Friends of Grant Lodge, FoGL
Join the campaign to restore Grant Lodge!
Grant Lodge Timeline
This is the sequence of events from the building of the Lodge right up to the present day.
It is sad to see how close to restoration the Lodge came, on several previous occasions.
2021
As we enter the second decade of 20s, Moray Council advertises for a Moray Growth Deal Programme Manager.
At the end of March, Moray Council publishes the new "Elgin City Centre Masterplan" and asks members of interested groups to provide feedback.
2020
As we enter the 20s, the future of the Lodge is still hanging in the balance and the Trust's CAT application is in limbo as Moray Council concentrate on the Growth Deal and the proposed "Cultural" Quarter.
Nobody knows what the Growth Deal will include and it is not at all certain that Grant Lodge will be part of it.
In August, the Growth Deal is eventually signed by both the UK and Scottish Governments reawakening hope that the Lodge might at last be restored.
STOP PRESS! After the approval of the Growth Deal, Moray council committed funding for the Cultural Quarter, including Grant Lodge, and they published notices to begin the search for contractors to draw up designs.
2019
Work on the CAT application continues with a series of events designed to gauge the support of the community for Grant Lodge Trust's plans for the refurbishment of the Lodge
These include the printing of 10,000 leaflets, a silent film show and a public meeting.
At the end of March, a draft CAT application was submitted for comment to Moray Council.
In May, the Council put the CAT on hold, waiting for the outcome of funding for the Growth Deal.
2018
As the fifteenth anniversary of the fire approaches a Community Asset Transfer (CAT) application is being prepared in cooperation with tsiMoray, who express an interest in relocating to the Lodge. There is also a possibility of securing funding for a project manager from LEADER. This would be used to create the business plan required for the CAT application.
One day after the fifteenth anniversary of the fire, it is anounced that LEADER funding has been granted to the Grant Lodge Trust, GLT, and a project manager will be appointed to lead the CAT application.
Almost simultaneously, Moray Council informs the Friends that they will be denied access to the Lodge for Doors-open Day for the second year running. This blatantly political decision is received with dismay by the Friends who have been striving for seven years now.
In September, a Project Development Officer is appointed to work on the business plan for the Community Asset Transfer of the Lodge from Moray Council to the Grant Lodge Trust, under a long lease.
Confusion is sown when Moray Council announce plans for a "Cultural Quarter" encompassing Cooper Park and the Lodge. This is part of a wider "Growth Deal" which is to be funded by the UK and Scottish Governments. News of this is leaked to the local press and the "vision" for the Lodge is that it is to be a Whisky Centre. This is news to both the Friends of Grant Lodge and the Grant Lodge Trust, neither of whom were approached by the Council
At the end of the year, there has been some convergence between the preferred options for Grant Lodge under the Moray Growth Deal and "Cultural Quarter" and the ideas being championed by the Friends of Grant Lodge, FoGL and the Grant Lodge Trust, GLT.
2015
A Strategy for the redevelopment of Grant Lodge is made by Mia Scott Associates on behalf of the Grant Lodge Trust.
The proposal, to re-use Grant Lodge as a hub for social innovation and entrepreneurship has the potential to deliver considerable benefits for the community of Elgin.
An external inspection finds the property boarded up and in declining condition.
An internal inspection by the Friends of Grant Lodge (FoGL) finds the building in fair condition. It is currently being used by the Council for storage of various items including what looks like the metal roof works from the East End School. Also visible in the basement are some piles of the Elgin Courant Newspaper dating from the nineteenth century, obviously forgotten during the removal of other items.
2014
A report is given to the Economic Development & Infrastructure Services Committee who agree to termination of the feasibility study and to take no further action.
A Short Life Working Group is formed to "take the project forward" and "consult with the public". As a result of this the Grant Lodge Trust (GLT) is formed.
The Trust has its inaugural meeting in December.
2013
At an Economic Development & Infrastructure Services Committee Meeting, during discussions, one Councillor moved that a report be submitted to a future meeting of the Committee on the implications of terminating the existing contract for feasibility studies on Grant Lodge and what the financial implications on the current budget would be.
They recommended that the partnership management group look at other sources of funding and sustainable uses for Grant Lodge that do not use Council services. This was unanimously agreed by the Committee!
The Lodge is subsequently dropped from the CCC project
2012
The CCC Partnership Group (Castle to Cathedral to Cashmere) set out detailed proposals and drawings for the development of Grant Lodge.
An external inspection shows that the building is in fair condition but boarded up and disused.
2011
Grant Lodge is identified, by the Moray Council, as a "key transformational site" in contributing to aims for "Arts, Culture and Heritage" and "the Visitor Economy".
2007
Mia Scott, Project Director, gives a presentation to Committee on the background and results of the feasibility study. She outlines the options for saving the building (post-fire) and what it could be used for and how much it would cost to restore it.
2004
Highland Buildings Preservation Trust are commissioned to carry out a feasibility study on Grant Lodge.
2003
On 26th of July, there is a fire starting in the basement of the building which spread upwards through the floors to the roof causing some minor damage and leading to the removal of most materials from the building, following which the building is boarded up. Nobody knows what happened to the money from any insurance claim as this disappears into the Council's coffers.
1996
Library services are transferred to the new library. At this time Grant Lodge serves as a local studies facility.
Grant Lodge operates as a local heritage centre with 14,000 books, pamphlets, local newspapers, genealogical records, maps, photographs, architect plans and some archival material.
1994
The Moray District Council, MDC, agrees to set aside any sale proceeds from the flats at 65-79 (odd only), North Port for Trust purposes.
The Court of Session approve a scheme and power to sell heritage presented by The MDC and to convert the Drill Hall into a library.
1993
The heirs of Sir George Cooper agree to a local study centre but not to the relocation of the Registrar.
1992
Council Officers trace George Cooper's heirs to gain their views/consent for the new library proposals etc.
1991
The former Drill Hall is reconveyed to The Moray District Council by Secretary of State for Defence.
1990+
The Moray District Council works on plans for the provision of a new library as Grant Lodge is no longer fit for purpose due to, structural weakness, layout, damp, woodworm etc.
1981
The relief road is opened.
1979
A portion of ground at the southern edge of Cooper Park is voluntarily conveyed by the Town Council (in breach of the Deed of Gift) to the Scottish Development Department as part of their land acquisitions for the construction of the Elgin Relief Road which in turn means that a further portion of the park was severed off by the road and is effectively lost to Cooper Park.
1975
The Moray District Council take over the former Town Council's recreation/parks function and Grant Lodge and Cooper Park are administered together and held on the Elgin Common Good account.
1973
At a Local Public Inquiry on the relief road for Elgin, the fact that the road would sever the southern portion of the park figures prominently in the objections. Some objectors attempt to have the acquisition "blocked" by Sir George Cooper's heirs.
~1970
Grant Lodge is no longer able to adequately function as a modern public library.
1967
North Port flats are built by the Elgin Town Council on the south end of Cooper Park in direct breach of the Deed of Gift.
1960
Elgin Burgh Library merges with Moray & Nairn County Library and thereafter Grant Lodge was functioning as a library only.
1920-1950
The library takes over the whole building providing a comprehensive range of services including adult and children's lending, information services and local studies using genealogical and archive materials.
1920
Alterations are made on the first floor of Grant Lodge to accommodate the 'museum of art', displaying a number of pictures, but very few objects.
1905
Grant Lodge opens as a library although the 'museum of art' seems to run into problems.
1904
Area at the South end of Cooper Park conveyed (in terms of the 1903 Trust) to the Third (Morayshire) Volunteer Battalion for erection of a Drill Hall.
1903
Colonel George Alexander Cooper grants a Deed of Gift creating a Public Trust of Grant Lodge and its grounds.
The grounds were to be used as a park ('Cooper Park') and the Lodge as a "Public Library and Reading Rooms and a Museum of Arts and Industries for the use and benefit of the inhabitants of Elgin".
1800s
In 1820, The Lodge was the focal point for a major clan rising; the last ever to take place in Scotland. This little known fact is, in itself, a story worth hearing about! Read more about this on our website here.
In 1850, the Lodge was altered and extended.
In 1899, it was sold to Sir George Cooper, an Elgin Lawyer.
1750
Grant Lodge was commissioned by Sir James Grant for his aunt, Lady Innes and was designed by Robert Adam.
