IN 1698, the wealthy gentleman Robert Fall, who had served the Earls of Haddington in Fife and the Borders, took up residence in Dunbar with his wife, daughters and four sons.

He is recorded to have acquired land at the ‘Lowsie Law’ just by Dunbar Harbour and might well have had a dwelling-house constructed there.

His three sons, William, James and Robert Jr, all settled down in the High Street, purchasing some derelict buildings, pulling them down and constructing larger and more salubrious houses for themselves.

One of these houses is today home to the Shapla Tandoori restaurant, another stood just to the north of John Muir’s Birthplace and was later the Lorne Temperance Hotel for a while, and a third is today incorporated in the mansion of the Earl of Lauderdale.

The third son, Charles Fall, had bigger ideas: he had a fine mansion constructed on Lowsie Law, with bay windows overlooking the Broadhaven.

The date of this ambitious building enterprise has not been recorded: a writer in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland of 1968, quoting Chalmers’s Caledonia from 1888, has suggested that the custom house district of Dunbar Harbour was constituted in 1710.

He later undermines this argument by suggesting, from its architectural features, that what would become the Dunbar Custom House was not older than the last quarter of the 18th century.

But from the research done by Dunbar local historian Mr David Anderson, it would be more reasonable to suggest that Charles Fall’s house was constructed in the 1710s or 1720s, and that the housing development that would one day become Custom House Square was built not long after.

Until the 1870s, the houses adjacent to Dunbar Harbour were referred to as ‘The Shore’, a system that must have been trying for the postman, although there were, of course, much fewer houses there in Victorian times.

On Wood’s 1830 map of Dunbar, the square of houses that would become Custom House Square is marked ‘Mr Weatherley’, whereas the slightly larger square of houses to the west of it is marked ‘Geo. Dunlop Esq.’.

The 1883 Valuation Rolls are the first ones making use of the name ‘Custom House Square’: the property was owned by the Broxburn tile maker Alexander Brodie and not fewer than 19 tenant families lived there.

At the time of the 1888 Valuation Rolls, Mr Brodie was still the proprietor of Custom House Square, which was now home to 10 families, mostly fisher folk.

An early mention of Custom House Square is from The Scotsman of March 21, 1877, saying that the property known as ‘Custom-House Square’ in Dunbar, “occupied by the Coastguard and other tenants, annual rental £75 15s” was for sale by private bargain.

In 1898, David Powrie of 18 Custom House Square, Dunbar, won first prize in a Carnoustie pigeon exhibition.

Eight years later, David’s wife Catherine died at the same address, aged just 56.

In 1905, a large portion of the roof on a house in Custom House Square fell down; its number was not given by The Berwickshire News but it was noted that this was “one of the oldest houses in Dunbar”.

In 1913, Andrew Thomson of 12 Custom House Square rescued a woman from drowning in Dunbar Harbour, at serious risk to his own life, and was awarded £10 and a honorary certificate.

In 1929, five-year-old Mary Smith of Custom House Square was herself rescued from drowning in the harbour.

In 1939, Mr Fairbairn of 15 Custom House Square sub-let a room and a kitchen, hardly the most commodious of accommodation, but “close to sea” as he was sure to point out.

The final newspaper notice of the activities of the residents of the old square came in 1946, when William Radford, of 15 Custom House Square, received a Royal Humane Society certificate for bravery after rescuing his sister from drowning in the Old Harbour.

The Dunbar Custom House would stand for many years, albeit becoming increasingly derelict, due to being poorly maintained.

A newspaper cutting from Christmas Eve 1948 notes that “ground in Victoria Street, adjacent to the old Custom House, has been cleared of property which is believed to be centuries-old. The clearance has exposed to view the old Custom House, which has some attractive architectural features. It is hoped that, in the future, buildings in keeping with the historical tradition of the burgh will be erected in the vicinity.”

Custom House Square also survived the Second World War with flying colours.

It was still considered one of the quaint corners of old Dunbar, surviving while other ancient dwellings of the fisher folk were flattened.

A press cutting from the Berwickshire News of November 1948 says that: “The house occupied by 72-year-old Mrs J. Smith, Customs House Square, Dunbar, is something of an oasis in a demolition job in the harbour area of the town.

“For the past fortnight, workmen have been engaged in pulling down old and derelict property in the district, and Mrs Smith’s house, which lies only a few yards away from the scene of operations, is one of the few to escape.

“The historic old Customs House will also survive intact.

“Mrs Smith told the ‘News’ that she was born in the house, married from it, and intended to live in it for many years to come.

“She has had an assurance that the Town Council would not interfere with it.”

And indeed, genealogical records show up that Jane Fairbairn was born at ‘the Shore’ in 1878 and that she married the fisherman John Smith to live at Custom House Square for some considerable period of time.

But just a few years later, the Town Council developers changed their minds.

Although some people argued that the Custom House possessed superior architectural merit, it was demolished in 1954.

At about the same time, the council operation to flatten Custom House Square was begun.

For about five years’ time, Mr Gordon Easingwood assures me, one house after another in the old square was demolished, the remainder being used as fishermen’s stores for a while. In around 1959, the demolition operation was complete and only a pile of rubble remained of old Custom House Square.

Poor Jane Smith was made homeless by the council officials, since she is recorded to have died at 18 Castle Street in 1957.

The ground was derelict for some period of time, with the rubble from the original houses lying about on the site, but in the early 1970s a developer started work on a novel Custom House Square.

Whereas the original square had been separated from the Granary next door by a narrow alley, the new development was linked with the Granary building, which was also restored and subdivided into flats.

Whatever you think of the architectural merit, or perhaps rather lack of it, of the new Custom House Square, it could not have had a better position for those wanting open sea views and good access to freshly caught fish from the boats in the harbour.