Stow of Wedale Town Hall is a municipal building in Earlston Road, Stow of Wedale, Scottish Borders, Scotland. The structure, which serves as a community events venue, is a Category B listed building.[1]
| Stow of Wedale Town Hall | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Stow of Wedale Town Hall | |
| Location | Earlston Road, Stow of Wedale |
| Coordinates | 55°41′30″N 2°51′36″W / 55.6918°N 2.8600°W |
| Built | 1857 |
| Architectural style(s) | Scottish baronial style |
Listed Building – Category B | |
| Official name | Townfoot, Town Hall |
| Designated | 17 March 2009 |
| Reference no. | LB51301 |
  Shown in the Scottish Borders | |
History edit
The building was commissioned by Captain Alexander Mitchell-Innes,[2] who, in 1839, had inherited a large country estate, which had originally been amassed by a former Deputy Governor of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Gilbert Innes. Mitchell-Innes had plans to develop Stow into a holiday destination for people living in Edinburgh.[3] The foundation stone for the new building was laid with full masonic rites, with Mitchell-Innes presiding as acting grand master, on 21 February 1854.[4] It was designed in the Scottish baronial style, built in rubble masonry with ashlar stone dressings and was completed in 1857.[5][6][7]
The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage of five bays facing Earlston Road. The central section of three bays formed an arcade with three openings on the ground floor, a carved panel depicting the coat of arms of Alexander Mitchell-Innes above the central opening, and three square-shaped windows on the first floor. Above the windows, there was a machicolated parapet, three water spouts shaped to resemble cannons, a central gablet and a fleur-de-lis finial. The left hand bay was curved on the ground floor and corbeled on the first floor with sash windows on both floors and a stepped gable above. The right-hand bay was fenestrated with sash windows on both floors with a stepped gable above: it was flanked by bartizans on both sides although the left-hand bartizan was corbelled out at a lower level than the right-hand one and was octagonal rather than circular in its upper stage. Internally, the principal rooms were the reading room on the left-hand side on the ground floor and the main assembly hall on the first floor.[1]
Mitchell-Innes continued to develop the town and commissioned the Church of St Mary of Wedale in 1876.[8] However, following the collapse of the City of Glasgow Bank in 1878, most of the proposed housing was never built.[3] The town hall continued to serve as a community events venue throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century.[9] The reading room was adapted to form a local history museum and archive, managed by the Gala Water History and Heritage Association, in 2005.[10][11]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ a b Historic Environment Scotland. "Townfoot, Town Hall (LB51301)". Retrieved 4 October 2022.
- ^ Oliver and Boyd's Scottish Tourist. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd. 1860. p. 150.
- ^ a b "About Stow Town Hall". Scotland Starts Here. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
- ^ Laurie, William Alexander (1859). The History of Free Masonry and the Grand Lodge of Scotland With Chapters on the Knight Templars, Knights of St. John, Mark Masonry, and R.A. Degree. Seton & Mackenzie. p. 302.
- ^ Cruft, Kitty; Dunbar, John G.; Fawcett, Richard; Strachan, Sabina; Gifford, John; Gow, Ian (2006). Borders (Buildings of Scotland Series). Vol. 9. Yale University Press. p. 134. ISBN 978-0300107029.
- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Stow, Townfoot, Town Hall (100382)". Canmore. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
- ^ Glendinning, Miles; MacKechnie, Aonghus (2021). Scotch Baronial Architecture and National Identity in Scotland. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 191. ISBN 978-1350166165.
- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Stow Parish Church, St Mary of Wedale (LB17403)". Retrieved 5 October 2022.
- ^ "Remembering the fallen from the Gala Water Valley". Border Telegraph. 3 November 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
- ^ "Gala Water History and Heritage Association". Community Archives. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
- ^ "Stow Parish Archives" (PDF). Scottish Archives. Retrieved 4 October 2022.