No. 88 High Street (Former Town House), Arbroath

The first municipal building in the town was the tolbooth which was built on the east side of the High Street using stones from Arbroath Abbey in 1686. It was rebuilt, after becoming dilapidated, in 1779. In the early 19th century, in the context of the growing importance of the town as a coastal port, civic leaders decided to procure a town house for the royal burgh on the west side of the High Street. Work started on the new building in 1803. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with three bays facing onto the High Street; the central bay, which slightly projected forward, featured a doorway flanked by brackets supporting a cornice; there was a tri-part round headed window on…