Grant Hall, Rothes
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Grant Hall, formerly Rothes Town Hall, is a municipal building in New Street,
Rothes Rothes (; ) is a town in Moray, Scotland, on the banks of the River Spey, south of Elgin, Moray, Elgin. The town had a population of 1,252 at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census. A settlement has been here since AD 600. History and cas ...
,
Moray Moray ( ; or ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Its council is based in Elgin, the area' ...
, Scotland. The structure is currently used as a community events venue.


History

Following significant population growth, largely associated with the local whisky industry, the area became a
police burgh A police burgh was a Scottish burgh which had adopted a "police system" for governing the town. They existed from 1833 to 1975. The 1833 act The first police burghs were created under the Burgh Police (Scotland) Act 1833 ( 3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 46 ...
in 1863. In this context, a group of local businessmen decided to form a company, The Town Hall (Rothes) Limited, to finance and build a town hall for the area: the site they chose was on the west side of New Street. The foundation stone for the new building was laid by Mrs Grant, the wife of Major James Grant, the proprietor of Glen Grant Distillery, on 4 June 1898. The new building was designed by Robert Baillie Pratt of
Elgin Elgin may refer to: Places Canada * Elgin County, Ontario * Elgin Settlement, a 19th-century community for freed slaves located in present-day North Buxton and South Buxton, Ontario * Elgin, a village in Rideau Lakes, Ontario * Elgin, Manit ...
in the
neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...
, built in
rubble masonry Rubble masonry or 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. Some medieval cathedral walls have outer shells of ashlar wi ...
and was completed in 1900. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of three bays facing New Street. The central bay, which slightly projected forward, featured a segmental doorway with a
gablet roof A Dutch gable roof or gablet roof (in United Kingdom, Britain) is a roof with a small gable at the top of a hip roof. The term Dutch gable is also used to mean a gable with parapets. Some sources refer to this as a gable-on-hip roof. A Dutch ga ...
on the ground floor and a bi-partite window on the first floor. The outer bays were fenestrated by round headed windows with
voussoir A voussoir ( UK: ; US: ) is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault.“Voussoir, N., Pronunciation.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, June 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/7553486115. Acces ...
s and keystones on the ground floor and by single windows on the first floor. At roof level, there was a
modillion A modillion is an ornate bracket, more horizontal in shape and less imposing than a corbel. They are often seen underneath a Cornice (architecture), cornice which helps to support them. Modillions are more elaborate than dentils (literally transl ...
ed
cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...
and a balustraded
parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...
which was broken by a central triangular
pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...
with
finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...
s at its apex and on each side of the pediment. There was also a single-storey block on the right-hand side. Internally, the principal room was the main assembly hall which stretched out behind the main frontage. In August 1900, the proprietor of the Seafield Estates,
Caroline Stuart, Countess of Seafield Caroline Stuart, Countess of Seafield (30 June 1830 – 6 October 1911), styled as the Countess Dowager from 1884 to 1911, was a member of the Scotland, Scottish aristocracy. She was ''suo jure'' proprietor of the Seafield estates following the d ...
, opened a bazaar intended to repay the debt of £800 incurred by the company that had commissioned the town hall; she also used the occasion to give a significant additional donation for the poor of the parish. On 16 May 1901, Major Grant used the town hall as a venue to present medals to local service personnel who had served in the
Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...
. Then, on 26 September 1906, the
Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, t ...
,
H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928) was a British statesman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. He was the last ...
, also visited the town hall, to open another bazaar, this time intended to repay the debt on a temperance hall. During the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, the building was used as drill hall by "D" Company, 6th battalion, the
Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders or 79th (The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders) Regiment of Foot was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1793. It amalgamated with the Seaforth Highlanders (the Duke of Albany's) to form ...
. The company which had commissioned the town hall got into financial difficulty in 1918: the directors sold the building to the
Territorial Force Association The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry in ...
and liquidated the company in February 1921. An indoor shooting range and garaging for military vehicles were added to the building at that time. Although another member of the Grant family, Janet Grant, donated £2,000 for a new town hall to be called "The Grant Hall" in 1933, that initiative never came to fruition. After the existing building ceased to be used as a drill hall in the 1960s, the condition of the fabric deteriorated and the building became dilapidated. The Rothes and District Community Association, which had been formed in 1968, acquired the building in the early 1970s for £1,400. After an extensive programme of refurbishment works, the building re-opened as "The Grant Hall Community Centre" in 1977. The cost of operating the building was subsequently subsidised by an annual grant from
Grampian Regional Council Grampian () was one of nine local government regions of Scotland. It was created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and took its name from the Grampian Mountains. The regional council was based in Aberdeen. The region was abol ...
. However, following the introduction of
unitary authorities A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...
in 1996, the newly-formed
Moray Council Moray Council (Scottish Gaelic: ''Comhairle Mhoireibh'') is the Local government in Scotland, local government authority for Moray, Moray council area. History Moray District Council Local government across Scotland was reorganised in 1975 u ...
withdrew the annual funding and decided to hand the building over the community, allowing it to continue to be used as a community events venue known as "Grant Hall". A further programme of refurbishment works costing £250,000 was completed with support from the
National Lottery Community Fund The National Lottery Community Fund, legally named the Big Lottery Fund, is a non-departmental public body responsible for distributing funds raised by the National Lottery for " good causes". It is the largest community funder in the UK and ...
in 2003. Subsequent users of the building included 423 (Speyside) Detached Flight Squadron,
Air Training Corps The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British Youth organisations in the United Kingdom, volunteer youth organisation; aligned to, and fostering the knowledge and learning of military values, primarily focusing on military aviation. Part of the ...
.


References

{{reflist Government buildings completed in 1900 City chambers and town halls in Scotland Rothes