Renfrew Town Hall is a municipal facility at The Cross,

Renfrew Renfrew (; ; ) is a town west of Glasgow in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is the historic county town of Renfrewshire. Called the "Cradle of the Royal Stewarts" for its early link with Scotland's former royal house, Renfrew gaine ...

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Renfrewshire is located in the west central Lowlands. It borders East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire, and lies on the southern ba ...

, Scotland. The town hall, which was the headquarters of the

royal burgh A royal burgh ( ) was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished by law in 1975, the term is still used by many former royal burghs. Most royal burghs were either created by ...

of Renfrew, 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

The original town hall on the site was built in 1670; it was expanded with the construction of a new wing, creating a public hall on the ground floor and council chambers on the first floor, in 1826. However, after civic leaders decided that it was "very inadequate for any large public meeting or entertainment" and that "it was besides uncomfortable", the old town hall was demolished to make way for a new building. The foundation stone for the new building was laid with full

masonic Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

honours by the local member of parliament, Colonel

Archibald Campbell Archibald Campbell may refer to: Peerage * Archibald Campbell of Lochawe (died before 1394), Scottish peer * Archibald Campbell, 2nd Earl of Argyll (died 1513), Lord Chancellor of Scotland * Archibald Campbell, 4th Earl of Argyll (c. 1507–1558) ...

, on 13 April 1872. It designed by James Jamieson Lamb and Baillie James Barr Lamb in the French Gothic style, built at a cost of £7,500 and officially opened by Campbell on 17 October 1873. Following a serious fire on 6 March 1878, it was completely rebuilt in a very similar style but with a taller spire. The design involved an asymmetrical frontage with four bays facing Hairst Street; the left hand section of three bays featured a pair of gothic doors flanked by pairs of gothic widows on either side; there was a balcony and row of gothic windows on the first floor; the right hand bay featured a doorway with the burgh

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 ...

in the gable head and a prominent high clock tower with

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. Internally, the principal rooms were the council chambers and the town clerk's office on the ground floor and the public hall on the first floor. Plasterwork

boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...

es bearing the coats of arms of the burgh, the

Bruce family Clan Bruce () is a Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands Scottish clan. It was a royal house in the 14th century, producing two kings of Scotland (Robert the Bruce and David II of Scotland, David II), and a disputed High King of Ireland, Edward Bruce. Or ...

and the

Stewart family Clan Stewart (Gaelic: ''Stiùbhart'') is a Scottish Highland and Lowland clan. The clan is recognised by Court of the Lord Lyon; however, it does not have a clan chief recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms. Because the clan has no chief it ca ...

were installed in the public hall. The town hall continued to be used as a public venue and concert performers included the

contralto A contralto () is a classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range is the lowest of their voice type, voice types. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare, similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to ...

singer,

Kathleen Ferrier Kathleen Mary Ferrier (22 April 19128 October 1953) was an English contralto singer who achieved an international reputation as a stage, concert and recording artist, with a repertoire extending from folksong and popular ballads to the class ...

, who made an appearance on 30 January 1946. The building was the seat of government of the

of Renfrew until it was replaced by

Renfrew District Renfrew District () was, between 1975 and 1996, one of nineteen local government districts in the Strathclyde region of Scotland. History The district was created in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which established a two- ...

under the wider

Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Welsh language, Welsh; in Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic, meaning 'strath

alley An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, footpath, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road (back lane), or a path, w ...

of the River Clyde') was one of nine former Local government in Scotland, local government Regions and districts of Scotland, regions of Scotland cre ...

Regional Council in May 1975. The district council was abolished in 1996, under the

Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 (c. 39) is an Act of parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that created the current Local government in Scotland, local government structure of 32 Unitary authority, unitary authori ...

, and the building ceased to be a seat of government. Instead the town is represented by a

community council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. ...

, which meets in town hall. After a programme of restoration works costing £5.2 million supported by the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

, creating modern accommodation for the Renfrew Museum which had previously been based in the Brown Institute in Canal Street, the town hall was officially reopened as a visitor attraction by the

Deputy First Minister of Scotland The deputy first minister of Scotland is the second highest minister in the executive branch of the Scottish Government, after the First Minister of Scotland, first minister of Scotland. The post-holder deputises for the first minister during ...

Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon (born 19 July 1970) is a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 2014 to 2023. She has served as a member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) sin ...

, on 18 January 2012.

References

{{reflist

Government buildings completed in 1873 1873 establishments in Scotland Buildings and structures in Renfrewshire Category A listed buildings in Renfrewshire Listed government buildings in Scotland Renfrew Clock towers in the United Kingdom

History

See also

References