Lerwick Town Hall is a municipal building located on Hillhead in

Lerwick Lerwick ( or ; ; ) 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. It is the northernmost major settlement within the United Kingdom. Centred ...

Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

, Scotland. It is used as an events venue and registrar's office. The building, which was also the meeting place of

Shetland Islands Council The Shetland Islands Council is the local authority for the Shetland Islands, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It was established in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and was largely unaffected by the Scottish local gov ...

until 2022, is a Category A

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

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 various species of forage fish, belonging to the Order (biology), order Clupeiformes. Herring often move in large Shoaling and schooling, schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate wate ...

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 Alfred (Alfred Ernest Albert; 6 August 184430 July 1900) was sovereign Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 22 August 1893 until his death in 1900. He was the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. He was known as the Du ...

on a visit to the isles on 24 January 1882. That same evening Lerwick saw the first ever

Up Helly Aa Up Helly Aa ( ; literally "Up Holy ">ay/nowiki> All") is a type of fire festival held annually from January to March in various communities in Shetland, Scotland, to mark the end of the Yule season. Each festival involves a torchlit processio ...

torchlight procession. The new building was designed by architect, Alexander Ross from

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

, 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, Sheriff of Caithness, Orkney and Shetland, 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 generally projects from an ...

on the first floor with a

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 ...

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 last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

above and there were

bartizan A bartizan (an alteration of ''bratticing''), also called a guerite, ''garita'', or ''échauguette'', or spelled bartisan, is an overhanging turret projecting from the walls of late-medieval and early-modern fortifications from the early 14th c ...

s at the corners of the building. There was a

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

ed 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'' wa ...

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 Roxburg ...

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

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

and the Corporation of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. Panels with the coats of arms of

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

, 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 2 ...

, was installed in the tower in 1887. The town hall was the headquarters of Lerwick Town Council until 1975, when it passed to the

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 19268 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. ...

by Leonard Boden and a portrait of Charles Rampini, Sheriff of Dumfries and Galloway, by

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

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