Aberfeldy Town Hall
{{short description|Municipal Building in Aberfeldy, Scotland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox historic site
| name = Aberfeldy Town Hall
| native_name =
| image =Aberfeldy Town Hall (geograph 4358503).jpg
| caption= The building in 2015
| locmapin =Scotland Perth and Kinross#Scotland
| map_caption =Shown in Perth and Kinross
| coordinates ={{coord|56.618383|-3.867435|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
| location = Crieff Road, Aberfeldy, Perth and Kinross
| area =
| built = {{start date and age|1891|p=yes}}
| architect = James MacLaren
| architecture =Free style
| designation1 =Category B Listed Building
| designation1_offname = Crieff Road, Aberfeldy Town Hall Including Boundary Walls
| designation1_date = 5 October 1971
| designation1_number = LB20839
| website=
}}
Aberfeldy Town Hall is a municipal building on Crieff Road in Aberfeldy, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The structure, which is used as an events venue, is Category B listed.{{Historic Environment Scotland|num= LB20839|desc= Crieff Road, Aberfeldy Town Hall Including Boundary Walls |access-date=15 January 2022}}
History
Following significant population growth, largely associated with the tourism industry, the area became a police burgh in 1887.{{cite web|url= https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10357627|title=Aberfeldy Burgh|publisher=Vision of Britain| access-date=16 January 2022}} In this context, the new police commissioners decided to procure a town hall: the site they selected was the former site of the Black House,{{cite book|title=The Art Journal|volume= 61 |year=1899|page= 363}} the original home of the Menzies of Weem, who arrived from Nithsdale around the 14th century. The site was donated to the town by Gavin Campbell, 1st Marquess of Breadalbane in 1887.
The foundation stone for the new building was laid by the local member of parliament, Sir Donald Currie, on 21 September 1889. It was designed in free style by James MacLaren, a London-based architect who was born in Callander;{{cite web|url=http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/architect_full.php?id=200935 |title=James Marjoribanks MacLaren|publisher=Dictionary of Scottish Architects|access-date=16 January 2022}} it was built in brick with a harled finish and was officially opened on 5 December 1891.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qnd4Ll4MAi4C&pg=PA108 |title=Perth and Kinross (Buildings of Scotland Series) |page=108|first= John |last=Gifford|year= 2007|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0300109221}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z6UxEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA341 |title=The History of Scottish Architecture|first=Miles |last=Glendinning|year= 2019|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=978-1474468503|page=341}} The structure incorporated elements of the old Breadalbane Academy, built circa 1840, at the rear. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with three bays facing onto Crieff Road; there was a loggia with red brick voussoirs and wrought iron gates on the ground floor and a five-part window on the first floor set into a stone panel and surrounded by a large gable. At roof level there was a large turret. Internally, the principal rooms were the main hall and the lesser hall.
The design was influenced by the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson: the architectural commentator, Nick Haynes, described it as an "exceptionally avant-garde piece of Free Style" although he regarded the turret as "oversized".{{cite book|title=Perth and Kinross: An Illustrated Architectural Guide (RIAS Series of Illustrated Architectural Guides to Scotland)|first1=Nick|last1=Haynes|first2=Charles|last2=McKean|publisher=Rutland Press|year=2000|isbn=978-1873190128|page=121}} The building was used as an events venue from an early stage and highlights included the premiere of The Provost's Chain by the playwright, Andrew P. Wilson, on 24 August 1931.{{cite news|title=Aberfeldy: The Provost's Chain|newspaper=The Scotsman|date=26 August 1931}}
The building continued to serve as the meeting place of the burgh council for much of the 20th century but ceased to be the local seat of government when the enlarged Perth and Kinross District Council was formed in 1975.{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1973/65/contents|title=Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973|publisher=Legislation.gov.uk|accessdate=29 March 2021}} In 2014, Locus Breadalbane, a community organisation formed to manage the Locus Centre in Aberfeldy, acquired the town hall from Perth and Kinross Council.{{cite web|url= http://locuscentre.org/ |title= Welcome to The Locus Centre, Aberfeldy|publisher= Locus Breadalbane| access-date=15 January 2022}} At the same time, the author J. K. Rowling, who lives at Killiechassie, made a sizeable donation to a fund to convert the town hall into a music and drama venue.{{cite news|url= https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/jk-rowling-makes-donation-perthshire-town-hall-1526147 |title= JK Rowling makes donation to Perthshire town hall|date=16 September 2014|newspaper=The Scotsman| access-date=15 January 2022}}