Old Town Hall, Portsoy
{{short description|Municipal building in Portsoy, Scotland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox historic site
| name = Old Town Hall
| native_name =
| image = The Hall, The Square, Portsoy (geograph 7190878).jpg
| caption = Old Town Hall
| locmapin = Scotland Aberdeenshire#Scotland
| map_caption = Shown in Aberdeenshire
| coordinates = {{coord| 57.6834|-2.6919|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
| location = The Square, Portsoy
| area =
| built = {{start date and age|1798|p=yes}}
| architect =
| architecture = Neoclassical style
| designation1 = Category C Listed Building
| designation1_offname = The Square, The Hall
| designation1_date = 22 February 1972
| designation1_number = LB40311
| website =
}}
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.{{Historic Environment Scotland|num= LB40311|desc= The Square, The Hall |access-date=1 July 2022}}
History
The building was commissioned as an events venue in the late 18th century.{{cite web|url=https://online.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/smrpub/master/detail.aspx?tab=main&refno=NJ56NE0211 |title=Town Hall|publisher=Aberdeenshire Council|access-date=1 July 2022}} It was designed in the neoclassical style, built in brick with a harled finish and was completed in 1798. 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.
The building, which was remodelled in 1892,{{cite book |last1=McKean |first1=Charles |title=Banff & Buchan: An Illustrated Architectural Guide |date=1990 |publisher=Mainstream Publications Ltd. |location=Edinburgh |isbn= 978-1851582310 |page=42}} was used for recruitment meetings at the start of the First World War{{cite web|url=http://www.nefa.net/hvg/ww1_panel1.pdf |title=Portsoy in 1914|publisher=The North East Folklore Archive| access-date=1 July 2022}} 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.{{cite web|url= https://www.wartimememoriesproject.com/greatwar/allied/battalion.php?pid=600 |title=6th (Banff and Donside) Battalion, The Gordon Highlanders|publisher=Wartime Memories Project| access-date=1 July 2022}}{{cite web|url=http://www.nefa.net/hvg/ww1_panel2.pdf |title=Portsoy Soldiers at the Western Front| publisher=The North East Folklore Archive| access-date=1 July 2022}}{{cite web|url=http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-infantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/gordon-highlanders/ |title=Gordon Highlanders|publisher=The Long, Long Trail| access-date=1 July 2022}} 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.{{cite web|url= https://purehost.bath.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/187959940/Thesis.pdf |title= Architecture, power and ritual in Scottish town halls, 1833–1973 |last=O'Connor|first=Susan|page=245|year=2017| access-date=30 June 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://rightlines.net/venue/portsoy-town-hall/ |title=Portsoy Town Hall|publisher=Right Lines| access-date=1 July 2022}}
Following its own recruitment campaign, the local branch the Salvation Army acquired the building in The Square in 1923.{{cite web|url=http://www.bibleteachingprogram.com/floods/14portsoy.htm |title= Salvation Army Hall, Portsoy|year=1923| access-date=1 July 2022}} The Salvation Army enjoyed a revival of its activities in 1949 but, after its numbers dwindled, the hall closed in 1990.{{cite web|url=https://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/sites/default/files/resources/2019-09/The-Army-of-Alba-history.pdf |title= The Army of Alba: A History of The Salvation Army in Scotland (1879-2004)|first= David |last=Armistead |page=271|publisher=The Salvation Army|year=2017}} The building was subsequently used by the local branch of the Jehovah's Witnesses and was designated the local Kingdom Hall.{{canmore|num= 111853|desc= Portsoy, The Square, Town Hall| access-date=1 July 2022}} 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.{{cite web|url= https://www.oscr.org.uk/AccountsDocument/Download/194316 |publisher=Portsoy Community Church: Charity No. SC046193|title=Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 30 April 2018| page=3|access-date=1 July 2022}} 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.{{cite news|url=https://www.fraserburghherald.co.uk/news/people/aberdeenshire-polling-places-confirmed-2037685 |title= Aberdeenshire polling places confirmed|date=6 May 2019|newspaper=Fraserburgh Herald| access-date=1 July 2022}}