[1] The first municipal building in West Wemyss was a medieval tolbooth which was completed around the time that the village became a burgh of barony in 1525.

A masonry break suggests that some of the fabric of the lower levels of the original building were incorporated into the new structure.

The tower was surmounted by a pyramid-shaped roof and a weather vane in the shape of a swan, recalling the crest of the Wemyss family.

[4] The left-hand bay incorporated a forestair, with a wrought iron railing, which led up to a doorway on the first floor of the eastern elevation of the tower.

[2][6] The courtroom was typically used by the Earl of Wemyss, as lord of the manor, for baronial court hearings.