THE OLD TOWN HOUSE

Three bays wide and three storeys high, the Old Town House stands like a simple cube of silvery granite ashlar, topped by a plain pediment, hip roof and octagonal belfry. On the ground floor is a flagstone entrance passage and two small prison cells. The staircase has its original timber balustrade. There are meeting rooms with plain plastered interiors on the two upper floors, each occupying the full width of the building.

Relatively few Scottish Town Houses are built in this style. Some were built in the sixteenth century but the majority are nineteenth century. Their hallmark is normally a tower or steeple of exaggerated proportions, surmounting a relatively small and boxy house. This fashion derived from the low countries. Because Aberdeenshire granite is an obdurate stone to work without power tools, early local builders developed a fine sense of proportion to compensate for the lack of ornament.

In both size and materials, the Old Town House suits its location, making a discreet and dignified statement of civic authority. Its unpretentious but classical simplicity produces an unusually satisfying building. It contrasts with the jumbled variety of ancient adjacent houses: artisans' cottages, solid burghers' houses and magnificent professorial manses.