The Highland Council Headquarters, formerly County Buildings, is a municipal structure in Glenurquhart Road,

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

, Scotland. The oldest part of the complex, which currently serves as the headquarters of

The Highland Council The Highland Council (' ), the political body covering the Highland local authority created in 1995, comprises 21 wards, each electing three or four councillors by the single transferable vote system, which creates a form of proportional represe ...

, is a Category C

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

The oldest part of the current structure is the main frontage on Ardross Road which was commissioned by the Northern Counties Collegiate School, an educational establishment which was founded with strong connections with the Army and India in 1873. It was designed by Alexander Ross in the

Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

, built in coursed stone and was completed in 1876. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of eleven bays facing onto Ardross Street with the end bays slightly projected forward as

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

s. The central bay, which also slightly projected forward, featured an arched

pend In Scotland, a Pend is a passageway through a building, often from a street through to a courtyard or 'back court', and may be for both vehicles and pedestrian access or exclusively pedestrians. The term "common pend" can often be found in descr ...

on the ground floor, a bi-partite cusped window flanked by two single cusped windows on the first floor, and a

battlement A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

above. The wings were fenestrated by bi-partite plain windows on the ground floor and bi-partite cusped windows on the first floor. The end bays were fenestrated by tri-partite plain windows on the ground floor and quadri-partite cusped windows on the first floor with gables containing

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' w ...

s above. The building was extended by two bays along Glenurquhart Road to a design by the same architect in 1885. It was requisitioned for use by the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After the war, it was acquired by the County Education Authority and converted for use as the Inverness Royal Academy War Memorial Hostel. After the hostel moved to Culduthel Road in Inverness in the early 1930s, Inverness-shire County Council progressively moved its departments from

Inverness Castle Inverness Castle ( gd, Caisteal Inbhir Nis) sits on a cliff overlooking the River Ness in Inverness, Scotland. A succession of castles have stood on this site since 1057, although the present structure dates from 1836. The present structure is ...

into the building and renamed it "County Buildings". The complex was extended further along Glenurquhart Road with a modern structure built of brick and glass which was completed in 1963. A bespoke building, intended to accommodate the council chamber, was erected at the west end of the complex. After the abolition of Inverness-shire County Council in 1975, the building became the headquarters of

Highland Regional Council Highland ( gd, A' Ghàidhealtachd, ; sco, Hieland) is a council areas of Scotland, council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in the United Kingdom. It was the 7th most populous council area in Scotland at ...

and following the introduction of

unitary authorities A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governme ...

in 1995, it became the headquarters of

. A

Pictish stone A Pictish stone is a type of monumental stele, generally carved or incised with symbols or designs. A few have ogham inscriptions. Located in Scotland, mostly north of the Clyde-Forth line and on the Eastern side of the country, these stones are ...

carved between 700 and 800 AD and found at Knocknagel, some south of Inverness, which became known as the "Knocknagael Boar Stone" because it depicted a boar, was recovered and placed behind glass within the complex in 1991. Works of art in the building include a portrait by Charles Martin Hardie of Captain Abraham Howling, Master of

Trinity House "Three In One" , formation = , founding_location = Deptford, London, England , status = Royal Charter corporation and registered charity , purpose = Maintenance of lighthouses, buoys and beacons , he ...

References

External links

*{{commonscat-inline Government buildings completed in 1876 County halls in Scotland Category C listed buildings in Highland (council area) Buildings and structures in Inverness

History

See also

References

External links