Tolbooth, Main Street, Clackmannan

The building was commissioned by the sheriff of Clackmannan, Sir William Menteith, who had previously been required to hold court hearings in the open air and to keep prisoners in his own house. The erection of the tolbooth was authorised by Act of Parliament, and the site he selected was at the west end of Main Street adjacent to the ancient mercat cross. The tolbooth was designed in the Scottish medieval style, built in rubble masonry and completed in 1592. The original design involved a rectangular main block facing onto Main Street with stepped gables at either end. The building served as the county courthouse for Clackmannanshire and, although very dilapidated by the early 19th…