The Tolbooth Museum, Historic prison museum in Aberdeen, Scotland
The Tolbooth Museum is a 17th-century granite stone building displaying authentic prison cells, original barred windows, and historical objects from its time as a municipal jail. The structure combines elements of an early courthouse with preserved cells that show how people were held in confinement.
The building was constructed in the 17th century and served Aberdeen as its main courthouse and detention facility before later becoming a museum. This transformation preserves the memory of its role in local criminal justice across several centuries.
The museum displays execution devices like the Maiden and the Aberdeen guillotine, which show how criminal punishment changed over time in Scottish communities. These objects reflect what people once thought was proper justice in their everyday lives.
The museum is located on Castle Street in central Aberdeen and is easy to reach on foot. Plan to spend a couple of hours exploring the cells and the collection at a comfortable pace.
The museum preserves both execution devices, the older Maiden machine and the guillotine, showing how methods of criminal justice evolved over time. This side-by-side display shows how quickly technology and ideas about punishment changed in society.
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