Hebron Hall

 NS 9985 8155

1910: The trustees of the “Christian Brethren” (Plymouth Brethren) leased a dwelling house from John Stanners on the west side of School Yard Brae for a period of 21 years and in 1910 acquired it from the Town Council.  They erected the Hebron Hall which opened in September 1910.  The hall appears to have used the stone lower floor as a foundation for the new brick first floor with dividing buttresses.  The caretaker’s house of two rooms and a kitchen occupied the north end of the lower floor.  The main hall on the first floor was 66ft long and 25ft wide and was seated for 400.  It was lit from the sides by 14 windows of tinted glass.  At the north end was a raised platform, 12ft by 7ft, under which a font was placed.  The ceiling was barrel-shaped and divided into panels by moulded ribs.  The walls from the frieze moulding to the top of the lined dado were plastered and painted in pale colours.  The entrance hall lay on the south or uphill side and gave access to the rectangular meeting hall.  There was a lavatory and cloakroom at the entrance.  School Brae steeply descends towards the town centre and so the building is terraced into the hill.   When opened it was heated by hot water and lit by electricity.  The builders were Baikie and Sellars.

1970s: New hall erected in Boundary Street.

1985: Building sold to the Baptist Church.

2007: Building on School Brae converted to housing.

G.B. Bailey (2019)