The Old Tolbooth was a medieval building located on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Demolished in 1817, the Tolbooth served various purposes during its existence. It housed early meetings of the Estates of Scotland, Court of Session, and also of the Provost and Burgesses of the Burgh Council. Furthermore it was employed as the Burgh's main gaol, and was one of the more popular places of public execution and torture for criminals and enemies of the state alike.
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The Tolbooth was situated in Parliament Close (present-day West Parliament Square) by the west door of St. Giles Cathedral where its footprint is now outlined out by brass markers on the setts of the Square. The pattern of setts known as the Heart of Midlothian marks the entrance to the building.
Originally the revenues of the burgh were granted to the monks of Holyrood, but by the 14th century trade in the burgh was flourishing to the extent that Robert II signed a charter granting the burgesses the right to a construct a 'belhous' in what is now Parliament Square. This was in order to organise collections of revenues on goods sold in the market there, and to collect taxes for the crown.
Various parliaments of the realm were held at the Tolbooth, and it is referred to as the "Pretorium Burgi". The first use of the term Tolbooth rather than Belhous or Pretorium Burgi was in an act of parliament in 1451, during the reign of James II. The building itself was not completed until 1466. There is evidence to suggest that even then this was not a wholly new building, and incorporated the earlier "house of the Provost of St Giles" (i.e. the manse of St Giles). This explains its otherwise peculiar siting in relation to the church.
By the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots, the building was in a perilous state, and she ordered (on 2 February 1561) its demolition and rebuilding. Much of the new function transposed to a new building on the south-west corner of St Giles Cathedral. The old building was partly rebuilt, but one half remained in its 1466 form. The brand new building served better to accommodate the queen's Lords of Session and the Burgesses. From 1560 the older building was used almost exclusively as a gaol.
In 1571 "the tour of the auld Tolbuyth was tane doun", that is to say, the tower of the old Tolbooth was taken down. The "new tolbooth" to the south was removed in 1632, being outlasted by the old Tolbooth.
Following the removal of the Parliament of Scotland to the new Parliament House in 1639, the Tolbooth remained in use by the Burgh council until 1811, when they moved across the street to occupy the Royal Exchange building, which had been built by Robert Adam in 1753.
The original Tolbooth continued as a prison and place of execution until it was finally demolished in 1817.
From its construction, the Tolbooth was used as a place of incarceration, judicial torture and execution. A permanent platform was raised on its west facade, so that the Edinburgh mob could view beheadings and hangings of malefactors.
The platform was also the location of the Maiden, the early guillotine, introduced by Regent Morton, who was eventually beheaded by it himself in 1581.
The exterior of the building had Jougs attached and there were spikes to hold body parts of those convicted of capital or treasonable offences, such as the head of Regent Morton and that of the Great Montrose.
During the North Berwick witch trials, some of the accused were tortured in the building by use of the Boot, Pilliwinks etc.
The heads of executed persons were often notoriously displayed for long periods after the execution. Heads were placed on "the prick of the highest stone": a spike on the northern gable facing the Royal Mile. The Regent Morton's head was affixed here, from 1581, for 18 months. The head of Montrose was on view from 1650 to 1660, until replaced by the Marquis of Argyll's head in 1660.
The Tolbooth features heavily in the 1818 work The Heart of Midlothian, by Sir Walter Scott, published the year after the demolition of the building. Scott obtained the entrance doorway to the gaol and incorporated it into his new mansion of Abbotsford House.
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| Preceded by Church of the Friars Preachers of Blessed Virgin and Saint Dominic |
Home of the Parliament of Scotland 1438–1563 |
Succeeded by St Giles' Cathedral |