Description

D and J Bryce (probably John Bryce), dated 1881. Single storey and attic, 3 bay roughly L-plan Baronial gate lodge with prominent multiple projections and crow-stepped gables with ball finials. Squared stugged buff sandstone with ashlar dressings. Base course, stepped moulded string-course. Raised shouldered surrounds. Lean-to extensions to rear.

FRONT (NW) ELEVATION: projecting gabled porch to right with open roll-moulded shouldered arches. Projecting gabled bay to left with gabletted corner bays.

3-pane timber sash and case windows. Purple slate roof. Crowsteps with scrolled skewputts. Chamfered corniced gablehead stacks. Cast iron rainwater goods, decorative hoppers.

INTERIOR: access to the interior was not gained at the time of the resurvey (2005).

GATEPIERS, GATES AND BOUNDARY WALLS: low ashlar walls with moulded copes. Decorative cast iron railings and gates with Gothic detailing. Highly decorative gatepiers: square-plan with corner colonnettes. Corbelled, scrolled capstones and urn finials. Rubble walls continue southeast.

Statement of Interest

Scott Park Lodge, as well as being an interesting and picturesque composition in its own right, is an important remnant of the large estate at Gala House. The gate lodge is detailed and executed to the highest standard, to match David Bryce's earlier design for the main house, and is associated with the large formal gates, clearly the main entrance to the estate. Elements of the design, such as the angled, gabletted window bays and the multiplicity of gables, are unusual in such a small building.

Until the mid-19th century this part of Galashiels was unbuilt and lay within the formal policies of Gala House (Old Gala House). In 1872 this part of the park was laid out to accommodate a new house for Major Scott by David Bryce, a late work by the pre-eminent producer of baronial country houses in Scotland during the mid 19th century. The construction of the gate lodge is related to the laying out of Scott Street and Scott Crescent for workers housing from 1875-85. David Bryce died in 1876, but it appears his firm, which carried on under the name of D and J Bryce, were responsible for the lodges.

The policies were gifted to the Burgh in 1939 and were used as a site for a number of public buildings. New Gala House was eventually demolished in 1985. A second, simpler, lodge survives at Elm Row.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q56633765

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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