The first municipal building in Kinghorn was a small Saxon or Norman church, St Leonard's Chapel, which was converted into a town house and prison in the 16th century. Several Covenanters were incarcerated in the building, which was described as "horrible", during the Killing Time in the early 1680s. It served as the regular meeting place of the burgh council and became known as St Leonard's Tower, but was struck by lightning in the early 19th century and was subsequently demolished.
