Kirkwall Town Hall is a municipal building in Broad Street,

Kirkwall Kirkwall ( sco, Kirkwaa, gd, Bàgh na h-Eaglaise, nrn, Kirkavå) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. The name Kirkwall comes from the Norse name (''Church Bay''), which later changed to ''Kirkv ...

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

, Scotland. The structure, which is currently used as a community events venue, is a Category B listed building.

History

The first municipal building in Kirkwall was the old town hall in the grounds of the

St Magnus Cathedral St Magnus Cathedral dominates the skyline of Kirkwall, the main town of Orkney, a group of islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland. It is the most northerly cathedral in the United Kingdom, a fine example of Romanesque architecture built ...

which was erected with a grant from

James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton, KT, PRS (1702 – 12 October 1768) was a Scottish astronomer and representative peer who was president of the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh from its foundation in 1737 until his death. He also became ...

in 1745. The walls were built with stones from

Kirkwall Castle Kirkwall Castle, also known as King's Castle, was located in Kirkwall, the main settlement in the Orkney Islands of Scotland. Built in the 14th century, it was deliberately destroyed in 1614. The last ruins were cleared in the 19th century. The cas ...

and the roof was constructed with slate from the Bishop's Palace. The building accommodated the burgh council offices as well as the county offices and courtroom. However, by the early 1880s, the building was very dilapidated, and the burgh council acquired a site on the west side of Broad Street which was occupied by the Commercial Hotel. The foundation stone for the new building was laid by Walter Erskine, 13th Earl of Kellie on 20 August 1884. It was designed by a local architect, Thomas Smith Peace, in the

Scottish baronial style Scottish baronial or Scots baronial is an architectural style of 19th century Gothic Revival which revived the forms and ornaments of historical architecture of Scotland in the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. Reminiscent of Scot ...

, built in coursed

rubble masonry Rubble stone is rough, uneven building stone not laid in regular courses. It may fill the core of a wall which is faced with unit masonry such as brick or ashlar. Analogously, some medieval cathedral walls are outer shells of ashlar with an inn ...

and was completed in 1886. The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage of five bays facing onto Broad Street. The second bay on the left, which was slightly projected forward, featured a doorway in the form of an

aedicula In ancient Roman religion, an ''aedicula'' (plural ''aediculae'') is a small shrine, and in classical architecture refers to a niche covered by a pediment or entablature supported by a pair of columns and typically framing a statue,"aedicula, n." ...

flanked by fluted columns supporting two statues and an entablature inscribed with the words "Town Hall" and the year, "1884". Above the entablature there was a

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

. There was a tri-partite window surmounted by a blank shield on the first floor, a single window on the second floor and a small round headed window in the

stepped gable A stepped gable, crow-stepped gable, or corbie step is a stairstep type of design at the top of the triangular gable-end of a building. The top of the parapet wall projects above the roofline and the top of the brick or stone wall is stacked in a ...

above. The bay was flanked by full-height

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s supporting

bartizan A bartizan (an alteration of ''bratticing''), also called a guerite, ''garita'', or ''échauguette'', or spelled bartisan, is an overhanging, wall-mounted turret projecting from the walls of late medieval and early-modern fortifications from the ...

s. The left-hand bay was fenestrated by bi-partite windows on the ground, first and second floors and by a

dormer A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable space ...

window at attic level, while the right-hand-bays were fenestrated by single windows on the ground floor, by bi-partite windows on the first floor and by single windows on the second floor; the right-hand bays were surmounted by a small

corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...

ed and

castellated 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 ...

tower. Internally, the principal room was the main assembly hall on the first floor: it featured a tri-partite stained glass window, made by

Ballantine and Gardiner Ballantine and Gardiner was a Scottish manufacturer of stained-glass windows, one of several names the company worked under.Henry Sinclair, Earl of Orkney Henry I Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, Lord of Roslin () was a Scottish nobility, Scottish and a Norwegian nobility, Norwegian nobleman. Sinclair held the title Earl of Orkney (which refers to Norðreyjar rather than just the islands of Orkney) and w ...

King James III James III (10 July 1451/May 1452 – 11 June 1488) was King of Scots from 1460 until his death at the Battle of Sauchieburn in 1488. He inherited the throne as a child following the death of his father, James II of Scotland, King James II, at th ...

and King Haakon IV of Norway. The Scottish suffragist,

Mary Anne Baikie Mary Anne Baikie (1861–1950) was a Scottish suffragist who established the Orcadian Women's Suffrage Society (OWSS) and grew the membership and public interest in the debate, in the Orkney Isles, during the campaigns for Votes for Women. ...

, who established the

Orcadian Women's Suffrage Society The Orcadian Women's Suffrage Association was an organisation involved in campaigning for women’s suffrage, based in Orkney, Scotland. Formation The first meeting of the society was held in the house of James and Bina Cursiter on September ...

, chaired the meeting at which the formation of the society was proposed in the town hall on 25 October 1909. 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 ...

the Mission to Seafarers The Mission to Seafarers (formerly The Missions to Seamen) is a Christian welfare charity serving merchant crews around the world. It operates through a global Mission 'family' network of chaplains, staff and volunteers and provides practical, em ...

operated a rest centre and canteen there and, in May 1942, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the building hosted fund-raising events for

Warship Week Warship Weeks were British National savings campaigns during the Second World War, with the aim of a Royal Navy warship being adopted by a civil community. During the early parts of the war, the Royal Navy not only had lost many capital ships but ...

. The Leader of the Liberal Party,

Sir Archibald Sinclair Archibald Henry Macdonald Sinclair, 1st Viscount Thurso, (22 October 1890 – 15 June 1970), known as Sir Archibald Sinclair between 1912 and 1952, and often as Archie Sinclair, was a British politician and leader of the Liberal Party. Backgr ...

, spoke to a large audience in the town hall during the

1945 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1945. Africa * 1945 South-West African legislative election Asia * 1945 Indian general election Australia * 1945 Fremantle by-election Europe * 1945 Albanian parliamentary election * 1945 Bulgaria ...

. The building continued to serve as the meeting place of the burgh council for much of the 20th century but ceased to be the local seat of government when the

Orkney Islands Council The Orkney Islands Council ( gd, Comhairle Eileanan Arcaibh), is the local authority for Orkney, Scotland. It was established in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and was largely unaffected by the Scottish local government changes o ...

was formed at the council offices in School Place in 1975. The ground floor was subsequently converted for use as a café, while the assembly room on the first floor continued to be used as a community events venue. In 1991, the public inquiry into the Orkney child abuse scandal was held under the chairmanship of Lord Clyde in the town hall: the inquiry found that the allegations were entirely false. The

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

and

Duchess of Rothesay Duke of Rothesay ( ; gd, Diùc Baile Bhòid; sco, Duik o Rothesay) is a dynastic title of the heir apparent to the British throne, currently William, Prince of Wales. William's wife Catherine, Princess of Wales, is the current Duchess of Ro ...

attended a reception in the town hall to meet owners of businesses supported by

The Prince's Scottish Youth Business Trust Youth Business Scotland is a programme provided by The Prince's Trust Scotland. It funds and supports young people to startup and grow a business. It provides advice and financial support for young people between 18 and 30 who would like to start ...

in June 2009, and

Crown Prince Haakon Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway (; Haakon Magnus; born 20 July 1973) is the heir apparent to the Norwegian throne. He is the only son of King Harald V and Queen Sonja. Haakon represents the fourth generation of the sitting Norwegian royal famil ...

and

Crown Princess Mette-Marit Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway (born Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby, , on 19 August 1973) is the wife of Crown Prince Haakon. Haakon is the heir apparent to the throne, which means that should he ascend to the throne, she will automaticall ...

of Norway had lunch with council leaders in the town hall in June 2017. Works of art in the town hall include two paintings by

Stanley Cursiter Stanley Cursiter (29 April 1887 – 22 April 1976) was an Orcadian artist who played an important role in introducing Post-impressionism and Futurism to Scotland. He served as the keeper (1919–1930), then director (1930–1948), of the Nati ...

, one of which depicts

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

, accompanied by the

Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the city of Edinburgh in Scotland, was a substantive title that has been created three times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not produc ...

, visiting St Magnus Cathedral on 12 August 1960, and the other one depicts a view of Kirkwall from the Peedie Sea.

References

{{reflist Government buildings completed in 1886 City chambers and town halls in Scotland Category B listed buildings in Orkney Kirkwall

History

See also

References