Portobello Police Station, also known as the Old Town Hall, is a former municipal building on Portobello High Street in Portobello, Scotland. The building, which was previously the meeting place of the burgh council but now serves as a police station, is a Category B listed building.[1]
| Portobello Police Station | |
|---|---|
 The building in 2010 | |
| Location | Portobello High Street, Portobello |
| Coordinates | 55°57′14″N 3°06′55″W / 55.9538°N 3.1153°W |
| Built | 1878 |
| Architect | Robert Paterson |
| Architectural style(s) | Scottish baronial style |
Listed Building – Category B | |
| Official name | 118 Portobello High Street, Police Station |
| Designated | 4 September 1995 |
| Reference no. | LB27463 |
  Shown in Edinburgh | |
History
editFollowing significant population growth, largely associated with the status of Portobello as a seaside resort, the area became a burgh in 1833.[2] The burgh commissioners initially met at No. 1 Brighton Place and then rented various rooms in different buildings before moving to Rosefield House in Adelphi Place in 1852.[2] After finding this arrangement unsatisfactory, the burgh leaders decided to procure a purpose-built building: the first permanent municipal building, which was designed by David Bryce and erected at 189 Portobello High Street, was completed in May 1863.[3][a]
The burgh leaders believed that the first building was not what they had specified, a dispute ensued, and it was not long before another building was being procured. The site they selected was at 118 Portobello High Street. The foundation stone was laid by the provost, Thomas Wood, in 1877. It was designed by Robert Paterson in the Scottish baronial style, built in rubble masonry at a cost of £5,000, and was completed in autumn 1878.[3] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of three bays facing onto Portobello High Street. The central bay featured a three-stage tower with an arched opening flanked by columns supporting a moulded surround in the first stage, an oriel window surmounted by brattishing in the second stage and clock faces in the third stage, all surmounted by a pyramid-shaped roof with louvres on the sides and bartizans at the corners. The outer bays were fenestrated by tri-partite windows on the ground floor and by mullioned and transomed windows on the first floor with stepped gables above. Internally, the principal room was the burgh meeting room on the first floor which featured a panelled ceiling.[1]
The building ceased to be the local seat of government when the burgh of Portobello was annexed by the City of Edinburgh in 1896.[5][6] It went on to serve as a public library[7] but, by the late 1950s, the building was considered unfit for purpose and was criticized for being dirty, dark and overcrowded.[8] The library service relocated to a modern building in Rosefield Place in October 1963.[9]
The building was then converted for use as the Portobello Police Station: when Caroline Hogg went missing in 1983, it was Portobello Police Station that Caroline's mother called to report that her daughter was missing. Robert Black was subsequently arrested, tried and found guilty of her murder.[10] It ceased to perform that role after operational police offices were withdrawn from the station October 2016. Police Scotland confirmed that it would market the building for sale in August 2024.[11][12][13]
See also
editNotes
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Historic Environment Scotland. "118 Portobello High Street, Police Station (Category B Listed Building) (LB27463)". Retrieved 6 September 2024.
- ^ a b Baird, George (1 October 2001). "Places of Entertainment in Edinburgh: Portobello" (PDF). p. 7. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
- ^ a b Baird 2001, p.8
- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "183-193 (odd numbers) Portobello High Street (including Baptist Church) (LB27405)". Retrieved 17 September 2021.
- ^ Baird 2001, p.9
- ^ "Edinburgh City". Scotland's People. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
- ^ "Portobello High Street, Edinburgh. The building with the clock had been is the Old Town Hall which in 1953 was a public library. Today it is Portobello Police Station". National World. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
- ^ "Portobello Library: long service - and spacious days ahead". Edinburgh Evening News. 16 March 1963.
- ^ "Portobello's new library opens". Edinburgh Evening Dispatch. 12 October 1963.
- ^ Wilson, David (2007). Serial Killers Hunting Britons and Their Victims, 1960 to 2006. Waterside Press. p. 159. ISBN 9781906534417.
- ^ "Edinburgh police station to close amid 'significant running and repair costs'". Edinburgh Live. 20 August 2024. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
- ^ "Edinburgh police station to close for good with Portobello building to be put up for sale". Edinburgh News. 21 August 2024. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
- ^ "'They are closing our police station in Edinburgh and we don't think it's right'". Edinburgh Live. 25 August 2024. Retrieved 6 September 2024.