment and he has thrown his weight behind campaigners who want to see at least part of the listed building transformed into a museum charting the town's past.
Mr Walker's research has found that the town house, or old Toll Booth as it was known, was the jail from at least 1537, with the modern building added in 1789.
Recently, it had a £115,000 revamp carried out by Angus Council, aided by a £21,000 contribution from Historic Scotland. That work included general stonework and roof repairs; overhaul of its bell tower, mechanism and clock; window replacement and painting. The council said potential uses for the refurbished building were now being explored.
Historian Mr Walker said the town house hall had been used for many purposes - dances, puppet theatres, exhibitions and men's debating societies. He continued, "At one time, it was the local citadel for the Salvation Army, and the founder of the Army, General William Booth, is listed on the valuation rolls for Brechin in 1929 and 1930 as being the occupier/tenant".
Mr Walker said the ground floor still contained the stone arches of two large cells, the debtors prisons with cells and the police and warders rooms. He has records of prisoners, policeman, warders and families dating from the 1600s to the 1800s. "One offender who had stolen a sheep was sentenced and hanged in Forfar, and another two men were transported to Australia for four years for stealing a cow", he said.
In earlier years the building housed the town piper and drummer, he added. In more recent times - during the first and second world wars - it was used as a billet for troops. Mr Walker said the town house was the heart of Brechin, where proclamations were read out; where the Brechin Volunteer Regiment paraded during the Napoleonic Wars and where the Black Watch soldiers assembled.
History surrounds the area, according to Mr Walker, with Lord Airlie's town house next door now a coffee shop, and 50 yards along Church Street is Lady Ballownie's house. "Here, the Old Pretender, father of Bonnie Prince Charlie, lodged before sailing from Montrose to exile in France", he said.
"The old town house would be an ideal place to portray the history of our ancient city". Mr Walker and others are willing to contribute old photographs and other memorabilia should the museum project ever take off. It would make an ideal attraction, he says, for tourists visiting Brechin to learn more about their roots. He added, "During the past three weeks I have had the pleasure of showing round people from Holland, the US, New Zealand, Australia and other countries, who are desperately interested to find out about where their families lived and worked".