Railway Hotel, Newtown St Boswells, Melrose, Scottish Borders

Entry Name: Railway Hotel, Newtown St Boswells

Listing Name: Newtown St Boswells, Melbourne Place and Railway Court, Railway Hotel Including Railings

Listing Date: 6 November 2000

Category: C

Source: Historic Scotland

Source ID: 394741

Historic Scotland Designation Reference: LB47392

Building Class: Cultural

ID on this website: 200394741

Location: Melrose

County: Scottish Borders

Electoral Ward: Selkirkshire

Parish: Melrose

Traditional County: Roxburghshire

Tagged with: Hotel building

Description

Mid 19th century, 2-storey and attic railway hotel, extended to form U-plan Baronial terrace with court to centre, 1878. Stugged red stone with droved ashlar dressings. Round-arched windows to chimney-headed gables. 3 canted, bracketed and gabled dormer windows. Corbelled-out chimney stacks. Decorative barge-boarding.

W (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: earlier, 3-bay building recessed from street with segmental pend arch to right at ground and doorway in chimneyheaded gabled bay to left of centre, door given prominence by addition of columned and architraved porch with squared fluted columns. Window above with crowning gablehead corbelled out above and around window. 3-light window to right of centre and secondary door and window to outer left in advanced ashlar panel, regular fenestration to 1st floor, and addition of 3 canted dormers with bracketed and bargeboarded gabled dormerheads. Extended by 2-storey wing with chamfered inner corner to outer left, 1878, and made near-symmetrical by addition of mirrored range at start of terrace to right (see below). Bipartite windows to inner elevation of projecting range and doors on chamfered inner corner with windows above. End gable with window to each floor.

RAILWAY COURT: range to rear of Railway Hotel comprising single, 2-and 3-storey sections in terraced form at right angles. Abuts access lane to Auction Mart.

MELBOURNE PLACE: projecting range to left mirroring outer range of hotel but with shop window at ground in end gable and blank at 1st floor. Linking to 3-part terrace comprising: a) 2-bay, piend-roofed property with recessed shop door and part-canted window and door to flat at ground linked by corniced shop fascia; bipartite and single window above. b) 2-bay central gabled property, with segmentally-arched pend at right, with corbel detail above and to left 2-bay gabled property to left with shop window and door at ground, bipartite and single window above, panel reading 'MELBOURNE PLACE 1878' below round-arched window in gablehead. c) 3-bay gabled property to right with door (flush-panelled with small-pane fanlight to right) flanked by windows; blind window flanked by windows at 1st floor, square-headed window to gable above.

Some modern replacement windows, otherwise timber 4-pane and plate glass sash and case windows. Slate roofs. Stone stack to gableheads and ridge.

RAILINGS: fleur-de-lys iron railings fronting outer right property in Melbourne Place on saddleback coped dwarf wall, enclosing small fourcourt; 2-leaf railed gate.

Statement of Interest

The former Railway Hotel and Station Buildings are the most significant survival of a large junction on the North British Railway, built as a response to Newtown St Boswells expansion and heyday as a railway town. They form a core U-plan group at the heart of the village, the former station (now demolished) having lain immediately to the west. The building formerly comprised a booking office, post office, refreshment room and stabling for 10 horses. Charles Strang gives a generous report of their contribution, as 'a street frontage as rich and accomplished as could be the pride of any Scots burgh'.

List Description updated at Resurvey (2010).

External Links

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