On your left, spot the big, dark-stone building with three tall arched windows glowing with uplights and the words “Rose Street Foundry & Engineering Company Limited” stretched across the front.
Now, this place has had more costume changes than a theatre star. The foundry began back in the 1830s, when Inverness was getting serious about iron and industry. It started under the Inverness Iron Company, then in 1872 a new outfit took over with a very practical Highland mission: build things that work. They forged agricultural kit for farms and tackled jobs for the Highland Railway too, turning raw metal into the nuts-and-bolts of everyday life.
Their handiwork even helped create the Greig Street Bridge in 1881, which is quite the brag for a workshop. In 1885 they moved into new Rose Street premises, designed by Alexander Ross, the town’s Provost-who knew good local iron when he saw it. But drama struck: major fires in 1888 and again in 1897, the sort that would’ve painted the night orange and left the air tasting of soot.
In 1903, the firm built these handsome head offices, later awarded a restoration grant in 2018-£960,000 then, about £1.2 million today (roughly $1.5 million)-because locals still feel this building is part of the family.
When you’re set, Inverness Justice Centre is an 8-minute walk heading northwest.
