Lerwick Town Hall is located in central Lerwick

Lerwick

Lerwick is the capital and main port of the Shetland Islands, Scotland, located more than 100 miles off the north coast of mainland Scotland on the east coast of the Shetland Mainland...

, Shetland. It was completed in 1884 during a period of expansion in Lerwick due to the wealth the herring

Herring

Herring is an oily fish of the genus Clupea, found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, including the Baltic Sea. Three species of Clupea are recognized. The main taxa, the Atlantic herring and the Pacific herring may each be divided into subspecies...

 industry brought. It is protected as a Category B listed building.

It was situated at the highest point of Lerwick available facing west to the new town with its back to the old town, lanes and harbour.

It was designed by architect Alexander Ross of Inverness and builder John M. Aitken of Lerwick won the tender at a cost of £3,240. The foundation stone was laid on 24 January 1882 by Prince Alfred

Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was the third Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and reigned from 1893 to 1900. He was also a member of the British Royal Family, the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha...

 (Duke of Edinburgh

Duke of Edinburgh

The Duke of Edinburgh is a British royal title, named after the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, which has been conferred upon members of the British royal family only four times times since its creation in 1726...

 and second son of Queen Victoria

Victoria of the United Kingdom

Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....

) on a visit to the isles. That same evening Lerwick saw the first ever Up Helly Aa torchlight procession.

The building took 21 months to build and was officially opened on 30 July 1883 (although the building was not complete) by George Thoms, sheriff of Caithness, Orkney and Shetland.

But further work has been done to it in its years. The most recent was the replacement of the front steps which was badly decayed and was replaced just before The Town Hall's 125th Anniversary.

The Town Hall is home to Shetland Islands Council

Shetland Islands Council

The Shetland Islands Council is the local authority for Shetland. It was established by the Local Government Act 1973 and is the successor to the former Lerwick Town Council and Zetland County Council...

's council chambers and is available to hire for functions and events. Some of The Town Hall's most popular uses are:

• Marriages - in the Main Hall or in the Council Chamber
• Wedding Receptions
• Musical Concerts
• Coffee Mornings/Evenings
• Sales of Work

Inside the building

Inside there is some stainded glass windows which show many people who have been important in the history of Shetland, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 and Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. The Hamburg Window is meant to tell one of the most interesting stories in the building.