On your right, you’ll spot the Inverness Town House as a grand grey-stone Gothic building on the High Street, with a proud central doorway, pointed details, and little turret-like corners that make it look slightly castle-ish in a very civic, well-behaved way.
Now, this place didn’t start out trying to be handsome. Inverness’s early “town HQ” was the tolbooth, in use by at least 1593-part town office, part courthouse, part lock-up, and probably part place-you-didn’t-want-to-end-up-after-a-rowdy night. Later, after a new stone bridge crossed the River Ness in 1685, the officials tucked themselves into the bridge’s east gatehouse. Practical, yes. Glamorous? Not so much.
Then came a proper town house in 1708, built right at the corner here, on land that had belonged to Lord Lovat. It was expanded in 1750, but by the late 1800s Inverness had bigger ambitions. And along came a timely nudge from Duncan Grant of Bught House, who died in 1873 and left £5,000 to help fund a new building-about £600,000 today. That gift didn’t cover the whole bill, mind you: the new Town House ended up costing £13,500 at the time, roughly £1.7 million today. Inverness heard “upgrade,” and promptly knocked down the old place to build this one on the same spot.
The foundation stone was laid in April 1878 by Provost Alexander Simpson-picture a small ceremony with big moustaches and serious hats-and the building opened in January 1882 with royal sparkle: the Duke of Edinburgh did the honours. Architect William Lawrie went full Gothic Revival, inspired by a museum in Dundee, giving you that neat seven-part frontage, the grand arched entrance, and those little corner bartizans that look like they’re keeping watch over the shoppers.
One of my favourite details is a rescue story baked right into the stone: the town’s carved coat of arms you’ll see on the west side originally decorated that 1685 bridge. When the bridge was swept away in the January floods of 1849, someone saved the carving-then embedded it here, like a badge pinned to a rebuilt reputation.
Inside, the serious business happened in the main hall and council chamber, reached through a vestibule lit by stained glass. The chamber was refreshed in 1894, and more stained glass arrived in 1898 for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee-Inverness doing celebration with colour and craftsmanship.
And then, in 1921, this building hosted something properly dramatic: the first British Cabinet meeting held outside London. David Lloyd George, yanked out of his holiday, gathered the top minds here to deal with Ireland-work that fed into the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Even King George V turned up, and later, in 1929, returned to be granted the freedom of the city. Not bad for a town hall on a shopping street.
These days, it still serves the public as a Highland Council office, freshly cared for too-its frontage got a major refurbishment finished in 2018, about £3.9 million, which is roughly £4.9 million today.
When you’re set, Inverness Town Steeple is a 0-minute walk heading southwest, and it’ll be on your right.
