Stornoway Town Hall

Stornoway Town Hall is a former municipal building on South Beach in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, Scotland. The town hall, which was the headquarters of Stornoway Town Council, is a Category B listed building.[1]

Stornoway Town Hall
Stornoway Town Hall building in 2012
LocationStornoway
Coordinates58.2082°N 6.3884°W / 58.2082; -6.3884
Built1929
ArchitectJohn Robertson
Architectural style(s)Gothic Revival style
Listed Building – Category B
Designated25 November 1980
Reference no.LB41738
Shown in the Outer Hebrides

History

Proposals for a town hall in Stornoway, to be funded by public subscription, were first considered by the town council in 1897.[2] The foundation stone for the new building was laid by Major Duncan Matheson of Lews Castle in August 1903.[3] It designed by John Robertson of Inverness in the Gothic Revival style and opened by the former Prime Minister, the Earl of Rosebery, on 7 September 1905.[2] After the original structure was gutted by fire on 2 March 1918, it was rebuilt in the same style and re-opened by the President of the Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, Thomas Bassett Macaulay, who was a member of the Macaulay family of Lewis and a prominent contributor to the rebuilding fund, in 1929.[2]

The design involved a symmetrical frontage with eleven bays facing South Beach; the central section featured a round-headed doorway on the ground floor flanked by turreted bays; there were four triple-windows, each with an ogee moulding, on the first floor; the building also turreted corner bays and a central clock tower with a cupola.[1] Internally, the principal room was the public hall, which was in the centre of the building, lying parallel with the main frontage.[4]

The clock tower gained some fame from the song Lovely Stornoway which was sung by Calum Kennedy in the 1960s.[5]

The building served as the headquarters of Stornoway Town Council until it was absorbed into Comhairle nan Eilean Siar in 1975.[6] The building was then used as the home of the arts centre, An Lanntair, until October 2005 when the centre moved to a purpose-built facility on the sea front.[7] The town hall was then extensively refurbished at a cost of £2.1 million, with financial support from Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, the Heritage Lottery Fund and Historic Scotland, to the designs of architects, Simpson & Brown, and was re-opened for community use in March 2012.[8][9] The refurbishment works included the re-instatement of the original fourteen roof lights in the main hall, so providing natural lighting to the room, as well as the removal of the stage in the main hall, so revealing three stained glass windows in the western gable and providing additional natural light.[4]

The Earl and Countess of Essex visited the town hall and met local leaders of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme in May 2014.[10][11][12]

References
  1. Historic Environment Scotland. "South Beach, Cromwell Street And Point Street, Municipal Buildings  (Category B Listed Building) (LB41738)". Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  2. "Town Hall". Stornoway Historical Society. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  3. "Stornoway Town Hall". Comhairle nan Eilean Siar. 19 June 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  4. "The Town Hall". Comhairle nan Eilean Siar. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  5. "Lovely Stornoway". Irish Folk Songs. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  6. "Stornoway Town Council (Burgh of Stornoway), Lewis, Scotland". Tasglann nan Eilean Siar. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  7. Pedersen, Roy (2019). Gaelic Guerrilla: John Angus Mackay, Gael Extraordinaire. Luath Press. ISBN 978-1913025397.
  8. "Thirty-Five years in Practice 1977-2012". Simpson & Brown. pp. 4–5. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  9. "Refurbished Stornoway Town Hall officially opened". Hebrides News. 29 March 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  10. "The Earl and Countess of Wessex visit Stornoway". We Love Stornoway. 20 May 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  11. "Royal couple on Western Isles visit". Press and Journal. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  12. "Royal visit to Stornoway". Ministry of Defence. 2 June 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
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