The Victorian Market, originally known as the New Market, is a covered shopping arcade in the city centre of Inverness, Scotland. The original market was built in 1869–70 to designs by the architectural practice of Matthews and William Lawrie, and opened on 25 May 1870. The complex was rebuilt and extended following a fire in 1889 and reopened in 1891. The market and its arcades are a Category B listed building.
The market occupies much of the block between Academy Street, Union Street, Church Street and Queensgate. It contains shops, cafés and a food hall.
History Inverness Town Council decided in 1869–70 to construct a covered market on land between Union Street and Queensgate. The New Market opened at noon on 25 May 1870. The public markets and the arcade leading from Academy Street were designed by the Inverness architectural partnership of Matthews and Lawrie.
A fire broke out shortly after midnight on 23 June 1889 and gutted the market, destroying its wooden shops, stalls and roof while leaving the ornamental stone frontage at Academy Street standing. The complex was subsequently rebuilt and enlarged. The work included a new market hall and fish market and extended the covered market between Academy Street, Church Street, Union Street and Queensgate. The rebuilt market formally reopened on 8 September 1891.
Contemporary newspaper accounts of the fire recorded the death of a dog belonging to butchers A. & D. Macdonald. The dog had been left guarding their premises and, according to the Scottish Highlander, emerged during the fire before returning to the market. Redevelopment In November 2019, the City of Inverness Area Committee approved plans to transform the Market Hall and Fish Hall, with £1.5 million allocated from the Inverness Common Good Fund. The redevelopment required traders in the two halls to leave their existing units. Fourteen traders faced termination of their leases, and about 40 business owners took part in a protest outside the market in December 2019, raising concerns about relocation and the information provided by the council. The council said affected traders would be offered assistance with relocation and an opportunity to apply for units in the redeveloped market.
The Market Hall closed in January 2021 for the redevelopment. The former market and fish halls were redesigned as an open-plan food hall, with new commercial units arranged around a central seating area and the historic roof structure made more visible. The refurbished hall reopened in September 2022.
The final cost of the refurbishment was £1.82 million against total project funding of £1.96 million. Of the funding, £1.64 million came from the Inverness Common Good Fund, with £250,000 from the Town Centre Fund and £79,000 from the Place Based Investment Programme.
Architecture The Academy Street entrance dates from the original 1869–70 market. Historic Environment Scotland describes the Italianate ashlar frontage as a single-storey, three-bay composition, with three round-headed entrance arches carried on Corinthian columns. The arches have carved animal-head keystones, while the frontage is finished with a cornice, balustrade and urns.
The arcade behind the Academy Street entrance has brick arcaded shopfronts, clerestory windows and a timber roof supported by cast-iron principals. During the rebuilding after the fire, the Burgh Surveyor designed the south-west and central market halls in 1890, using timber-and-glass roofs supported by cast iron. Ross and Macbeth designed the arcade to Union Street in the same year, while Duncan Cameron designed the Queensgate arcade in 1897.
The complex was designated a Category B listed building on 22 December 1976.
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