Lerwick Town Hall is a municipal building located on Hillhead in

Lerwick Lerwick (; non, Leirvik; nrn, Larvik) is the main town and port of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland. Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick had a population of about 7,000 residents in 2010. Centred off the north coast of the Scottish mainland ...

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

, Scotland. It is used as an events venue and registrar's office. The building, which was also the meeting place of Shetland Islands Council until 2022, is a Category A

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

For much of the 19th century meetings of the local council were held in the Parish Kirk in Queens Lane. After a period of rapid population expansion in Lerwick associated with the growth in the

herring Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae. Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, i ...

industry, civic leaders decided to procure a purpose-built town hall: a site on the north Hillhead was selected. The foundation stone for the new building was laid by Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh on a visit to the isles on 24 January 1882. That same evening Lerwick saw the first ever Up Helly Aa torchlight procession. The new building was designed by architect, Alexander Ross from

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 ...

, 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 ...

and builder John M. Aitken of Lerwick won the tender competition with a price of £3,240. The building was officially opened by

George Thoms George Ronald Thoms (22 March 1927 – 29 August 2003) was an Australian cricketer who played in one Test match in 1952. He played 18 first-class matches for Victoria, one in 1946, and then more regularly from 1951–52 to 1953–54. Born i ...

Sheriff of Caithness, Orkney and Shetland Caithness ( gd, Gallaibh ; sco, Caitnes; non, Katanes) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Caithness has a land boundary with the historic county of Sutherland to the west and is otherwise bounded by ...

, on 30 July 1883. The design involved a symmetrical frontage with five bays facing on Hillhead; the central section featured an arched doorway on the ground floor; there was an

oriel window An oriel window is a form of bay window which protrudes from the main wall of a building but does not reach to the ground. Supported by corbels, bracket (architecture), brackets, or similar cantilevers, an oriel window is most commonly found pro ...

on the first floor with a

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

bearing 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 ...

above and there were

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 at the corners of the building. There was a battlemented tower on the east side and a

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 ...

on the north side. Internally, the principal rooms were a council chamber and a courtroom; there were also police cells in the building. Stained glass windows, designed by James Ballantine & Son, were subsequently installed in the building: these included a depiction of the marriage between Margaret of Denmark and

James III of Scotland 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, King James II, at the siege of Roxburgh Ca ...

in 1469. There were also windows presented by the Corporation of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

and the Corporation of

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. Panels with the coats of arms of

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

, which had been presented by the respective corporations, were installed in a corridor. A clock, designed and manufactured by

Potts of Leeds Potts of Leeds was a major British manufacturer of public clocks, based in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. History William Potts was born in December 1809 and was apprenticed to Samuel Thompson, a Darlington clockmaker. In 1833, at the age of 24, ...

, was installed in the tower in 1887. The town hall was the headquarters of Lerwick Town Council until 1975, when it passed to the Shetland Islands Council on local government reorganisation. The council moved its main offices to a modern building at 8 North Ness in 2012. The local registrar's office moved from the County Buildings to Lerwick Town Hall in February 2015. The town hall continued to be used for council meetings until 2022 when a new council chamber was created in the former St Ringan's Church on Lower Hillhead. The front steps of the town hall, which had badly decayed, were replaced in spring 2008. Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay visited the town hall and reviewed the conservation work being undertaken in July 2021. Works of art in the town hall include a portrait of

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 ...

Leonard Boden Leonard Monro Boden (31 May 1911 – 15 November 1999) was a British portrait painter. Biography Boden was born in Greenock, in Inverclyde, Scotland, in 1911. He was educated at Malsis School in North Yorkshire before attending Sedbergh School i ...

and a portrait of Charles Rampini,

Sheriff of Dumfries and Galloway The Sheriff of Dumfries and Galloway, was historically the royal official responsible for enforcing law and order in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Prior to 1748 most sheriffdoms were held on a hereditary basis. From that date, following the J ...

, by

John Henry Lorimer John Henry Lorimer (12 August 1856 – 4 November 1936) was a Scottish painter who worked on portraits and genre scenes of everyday life. Life Lorimer was born in Edinburgh, the son of James Lorimer, who was Regius Professor of Public Law ...

Services

The town hall is used for functions such as marriages, wedding receptions, concerts, coffee mornings and evening events.

References

{{reflist Government buildings completed in 1883 Category A listed buildings in Shetland Lerwick City chambers and town halls in Scotland 1883 establishments in Scotland Listed government buildings in Scotland Politics of Shetland Scottish baronial architecture

History

Services

See also

References