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Kelso, The Square, Town Hall
Town Hall (19th Century)
Site Name Kelso, The Square, Town Hall
Classification Town Hall (19th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Kelso Town Hall; Wood Market
Canmore ID 58471
Site Number NT73SW 65
NGR NT 72779 33967
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/58471
- Council Scottish Borders, The
- Parish Kelso
- Former Region Borders
- Former District Roxburgh
- Former County Roxburghshire
In 1806, a public subscription was organised to raise funds for a new town hall to replace the old tolbooth. The Duke of Roxburghe made significant donations both in money as well as in land. Contemporary drawings show the old tolbooth to have been a three-storeyed building, with an arcaded ground floor and a thatched roof.
The new building probably incorporated much of the stonework from the old tolbooth, although the town hall's present appearance is due to remodelling work carried out between 1904 and 1906. The two-storeyed building is rectangular on plan and has an arcaded ground floor. Originally these were opened on market days for stall holders, like the old tollbooth, while the floor above was entirely filled by a hall where the burgh court met. The town's trade incorporations also used the town hall for their meetings. The curfew bell, probably housed within an octagonal cupola was rung at the town hall at 8pm each evening.
In 1841 a clock was inserted into the cupola. The building was remodelled in Edwardian Baroque style between 1902 and 1908 to designs by J D Swanston & Syme of Kirkcaldy. The arcading used by stall-holders was built up, providing more office space.
Text prepared by RCAHMS as part of the Accessing Scotland's Past project
Publication Account (1996)
Built in 1816 at the expense of the 5th Duke of Roxburghe and local subscribers, the town hall is set in a conspicuous position projecting into the Square from the NE. The present hall stands on the site ofthe tolbooth, which was described as 'old and ruinous' in the late 18th century. A painting of that period shows a three-storeyed hip-roofed building with an arcaded ground floor and a tall steeple projecting from the SW front. It is probable that some of the masonry of the tolbooth was reused in the construction of the present building.
The town hall is built of finely-wrought ashlar and is of rectangular plan, measuring 17.4m by 9m and having two storeys with twin hipped and slated roofs. The main (SW) front has a three-bay pedimented centre piece surmounted by an octagonal clock-tower. The fenestration is regular and the round-headed ground-floor windows and doorway are recessed within the arches of an original open arcade.
The building's present ornamental character, with Gibbs surrounds around the first-floor windows and an elaborate pedimented entrance-doorway, is largely the result of work carried out by J D Swanston of Kirkcaldy in 1904-6. Before these alterations, the ground-floor arcade was open on three sides to form a market-area. At first-floor level the detached Ionic columns of the centrepiece were replaced by attached columns raised on pedestals linked by a balustrade. The wallhead balustrade was removed, and Gibbs surrounds were added to the round-headed openings of the clock-tower. The interior was also extensively remodelled and most of the original fittings were replaced. The first floor, reached by a staircase to the rear, incorporated the council-chamber.
Information from ‘Tolbooths and Town-Houses: Civic Architecture in Scotland to 1833’ (1996).
Sbc Note
Visibility: This is an upstanding building.
Information from Scottish Borders Council.
