Dalkeith Tolbooth presents a neat classical ashlar facade to the High Street on which it is situated. This two-storey seven-bay building is dated 1648 although what we see today is the result of a reconstruction in the early-18th century. Construction was instigated by the Duke of Buccleuch, whose Scott family arms are displayed on the facade. The building included a court-room on the upper floor, where justice was dispensed, prison cells in the basement, and on the ground floor was the weigh-room, a base for excisemen who collected taxes on market day. In front of the entrance are gibbet stones, which formed the base for a gallows, and one of the last public hangings in Scotland took place here in 1827, when William Thomson was executed for highway robbery. The Tolbooth ceased use as a jail in 1841 but was used as a meeting place by Dalkeith Scientific Association (1835 - 1929) and later a Baptist Church. In 1966, the building was gifted to St. Mary's Episcopal Church (located nearby within the Dalkeith Estate) who refurbished it as a church-hall. The building was restored in 2012, replacing poor-quality cement repairs to the facade.
