Kelso, 6 The Square, Royal Bank Of Scotland

In contrast to the generally cream-coloured stone or rendered buildings of Kelso's The Square, The Royal Bank of Scotland's premises are strikingly different, featuring red brick, rosemary tiles and decorative wrought iron in its design. The three-storeyed building dates from 1934, and has been designed in a blocky neo-Georgian style. Flanking the main door are decorative wrought-iron railings, featuring poppies, ears of wheat and other plants.

Text prepared by RCAHMS as part of the Accessing Scotland's Past project

Building Notes

In May 1957 Basil Spence and Partners were asked to design a new building for the Kelso branch of the National Bank of Scotland. The bank's existing premises in the village were considered too small to cater for their expanding business. The new building, which was to be erected nearby, would have provided a bank office on the ground floor with law offices above. Although the practice received approval for their plans, the project was abandoned in 1961 after their client's economic situation changed following an amalgamation with the Commercial Bank of Scotland.

Archive Details and Summary

A requirement of the brief was that the design should take into account the general character of the architecture in the square in which it was to be located. In relation to this, letters in the Sir Basil Spence Archive follow a debate between Spence and representatives of the National Bank regarding the appropriate design of the windows on the building's ground floor facade.

The Archive holds only one small manuscript file for this project. This contains largely correspondence but includes one drawing which depicts the proposed front elevation, providing an impression of the conceived design.

This text was written as one of the outputs of the Sir Basil Spence Archive Project, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, 2005-08.