By June 1940 most of the ports in southern England were closed to ocean-going ships and Liverpool and Glasgow, the tow main military ports, threatened by air raids. Two secret alternative ports were constructed for emergency use. One was at Gairloch in the Firth of Clyde, the other, known as Military Port No. 2, was at Cairnryan. This is a rare opportunity to join a guided tour of the remains of the specially built military railway which served the port at Cairnryan. The tour will be led by experienced local historians Archie Bell, Stewart Crawford and David Hunter. Rough ground, stout footwear advised. (Awaits confirmation � ring Solway Heritage 01387 247543)

]]> Take the opportunity to explore the heritage of workers living in prehistory in the company of professional archaeologist Dr Jane Murray.

 

]]> Visit International land artist Andy Goldsworthy’s iconic red sandstone Striding Arches. Walkers will enjoy climbing to the arches on the surrounding hilltops in order to experience how the arches interact with the landscape, whilst everyone can explore the arch at the Byre and spy the arch on the hilltop looking back down the valley.

]]> During his three years living at Ellisland Farm, Robert Burns frequently walked beside the Nith upstream to Friars Carse. Once the family home of Captain Riddell, a friend and patron of Burns, this handsome country house is now a hotel. It is surrounded by beautiful woodland, and hidden away within is the little building known as Burns Hermitage. Here to what he referred to as the ivied cot the poet came to talk with his friends at Friars Carse, and to write poetry, for these years were some of the most fruitful of his short life.

]]> Come to Langholm to experience Dumfriesshire’s newest venue!  Situated on Telford Street in Langholm, the handsomely 21st century Buccleuch Centre seems to sit well with its 19th century neighbours, and is offering an eclectic and high quality first programme of events.

The building provides a spacious, well equipped main hall and comfortable Green Room for performers, but its local roots are excellently catered for too.  You will find an attractive Café Bar, meetings rooms, Internet Cafe and IT training facilities.  The Buccleuch Centre’s friendly staff will take you behind the scenes.

The Buccleuch’s first season has included sell-outs like Tinariwen, musical theatre, jazz, blues, folk and dance…

Come in and find out what’s happening in Langholm!

]]> A warm welcome awaits you at the Brigend Theatre in Market Place, home of the Dumfries Musical Theatre Company, formed in 1922.

In 1972, the Society converted the former church into the 92 seat Brigend Theatre, which is used for both rehearsals and performances.

]]> The Irving Family would like to invite you into Bonshaw Tower, a complete, three-storey Peel tower dating from the 1500s. The tower is one of the best remaining examples of a Peel tower and contains fine examples of a dungeon, wheel staircase and barrel vault. Positioned on the site of previous towers, it has been lived in by the Irving family for nearly 1,000 years.

The Irvings were great allies of Robert the Bruce  helping him in his quest for Scottish Independence and kept him hidden in Bruce's Cave.  Later, the Irvings were one of the infamous Reiving clans, held a key area along the Kirtle Water and it was then that the Tower successfully withstood four sieges by the Maxwell's in 1585-6.

]]> Scotland's most southerly and smallest distillery nestles on the green banks of the River Bladnoch, from which it takes its name. The distillery dates back to 1817 and stands strong today thanks to the skill of the original masons.

]]> Barstobrick Visitor Centre and Galloway & Southern Ayrshire Biosphere
14 years ago, Barstobrick was upland grazing, but the Austin family have brought imagination and major changes which have created a welcoming Visitor Centre. Today visitors see farming and equitation blended with native wildlife. You’ll also find a display from Scotland’s first Biosphere, in Galloway and south Ayrshire. This UNESCO designation marks out rare places with a very special combination of landscape, wildlife and culture.
On arrival you’ll see a display of modern farm machinery that has helped to make farming less labour intensive. You can pop up to the stables and meet the ponies that take visitors on tours of the landscape.
]]> Just west of Newton Stewart is Barraer Farm, where for many decades Mr James Taylor and his wife Helen have farmed. James Taylor has also created a significant collection of agricultural implements from Galloway’s farming past and social history – his collection maps the changes in farming over a lifetime.

James Taylor came to Barraer as a young man of 22, as a tenant farmer. As the decades passed he farmed dairy, then beef cows, then sheep. Now the owner, his interest in agricultural heritage has become an occupation.

 

]]> Your chance to visit the Baron’s Craig Hotel, an impressive Victorian period country house, which became a hotel 100 years ago. The Hotel is blessed with a dramatic location in the village of Rockcliffe and stands in wooded countryside, enjoying spectacular views over the Solway.

]]> Barfil Farm is a 144 hectare upland farm running traditional Galloway cattle, Blackface and Castlemilk Moorit sheep, pigs and hens. Maggie Gordon and Bob Lee have always been interested in conservation and as well as rare plants and native breeds of animals they use traditional farm skills such as working with heavy horses.

The farm buildings included standings for 5 heavy horse as well as a bothy for the single ploughman. The standings have been restored using an illustration from ‘Stephens’ Book of the Farm’ as a guide as well as what remained of the woodwork, the newel stones and the cobbled floor.

]]> Visit this workshop in the beautiful Glenkens to discover how contemporary and traditional clogs are made by hand. Godfrey Smith has recently made clogs on commission for the National Museum of Scotland but also makes leather boots, shoes and sandals. There is also a small display of historic footwear.

]]> A harled, T-plan Kirk, the body built around 1750 with the north aisle added in 1833 by William McCandlish. The west gable has a pyramid-topped bellcote. The windows were given their present round-headed appearance in 1886. The interior is remarkable for the timber roof, with the diagonal trusses meeting in a central pendant. The stained glass west window depicting Christ the Lord of All is dated 1928 and is by Gordon Webster. The graveyard has an early 18th-century table-stone commemorating the Covenanting martyr Robert Grierson. Statue and plaque in churchyard commemorate Sir Walter Scott’s ‘Old Mortality’, who came from Balmaclellan. Crimean war memorial in churchyard – earliest civic war memorial in Scotland.

]]> This Category B listed building is owned by Dumfriesshire Freemasons, and, as its name suggests, was built in 1825 for assembly and celebration. Doonhamers will tell you it has the best dance floor in the southwest of Scotland. You will have a chance to see why by getting under the floor; and while you're at it go above the ceiling too in order to visit a long-hidden minstrel's gallery!You can also see round the Masonic Temple. Learn a bit about freemasonry in Dumfries. STB access category 2: assisted wheelchair.

]]> See www.cvcwt.org.uk for more details

]]> This family friendly museum houses a permanent exhibition on the history of Annan and surrounding area. Travel in time from the prehistory to the era of nuclear fusion with displays on the way that include costume, First World War memorabilia, town regalia and a remarkable collection of fine art showing Annan and the Solway shore. Look out for a 3000 year old bronze sword, mummified baby crocodiles and a 110 year old piece of chocolate! A glittering exhibition of recent archaeological finds from across Dumfries and Galloway. Learn about the important, interesting and downright odd items that have turned up all over Dumfries and Galloway in recent years. From shining swords to delicate brooches, here’s a world of wonder that’s been found on your doorstep.]]> Start from Gracefield Arts Centre, Edinburgh Road, Dumfries, where you can see the 'Three Cones' and pick up an itinerary from the gallery with full details of directions for the rest of the tour. A chance to take yourself on a quest for the Nithsdale Goldsworthy sculptures. Follow the river valleys northwards to find the Cairns at Dunesslin, the Penpont Cairn and the dramatically sited 'Touchstone North' at Crairiepark near Thornhill, a large scale upright stone circle: a touchstone between Penpont and Pole, a landmark that will orientate north. Stout footwear is essential. We thank the landowners for granting public access, which is for Doors Open Days only.

]]> Allanton Sanctuary is a beautiful harled late Georgian laird’s house, enlarged and remodelled as a mid-Victorian Baronial manor, which is now the European Sanctuary of The World Peace Prayer Society.
It is set in 18 acres of parkland.

The Society was founded in 1955 by the Japanese teacher, philosopher and poet, Masahisa Goi who dedicated his life to peace and humanity. The Society promotes the message ‘May Peace Prevail on Earth’, through its activities of planting peace poles, world peace flag ceremonies, peace education programmes, and environmental education programmes.

]]> Tullibody Community Garden is run by the charity Tullibody Healthy Living. The garden is cultivated by volunteers, who gain valuable horticultural skills, as well as growing affordable fruit and vegetables to encourage local people to create fresh, healthy meals. The volunteers have brought a wide range of skills to the project; some had no vegetable gardening experience at all, while others have lots of experience as amateurs or professional gardeners. Many of them are unemployed and volunteering helps them in a number of ways, boosting confidence, getting them out of the house and keeping them physically active. It is also a great opportunity for everyone to make use of their own knowledge and skills.

]]> The picturesque and intriguing ruin of Kennetpans Distillery was the birthplace of the Scottish whisky industry. Founded in the early 18th century by the brothers John and James Stein, by the 1730s it was the largest distillery in Scotland. The buildings which survive today were probably built in the 1770s. In 1786 a Boulton and Watt steam engine was installed to operate a mill in the distillery. There were also maltings, grain-drying kilns, grain stores, workshops, storage areas for empty casks and large secure warehouses. A wagon way and mile-long canal linked it with Kilbagie Distillery, established by James Stein in the 1770s, and the nearby pow (harbour), from where the whisky was shipped. By 1788, the two distilleries were so successful that they paid more export tax than the total land tax for Scotland. Legislation passed in the 1780s was designed, however, to curb the massive export of whisky to England; duties increased and Scottish distillers had to give a year’s notice of their intent to export, during which time production had to stop. Kennetpans was bankrupted and the distillery closed. It reopened in 1791 after it was bought by two businessmen and leased back to John Stein Jnr. Production resumed in 1795, but it closed for ever after his death in 1825. Kennetpans was never modernised for grain whisky production and it is, therefore, the most complete survivor of its type.

The distillery buildings were unroofed by the early 1900s and all machinery and internal fittings removed or collapsed. There are traces of the designed landscape around Kennetpans House which, along with the Courts of Offices, was demolished in the mid 20th century. The distillery complex was one of the projects in the Inner Forth Landscape Initiative programme, partly funded by Historic Environment Scotland; test pits inside the three-storey distillery revealed original floor surfaces and it has been mostly cleared of vegetation, exposing the extent of the structural decay. A detailed 3D laser scan survey, full digital photographic record and historic building analysis of the entire building were also carried out in advance of conservation work. The present owners of the site are keen to celebrate and raise awareness of its national importance and have established a trust to try to raise funds to save it for future generations.

]]> This church was built to replace the Old Kirk and remains remarkably unaltered. It is of plain form and was designed by P Macgregor Chalmers. It consists of a nave with low north aisle and eastern apse and mostly round-arched, Romanesque windows.

The interior remains equally intact, with bare stone walls and open wooden roofs over the nave and aisle; the apse has a plastered ceiling. The furnishings - plain pews and round stone font - are entirely contemporary with the building, as are the three stained glass windows, which were designed by Stephen Adam & Son of Glasgow. The fine west window was restored a few years ago. On an aisle column, window jamb and door lintel are carved phrases and beatitudes.

A wrought iron stand near the south door holds a bell, dated 1838, which used to hang in the bellcote of the Old Kirk.

]]> Tullibody is an ancient parish linked with Cambuskenneth Abbey. A church was founded in 1149 and parts of this ruined church are probably of that date, though a date stone records its restoration in 1539. It was damaged by the French army of Mary of Guise twenty years later. It was restored again, with the addition of a bellcote, in 1760 by George Abercomby and turned into the family mausoleum. In 1833 it became a chapel of ease, but it was abadoned as unsafe in 1904 and unroofed in 1916. The kirkyard contains some interesting gravestones, including the 15th century stone coffin known as the Maiden Stone.

Two phases of restoration work on the Old Kirk have been completed and it is hoped that the improvements will help to protect the building from vandalism. Further restoration of the building and gravestones are being planned.

]]>

Tullibody is an ancient parish linked with Cambuskenneth Abbey. A church was founded in 1149 and parts of this ruined church are probably of that date, though a date stone records its restoration in 1539. It was damaged by the French army of Mary of Guise twenty years later. It was restored again, with the addition of a bellcote, in 1760 by George Abercomby and turned into the family mausoleum. In 1833 it became a chapel of ease, but was abandoned as unsafe in 1904 and unroofed in 1916. The kirkyard contains some interesting gravestones, including the 15th century stone coffin known as the Maiden Stone.

The village of Tullibody grew around the medieval church, but in c1800 the Abercromby family moved it. The core of the new village was around Main Street and the Tron Tree. In the 19th century a tannery was built and the village began to grow. It expanded again in the 1950s, when new housing was built for a large influx of miners from Lanarkshire, who came to work in the short-lived Glenochil Colliery. Most of the old village was demolished and rebuilt.

The Heritage Centre is run by Tullibody History Group and tells the fascinating story of the village and neighbouring Cambus. Displays include a model of Tullibody; a fully furnished doll's house modelled on Tullibody House, owned by the Abercomby family (an illustrated genealogy gives details of this remarkable family); a replica Victorian schoolroom and a 1940s-style kitchen; as well as details about significant people, such as William Burns Paterson, who founded what is now Alabama State University, and the baker, botanist and geologist Robert Dick (1811-1866), to whom a fine memorial has been erected in Tullibody.

]]> Clackmannan was once the county town, where the Sheriff Court was held and where the Tolbooth was built in 1592. There will be guided walks around this fascinating historic town, led by members of the Heritage Group. The walks will look at the Stone of Mannan, the Mercat Cross, the remains of the Tolbooth, Clackmannan Tower and other important buildings and sites which help to tell the story of the town from which the county take its name.

]]> This elaborate and unusual church was designed by William Stirling to replace its predecessor, built in 1773 on a site a little to the east. Much of the stone from the earlier structure was probably used to build the new church.

Built in neo-Perpendicular style, the church features buttresses to the sides of each bay which end in impressively tall, pointed finials. Stirling’s original design may have included a spire or tower, but it was never built.

The octagonal bellcote over the north entrance houses a bell cast in Rotterdam in 1670 by Cornelius Ouderogge; this was removed from the medieval church which stood further north on Kirk Hill, refitted in its 18th century successor, then moved again to its present location.

A horseshoe-shaped gallery was replaced in 1920 by a single gallery. The fine, three-light stained glass window of 1924 by Douglas Strachan was installed in memory of the Rev Joseph Conn.

The kirkyard contains several interesting and elaborate gravestones, many of which were restored as part of the Historic Kirkyards Trail project of the Ochils Landscape Partnership programme. They shed light on the inhabitants of Tillicoultry as it developed into an industrial town, with many textile mills.

]]> The trail starts at St John’s Primary School and is self-guided thereafter. The architect George Kerr (1865-1927) could be called the ‘Charles Rennie Mackintosh’ of Alloa, such was his interest in and use of motifs favoured by his famous contemporary. In 1893 he settled in Alloa, where in 1896 he set up his own practice at 30 Mar Street.

]]> This remarkable burial ground of the Taits of Harviestoun stands on its own in a field and is encircled by a high stone wall. The 5 monuments and wall plaque commemorate several generations, beginning with John Tait (1727-1800), a wealthy Edinburgh lawyer, who bought the Harviestoun estate in 1780. Their home, Harviestoun Castle, was demolished in 1970.

]]> Walk 1: The Alloa Wagon Way

Alloa Tower was once at the centre of a large estate owned by the Erskines. The 6th Earl of Mar was exiled after leading the 1715 Jacobite Uprising, his title and estate forfeited to the Government. His family bought the estate back and it was later managed by the 6th Earl's daughter Lady Frances Erskine. Her father had developed a road through Alloa to bring coal from his mines to the harbour, but in 1766 Lady Frances had wooden rails laid along its route to create a new wagon way. Later improvements ensured that the new wagon way made the transport of coal much more efficient and by 1775 Alloa was exporting over one third of Scotland’s total coal production.

This walk will explore the surviving sections of the original wagon way through Alloa. The walk will take no more than 1 hour 45 minutes.

Walk 2: Alloa House and Park

Lady Frances's son John Francis Erskine inherited the Alloa estate in 1776. He improved it including creating a fish pond fed by water taken from the River Black Devon and with an elaborate dam and sluice system. His grandson, the 9th Earl of Mar, built Alloa House in the 1830s and his successor the Earl of Kellie, who inherited the estate in 1866, made many improvements, extended the house considerably, built a walled garden, new lodges and, probably c1870, an ice house near the fish pond.

This walk will explore the surviving evidence for the Alloa House estate, including the walled garden and the fish pond. The walk will take no more than 1 hour 45 minutes.

The walks will start from Alloa Tower. No pre-booking is required.

]]> The church was built as a chapel of ease in 1842 and celebrated its 175th anniversary in 2017. The design consists of a plain nave with a tall, square eastern tower of four stages, including a belfry. The bell was installed in 1846 and was rung in the traditional manner until recently, but is now operated by pushing an electric switch.

Improvements were made in about 1889, including the two west windows, with stained glass representing Faith, Hope and Charity and the Bible, Holy Spirit and Lamb of God. The north and south side windows include symbols of the Four Evangelists.

The furnishings include a finely carved Communion table presented in 1932; the pulpit, moved to its present side position in 1972; an octagonal baptismal font donated in 1948 and a Hammond organ, probably the third organ in the church. The church united with Coalsnaughton Parish Church in 1994 and its baptismal font, a gift from the Sunday School in 1943, and Communion table were moved here. There are two adjacent halls, one built in 1900 and the other in 1956/7.

]]> Sir James Schaw of Greenock acquired the estate of Sauchie by marriage and probably built Sauchie Tower c.1415. The Schaws were an influential family in medieval Scotland.

The tower complex included an outer wall, cobbled courtyard and large hall with kitchen and bread oven. The west courtyard wall was partly remodelled c.1490, to include gunholes and corner tower. In 1631 this was incorporated into Sauchie House, built by Alexander Schaw, who was knighted in 1633 by Charles I.

In c1710 the family moved to their new mansion of Schawpark. A cottage was built against the south end of Sauchie House. The tower roof fell in c1858 and the bartizans (corner turrets) and gables collapsed c1890. Sauchie House was demolished in 1930 and the cottage soon afterwards.

Sauchie Tower is owned by Clackmannanshire Heritage Trust, which has carried out remedial repairs. The Friends of Sauchie Tower were established to support the restoration of the tower. The group was awarded a Heritage Lottery Fund grant to carry out the project entitled Sauchie Tower and its Environs, which included an excavation and research on the family, site and surroundings.

Clackmannanshire Heritage Trust and the Friends are planning to raise funds to complete the excavation of the site, finish the restoration of Sauchie Tower, conserve the ruins of Sauchie House and reshape the surrounding landscape.

]]> Menstrie Castle was built c1560 as a manor house by the Alexander family. It was the birthplace of Sir William Alexander, who had an illustrious career during the reign of James VI and I. In 1621 he began to establish a new colony called Nova Scotia, but the scheme failed and he lost money. Nonetheless, he improved Menstrie Castle and his town house in Stirling (Argyll's Lodging) in 1633, when he was invested 1st Earl of Stirling and Viscount Canada. In 1640, however, he died a bankrupt and broken man in London.

The house was damaged during the Civil War. James Holburne acquired it in 1648 and his grandson sold it to Alexander Abercromby of Tullibody in 1719. Sir Ralph Abercromby, the famous military commander, was born there in 1734. The Abercromby family sold the estate in 1924.

By 1951 the building was derelict, but was saved from destruction by a campaign led by the actor, broadcaster and conservationist Moultrie Kelsall. The restoration was completed in 1964. Most of the Castle was converted into flats, but two ground-floor rooms were restored as a display area. These are now owned by Clackmannanshire Council and are managed by the National Trust for Scotland.

]]> This is one of only two churches known to have been designed by Sir William Tite, whose architectural practice was mainly concerned with railways. It is Gothic in style and originally T-plan, with nave, north transepts, a tall bell-tower and small corbelled and crenelated angle towers. The chancel was added in 1925 to accommodate the Rushworth and Dreaper organ. The interior has only been altered slightly, with 19th century pews and galleries remaining; the pulpit, chancel panelling, communion table and stalls were designed by J Jeffrey Waddell in 1925-6.


The stained glass includes windows designed by A Ballantine & Son (1910), St Enoch Glass Studios (1949) and the Union Window which commemorates the union of this church and the West Church in 1979. Designed by Jennifer Campbell and Adam Robson, it illustrates the different aspects of caring by the church. The window was executed by Douglas Hogg. The original cartoon is on display in Dollar Museum.

]]> This fine independent, community-run museum occupies part of a former early 19th century woollen mill and has permanent displays about the history of Dollar and its environs, including Granny’s Kitchen, Castle Campbell, Dollar Academy and the Devon Valley Railway. On the first floor is a reading and research room.

Dollar Museum celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2018. It has created and shown over 150 temporary exhibitions since it opened in 1988 and the new exhibition for 2019 is as follows:

Developing Dollar - a century of housing in Dollar

This exhibition tells the fascinating story of the 33 major housing developments which have taken place in Dollar in the last hundred years, focussing on plans, planning issues and the memories of those who grew up in the new houses. The display 'Moving House' also showcases a range of household items from the 1920s to the present day.

]]>

Devon Colliery has had a long history. It was leased to the Alloa Coal Company in 1843, but flooding, which had always been a huge problem, forced it to close in 1854. The company managed to reopen it in 1879, achieving this with new pit-head plant, including the very impressive Beam Engine House, which housed a Cornish-style beam pumping engine built by Neilson & Co in Glasgow in 1865. It could pump 2,560 gallons of water per minute out of the colliery. It took about a year to drain the pit, with several million gallons of water being pumped out every 24 hours. The steam engine was also used to drive machinery of all kinds and was in operation until 1932, when electric pumps were installed.

Devon Colliery was the largest and longest lasting colliery in Clackmannanshire. It was served by the wagon way and mineral railway lines connecting it with the neighbouring Crophill pit and with the main line to Alloa and Tillicoultry. It closed in 1960, ending at least 450 years of coalmining in the area around Sauchie Tower. The beam engine was partly dismantled. The Beam Engine House was restored by Clackmannan District Council in 1993, by which time only the massive cast-iron beam and part of the pump-rod remained. It is one of the few surviving beam engines in Scotland and the only sign that a colliery ever existed on the site. It was converted to office space and, after sporadic use, was later sold to the Scottish SPCA, which is now developing plans to use it as an educational information centre.

]]> Clackmannan Town Hall was built in four phases. The main hall was designed by the Alloa architect Adam Frame and built in 1888. The Art Nouveau-style, red sandstone facade on Main Street, designed by Ebenezer Simpson, was gifted by John Thomson Paton, Managing Director of John Paton, S.on & Co. Ltd, Kilncraigs Mill, Alloa, who also provided an endowment fund. Completed in 1903, it included a library and reading room, billiards and recreation rooms and was also funded with a grant from Andrew Carnegie.

Mr Thomson Paton gave it in trust to the Parish Council of the Parish of Clackmannan. In 1927 the local Miners Welfare Fund paid for a western extension, providing a new billiards hall with retiring room. In 1993 a north-eastern extension was added by Clackmannan District Council, to provide a new library and Community Access Point and building was refurbished.

The hall is now managed by Clackmannan Town Hall Trust.

]]> Clackmannan Tower dates from c1360 and was built by the Bruce family. In the 15th century the building was raised to its current height and the taller south wing was constructed. A new mansion was built to the west of the tower in the late 16th century and in the 17th century further changes were made to the tower. Lady Catherine Bruce, the last of the family, lived in the mansion until her death in 1791.

The tower has been in the guardianship of the State since the 1950s and is managed on its behalf by Historic Environment Scotland, which has undertaken extensive repairs. Further improvements have been carried out recently as part of the Inner Forth Landscape Initiative (IFLI). New internal barriers have improved safety for visitors, the scaffolded staircase has been removed and new lighting has been installed.

]]> Designed by James Gillespie Graham, this fine building probably replaced the medieval church built on the site in 1249. In perpendicular Georgian Gothic, with a buttressed tower against the west gable, there have been a number of alterations, but the interior retains many of its original features, including the pews and gallery. A plaque by Sir Robert Lorimer commemorates Robert Bruce, Master of Burleigh, who was killed at Le Cateau on 26th August 1914, an early casualty of the First World War.

The stained glass is impressive and all of mid-20th century date; there are windows by Herbert Hendrie (1938, 1940), Douglas Hamilton (1952, 1953), Gordon Webster (1964) and Sadie McLellan (1966), the last one donated by the Buick family of Hilton Fireclay, Brick & Tile Works in Alloa. The Coronation window, the only one in the county, is in the east wall of the gallery. Her Majesty the Queen visited the church on 9th July 1997 to see it.

In the kirkyard, late 17th and early 18th century trade gravestones reflect the farming backgrounds of many of the inhabitants of the parish. The large memorial for the Bruce family can also be seen.

]]> The church of St Serf was rebuilt in 1632 but was abandoned in the 1980s when the congregation merged with that of the Eadie Church. It was demolished after a fire in 1985. Its ‘footprint’ and some inscribed stones remain, along with some interesting early gravestones in the kirkyard. The Erskine family, cousins of the Earls of Mar, had a burial vault beneath the church and there is a plaque in memory of Dr Robert Erskine (1677-1718), who was Chief Physician to Tzar Peter the Great.

The Johnstone Mausoleum was designed by Robert and James Adam for John Johnstone (1734–1795), who bought the Alva estate from James Erskine, Lord Alva, in 1775. Johnstone built the mausoleum c1790, following the death of his wife. Columns of the Greek Doric order flank the entrance, supporting a triangular pediment. It is one of only four Adam mausolea in Scotland. Johnstone, his wife and six of their descendants are buried in the original mausoleum: an eastern extension was added in the 19th century to accommodate additional burials. The mausoleum, which is owned by Clackmannanshire Heritage Trust, has been restored and a glass roof has replaced the pitched roof of the 19th century extension.

The Old Kirkyard was restored as part of the Historic Kirkyards Trail project of the Ochils Landscape Partnership programme.

]]> James Raymond Johnstone inherited the Alva House estate in 1795. He added a new west wing and probably the stable block and ice house, in c.1810-20. The ice house is buried on the slope below the stables. By the mid-19th century most country houses and estates had an ice house, to keep provisions cold and fresh and provide a supply of ice for fruit sherbets and table decorations. The introduction of refrigeration in the early 1900s rendered ice houses obsolete.

This ice house is a fine example, consisting of an entrance passage leading into a heptagonal corridor around the main ice chamber, which is egg-shaped, with a flattened base and a hatch at the top through which to lower the ice. The corridor has six niches set into the inner walls, with stone storage shelves. There would have been three doors, to maintain a dry, even temperature and atmosphere for the ice. The ice house was restored as part of the Ochils Landscape Partnership programme, with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Clackmannanshire Council, LEADER and other sources.

]]> One of the largest and finest towers of its type in Scotland, it was home to the distinguished Erskine family, Earls of Mar, from the later 14th century until 1800. By 1693 a mansion, kitchen tower, brew house and other buildings had been added. In 1702 John, 6th Earl of Mar, began to convert the tower into an elegant modern house and created an ambitious and extensive planned landscape around his home.

In 1800 the mansion was destroyed by fire, but the tower survived. By the 1980s it was derelict. Alloa Tower Building Preservation Trust restored it to its likely appearance in 1712. The tower was opened formally by Her Majesty the Queen in 1997. A fine collection of Erskine family portraits from the Mar & Kellie collection is displayed, along with many items of family silver, while a DVD tells the story of the tower. Alloa Tower is owned and managed by the National Trust for Scotland.

]]> The Alman Dramatic Club was formed in 1939 by a group of fifteen women led by Helen Wright and Nettie Forsyth and soon became the largest performing arts group in the county. This informal group developed into an amateur dramatic club. In 1953 the Club was allowed to use the hay loft in the former Coach House of Inglewood, a mansion built in 1900 by the Forrester-Paton family and designed by A G Sydney Mitchell & Wilson. The estate was later owned by the Church of Scotland and the Club eventually purchased the Coach House.

The Hay Loft Theatre opened in 1957, but in 1959 its present name was adopted. Since then it has been the Club’s permanent home, its unique 63-seat theatre providing audiences with an intimate theatrical experience where they have seen numerous performances, including many full-length plays, as well as modern writing, comedy, tragedy and satire. The Club has performed works by all the great playwrights, national and international, as well as its own members’ work. The theatre is also used by other groups for a range of cultural activities.

The building has been renovated with grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund and many other supporters.

]]> The church was constructed in dark brown brick and is still modern in appearance though traditional in form: it has a huge east gable with a five-light window and a belfry with narrow, vertical louvred slits.

The nave is spacious and bright, the narrow aisles supported on elegant, tall octagonal columns. In the Lady Chapel is a richly coloured, three-light stained glass window by Sadie McLellan in the Dalles de Verre technique developed in France in the 1930s, where the glass is cast in a mould, broken into pieces and the design set into a resin compound instead of lead cames. This technique still looks startlingly modern. Many of the modern furnishings of the church were donated by various parishioners. Some of the church vestments may be on display.

]]> Designed by James Gillespie Graham to replace the old parish church in Kirkgate, this Late Georgian building is a large, ornate, battlemented rectangle with a five-bay north elevation. It has an impressive 207ft high spire, its corners clasped by flying buttresses with crocketed pinnacles. External additions were made in 1966-7 by Leslie Grahame Thomson.

The interior was also much altered by the same architect, who removed the galleries and added the panelled wood ceiling in 1936-7, as well as designing the pulpit, lectern, font and oak pews. In 1966-7 he created a new west chancel.

The interesting stained glass is of late 19th and 20th century date, and includes work by William Meikle & Sons (1901), A L Moore & Co. (1901), William Wilson (1951-2) and John Blyth (1991).

The Congregation has recently completed a two-year conservation, restoration and facilities enhancement programme on both the internal and external fabric of the building, which celebrated its 200th anniversary in June 2019. Visitors will have an opportunity to see this work, as well as a fine new commemorative stained glass window and time capsule commissioned to mark the bicentenary.

]]> This fine church was designed by Sir Robert Rowand Anderson in a simple Geometric style, with a separate bell-tower and tall, broach spire. It is one of the most beautifully designed and finished Episcopal churches in Scotland. It was built for Walter Coningsby Erskine, Earl of Mar & Kellie, as a gift to the congregation.

The ornate interior includes stained glass by C A Gibbs (1869), C E Kempe (1890, 1902), Douglas Strachan (1913) and Margaret Chilton (1939) given by the Erskine family, William Bailey of Alloa Pottery and the Younger family, brewers in Alloa; a Sicilian marble altar with a reredos mosaic by Salviati of Venice; and some very fine memorials,including an impressive marble effigy of Walter Coningsby Erskine, a World War I memorial designed by Sir Robert Lorimer and a chancel screen and accompanying memorial tablet of 1902 in memory of 2nd Lieutenant E J Younger, killed in the Boer War. The tablet contains an enamel by Phoebe Anna Traquair.

Restoration of the spire and chancel was completed with financial support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Historic Scotland and other funding bodies.

]]> The Speirs Centre was built as Alloa Public Baths and Gymnasium and was gifted by John Thomson Paton, Managing Director of John Paton, Son & Co. Ltd, KIlncraigs Mill. It was designed by John James Burnet, Son & Campbell. Construction began in 1895 and it opened on 29th April 1898. The building has been described as ‘one of Scotland’s finest public baths and gymnasiums’. It closed at the end of 1986, then reopened as a gymnastic centre on 13thJanuary 1989 as The Speirs Centre, in memory of the Clackmannanshire boxer Tommy Speirs. It closed again in 2012 and reopened on 18th October 2014, with a new extension designed by LDN Architects.

It now provides a wide range of services, including a library; local and family history research centre; Archives; Registry; and exhibitions on the history and heritage of the county.

Clackmannanshire’s Archive Collection was moved into a new storage facility in the building in 2017 and people are invited to have a guided tour of the Archive Store, which is not normally accessible to the public. The Archives include records of Clackmannanshire Council and its predecessor bodies (including property valuation rolls, school log books and burial records) and also contain privately donated collections from local companies, clubs, families and individuals, such as the Patons & Baldwins archive and the Johnstone of Alva Papers. There will also be displays relating to the history of the building and a look at what the county was like thirty years ago, to mark the 30th anniversary of Doors Open Days.

Exhibition: Alloa Pottery - A Celebration

Alloa Pottery was established in c1783, but its heyday began when it was taken over in 1856 by Joseph Bailey, an Edinburgh china and glass merchant. His sons later ran the pottery, modernising, expanding and improving it to ensure its survival in an increasingly competitive market. W & J A Bailey's Alloa Pottery flourished, winning awards at international trade exhibitions, producing an extensive range of pottery and engraved glassware and claiming to hold a stock of 100,000 tea pots. It eventually closed in 1907. This new exhibition has been researched, devised and arranged by the Friends of Clackmannanshire Heritage and includes about 150 pieces from the county Heritage Collection.

The Great Tapestry of Scotland - a new panel for Clackmannanshire

Part of the Great Tapestry of Scotland was shown to acclaim in the Speirs Centre in 2017; since then a panel has been researched and designed to tell aspects of the story of Clackmannanshire. The main design has been drawn by Andrew Crummy and workshops have been held around the county to recruit volunteers and to select additional subjects for the panel. Visitors will be able to see the outline drawings on the linen panel and to find out more about the background to the project, which is being coordinated by Clackmannanshire TSI.

]]> The Sheriff Court was built as the new County and Police Buildings to replace Ochil House. It was designed by Brown and Wardrop in a late Scots-Flemish style and it also reflects the local tradition, with crowstepped gables and gablets. Above the main entrance on Mar Street is a balcony surmounted by lions and the Royal coat-of-arms. The impressive three-storey tower has pedimented clock faces and a steep roof. The first-floor court room has a hammer-beam roof and large light fittings, originally for gas lamps. The extension and police offices were designed by William Kerr, who was responsible for many public and private buildings in the county.


Portraits from the Mar & Kellie collection are on display in this multi-functional court building. There will be no access to the cells.

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The parish church of St Mungo was established in the 14th century then enlarged and the tower raised in 1680-2. The mason was Tobias Bauchop, whose house still stands in Kirkgate. Around 1700, John, 6th Earl of Mar, built a private aisle with burial vault on the north side of the church. The old kirk became overcrowded and was condemned in 1816: it was mostly demolished and many stones reused to build the new parish church in Bedford Place.


Designed by James Gillespie Graham, the Mar & Kellie Mausoleum was built on the site of the Mar Aisle. The original ceiling was painted brightly and decorated with flowers and Rococo panels. It was partly restored in 1994-6.

The old kirkyard contains a good collection of early trade gravestones and fine memorials for many of the people responsible for the development of Alloa into a busy industrial town.

]]> This church was designed by Peddie & Kinnear in Early French Gothic style and replaced a plain 18th century building. In 1902 Scots late Gothic transepts and a pine and marble sanctuary with an elaborate pulpit by A G Sydney Mitchell & Wilson, who had also designed Greenfield for David Thomson, were added; David Thomson and his brother John Thomson Paton paid for this work. The north window is in memory of their parents, while the west and east transept windows were given by the Procters, another branch of the Paton family. All three windows are by C E Kempe.

The 1904 pipe organ by Messrs Lewis and Co was also given by the Thomsons. The adjacent church hall was designed by the Alloa architect Adam Frame in 1891.

The interior was altered several years ago: the original pews were removed, the marble altar moved to the west transept and the walls and roof painted. Memorials and other fittings from the former North Church have been incorporated into the modernised church.

]]> The Earl and Countess of Mar & Kellie's home have some fine family portraits, including a newly arrived three-metre high painting of Walter Coningsby Erskine, 10th Earl of Mar, who inherited the earldom and Alloa estate from his cousin, the 9th Earl of Mar, in 1866. He had had a very distinguished career in India and became a Commander of the Bath following the Indian Mutiny, when he managed to keep his district of Jubalpore quiet. He used his considerable fortune to enlarge Alloa House and improve the estate, as well as making alterations and repairs to Alloa Tower.

The paintings also complement the large collection of Mar & Kellie portraits on display in nearby Alloa Tower.

]]> Greenfield House was designed by the Edinburgh architects A G Sydney Mitchell & Wilson for David Paton Thomson, one of the directors of John Paton, Son & Co. Ltd. It was elegantly furnished and housed a fine art collection. The same architects reconstructed and extended the house after a fire in 1914. David Thomson died in 1917 and in his will instructed that his wife should live in the house until her death, after which it must be sold. Jane Thomson died early in 1950 and Alloa Burgh Council bought Greenfield House. The official opening of the Municipal Buildings by The Right Rev. George J Jeffrey D.D, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, was an important civic occasion and took place on 13th September 1952. Many of the original fittings of the house, including stained glass, Arts & Crafts style carved stone and wood, plasterwork and wood panelling, have survived. There are also several paintings, including a portrait of the eminent Alloa mining engineer, Robert Bald, on display. Greenfield House is currently the headquarters of Clackmannanshire Council, but the Council will be moving out soon, after over sixty years of local government use of the building.

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Alloa Fire Station opened in 1964. It currently has three fire appliances, including specialist vehicles for urban search and rescue and heavy rescue, one of which is crewed by twelve retained personnel. There are twenty-five wholetime personnel operating on a five-watch rotational duty system.

The inception of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service in April 2013 means that these fire crews and their supporting equipment from Alloa could be called upon to mobilise to anywhere in Scotland.

The role of the fire service has changed dramatically since 1964. The modern fire service of today attends a range of incidents including fires, road traffic collisions, urban search and rescue, water rescue and rope rescue. The appliances and equipment within Alloa display the vast array of equipment required for these tasks. The crews are also pro-actively involved in all aspects of community safety work, including the delivery of home fire safety visits and engaging with the local community to give fire safety advice.

To book a free Home Fire Safety Visit text ‘fire’ to 61611, call 0800 0731 999 or visit the website: www.firescotland.gov.uk

]]> As part of Doors Open Day, Mark Douglas, the council's Team Leader for Heritage & Design will lead a walk around the town centre to view the works of Hawick's most prominent and prolific architect; James Pearson Alison (1862-1932).

Alison set up business in Hawick in 1887 or 1888 at 19 North Bridge Street which probably initially served as both office and house. In the latter year he was asked by Patrick Laing to design a substantial villa and commissions thereafter followed swiftly as his reputation grew among the local gentry and manufacturers. His office was at 'The Studio' at 45 North Bridge Street which he designed in 1900 and his residence being 'Ladylaw' in Hawick. He was also a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and a member of the Hawick Callants Club.

Outwith Hawick, his numerous projects including Port House and the Public Hall in Jedburgh, the War Memorial in Denholm and the former Police Station in Kelso. In the centre of Hawick, The Border Club, the former Unionist Club (now The Bourtree) and the Savings Bank on the High Street are all examples of his work His practice continued after his death under the existing title of J P Alison & Hobkirk. In 1936 J Murray Aitken was taken into partnership, becoming sole partner in 1955. The firm of Aitken & Turnbull is the successor of this practice

This walk is generally flat and on footways/paths

The tour is FREE and no booking is required but numbers will be restricted to 30 visitors to avoid congestion.

]]> Walking tour to see some of the key areas of the First World War training & internment camp including parts of the British Guard camp, a spectacular view of the prisoner of war camp and the re-instated memorial in the former cemetery

Due to available parking numbers are limited for this tour to a maximum of 30 visitors. Car sharing is advised where possible.The tour takes place outdoors and at times entails walking over uneven ground. Stout footwear and outdoor clothing is advised

Tour is suitable for families. Children will need to be accompanied by an adult

PRE-BOOKING ESSENTIAL: Andy Jepson 07899804536 or a.jepson@archaeologyscotland.org.uk

Details, map & parking instructions to be sent to attendees via email prior to the event

]]> Richardson and Son and long established local printers in the town. They have been involved in printing a number of publications associated with the history of Hawick, including:

"Companion Guide to Hawick and District" for Hawick Archaeological Society

"Hawick & District and The Great War" by Derek Robertson

"Reflections of Hawick" by Ian W Landles BEM an Alan G Brydon.

In 2019 they used an 1863 machine to print Langholm Common-Riding ribbons on pink material.(Colours of the Winner of The Derby)

The building now occupied by Richardson & Son has a long history.

In 1921 the North British Railway Company opened a maintenance yard and sidings at the former Andrew Oliver & Son's auction site in Loch Park, relocating the district's wagon works from the wilderness at Riccarton junction.

With the impending closure of the Waverley Line, the yard and its workshops were converted to an industrial estate by Hawick Town Council in 1968. One of the first tenants was The Hawick News, which moved from its original premises at 24 High Street. Their print works closed in 2000 and is now occupied by Richardson & Son, commercial and general printers

]]> Borders Textile Towerhouse lets visitors discover the knitwear and tweed story, how the Borders woollen industries reached the height of luxury and fashion.

You will also discover the fascinating history of this 500 year old tower from the days of the Border Reivers

Styled in the Borders 2019

This exhibition gathers together examples of the best quality fashion and design coming out of the Borders in 2019.

The Wonders of Wool: Ann Smith

The landscape, flora and fauna of Scotland provide inspiration for these vibrant felt art works and other wool felt creations

]]> Dating back to the late 1920s in a loose Art Deco style, the building was used for offices. It was recently converted to become the Hawick Men's Shed and now provides workshops, display areas and social facilities within a two storey building (access to the upper floor is via a staircase only)

]]> An outstanding late-19th century Scottish Baronial town hall on a prominent corner site with a tower that has a commanding presence over the whole town. The current town hall replaced the earlier tollbooth on the same site. The building continues to be used by the council for offices.

Access to view the Council Chamber, Provost's Room and Old Police Station and cells which are not normally open to the public.

PRE BOOKING ESSENTIAL Contact Frank Scott at fscott@scottborders.gov.uk

]]> The home of Hawick Rugby Football Club. The club room contianing the Bill McLaren Room as well as the trophy room and education room will be open.

]]> The building was originally designed for the Hawick Urban Electric Company in a Tudor Cotswold style in the early 20th century and then became an engineers workshops for Turnbull & Scott. It was brought back into use by the Borders Distillery in 2018 with Gray Macpherson Architects. The conversion has won a number of national awards including from the Civic Trust and the RIAS as well as a local Scottish Borders Council Design Award in 2018.

]]> New centre which only opened in spring 2019, incorporated within Hawick High school to deliver much needed skills back into the textile sector

Showcase training being delivered within centre

]]> The original building dates back to c 1600, with 1859 alterations by Wm Hall &Co Galashiels, and further works in 1910 by JP Allison and 1975by Aitken and Turnbull.

Hawick Museum's parkland location and fascinating displays reflect the endeavour of the town and its people. The objects and fine works of art collected are not just about Hawick but a window on the world.

Outside the museum, near the War Memorial, Hawick Callants Club recently installed the Passchendaele Negative sculptures which were unveiled on Gallipoli Day 12 July 2019

]]> The building dates from 1922 when the brethren moved from Myrelawsgreen in Hawick.

Tours at 13:15 and 14:00 (and potentially 14:45 if enough demand)

PRE-BOOKING ESSENTIAL at lodge111@hotmail.co.uk

Access will be open to the function room as well as the Temple, which will be set out as it would be for a Masonic Meeting with office-bearers in attendance. There will be tours of the temple and an explanation given of the layout, plan and key features. William Beattie's (sculptor of the 1514 Horse Memorial) actual Cavalry Sword will be on display.

]]> The fire station opened in 1970. Fully operational Community Fire Station consisting of a Wholetime Firefighter element who are present 24/7 and also a Retained Duty System crew, who attend at time of emergency. Staff training & development is carried out at station. The Station is also available as a resource for the public as a meeting venue.

The complex includes the breathing apparatus training house and drill tower as well as the main building

]]> The building was originally built in the mid-19th century as part of the Hawick Corn Exchange. Following fire damage it was brought back into use in 2007 as the Heritage Hub with alterations and extensions by Gray, Marshall Associates as part of the 'Heart of Hawick' project.

Environmentally-controlled archive building on four floors but three floors generally inaccessible to public. Opening these to visitors during Doors Open Day will give an insight into how we work and the scale of the collections.

Behind-the-scenes (strong room tours) and displays in search room, lobby and meeting room. There will be tours half hourly from 10:00 to 15:30 inclusive.

The HERITAGE HUB will also act as the information centre of the Doors Open Day on Saturday 14 September.

]]> Rowlands is a youth project based in an old hardware store bequeathed by the owner Rowland Tait to the young people of Selkirk.�

]]> Members of the Flood Schemes project team will lead tours of the new flood defences. These will take in the riverside defences, the new Bridge Street footbridge and the Long Philip Burn river restoration works.

This walk is generally flat and on footways/paths and is suitable for all ages. Sturdy footwear is advisable.

The tour is FREE but places are limited so advance booking is recommended. Please email selkirkfps@scotborders.gov.uk to book a place on the tour.

Meet at Selkirk Flood Protection Scheme site compound.

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]]> A modern architectural gem in a countryside setting. This glass, brick and concrete structure seems to grow out of the ground and float among the trees. The building was damaged by flooding during an earlier conversion and is therefore in poor aesthetic condition as it awaits the instigation of future restorative works.

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]]> A building in the English Decorated Style this delightful church with a scissor braced roof has internal furnishings by Sir Robert Lorimer and Stained Glass by Herbert Hendrie.

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]]> Wilton Park Lodge is a category B listed property set within 107 acres of award winning parkland. Under the ownership of Scottish Borders Council, it is one of the town's principal attractions and has been the home of Hawick Museum for over 80 years. The house is built of coursed whinstone with ashlar dressings and stands on the site of a much older building.

]]> Wilton Parish Church in its commanding position is, undoubtedly, the most imposing building on the north side of the river. Designed by J T Emmett it was built in 1862. 1908 saw the building considerably extended by J P Alison to provide a north and south transept chancel.

]]> The base for Selkirk Doors Open Day 2016, this fine red sandstone French renaissance building was open for guided tours into usually private areas of the building including backstage areas, dressing rooms and caretakers flat.

]]> Trinity Church is a good example of a later 19th century Romanesque style church with fine stone detailing to the principal street elevation making a considerable contribution to its immediate surroundings. The interior, though altered, demonstrates a good decorative scheme dating to 1928.

]]> The Church stands on top of a slope at the east end of Hawick High Street. It is a sizeable building set within its own grounds with a session house and vestry at the south west corner fronting the church hall.� The pediment over the entrance door has the date of construction, 1843, inscribed upon it.

]]> The Trinity Centre was built to celebrate the 2nd millennium and the 150th anniversary of the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church. It was opened by the Duke of Buccleuch and is used by the local community both young and old.

]]> The Ormiston Institute is the INFORMATION CENTRE for the Melrose Doors Open Day. Refreshments are available here all day. Exhibition: Trimontium: Melrose?s Roman Past Exhibition is within the Ormiston Institute. This consists of a series of illustrated panels and modern artefact display cases; aerial photographs; artists' drawings; models; maps; the Newstead charger - to ride; a blacksmith's workshop; a Roman kitchen and pottery; replica armour; and a video room, showing 'The Lost Legions', narrated by Leonard Nimoy. Mementoes of your visit are available, including postcards, books and relevant souvenirs. The indispensable audio guide, which accompanies the admission ticket, has the distinctive voice of Bill McLaren (of Borders and rugby fame) to take you round. Walk: The Trimontium Walk starts from the Newstead Millennium Milestone at 14.00 and aims to finish by 15.30. Directions to Newstead (1 mile away - own transport required) will be given at The Ormiston. The guided walk will take you to the Roman camp, annexes and the amphitheatre. http://www.trimontium.freeserve.co.uk

]]> Tower Mill was built in 1852 as a spinning mill. It is partly built on a segmental arch spanning over the Slitrig water. The mill was originally powered by a large cast iron water wheel, which remains in place as one of the largest in Southern Scotland. The mill and wheel are listed category A and lies within the boundary of the 'Heart of Hawick' Townscape Heritage Initiative.

]]> Following a �3m renovation this B listed former weaving shed to the rear of the main mill reopened this summer as the headquarters of the Eildon Housing Group.� Now providing first class office space for over 80 staff,� its transformation was masterminded by architect Alan Marshall of Gray Marshall Associates.

The mill chimney adjacent to the weaving shed remains a landmark.

]]> A guided walk around the centre of Selkirk which encompasses the old town and more than thirty points of historical, architectural and cultural interest including the old Kirkyard where William Wallace was proclaimed 'Guardian of Scotland'.�

]]> A gem of a building, this wonderful A listed Palladian mansion is set in a secluded site near the centre of the town. It was started in 1794 and considerably remodelled and enriched circa 1819 under the direction of Archibald Elliot, architect.

The property is now in the care of the community based Haining Charitable Trust. Whilst the second world war service took its toll on the interiors the quality of space and light coupled with the integration within the landscape setting is not to be missed.

The Haining Studios are also open as part of Doors Open Day (See Separate Listing)

]]> The Haining Studios are a series of six award winning contemporary creative spaces by Lee Boyd Architects within the converted Coach House courtyard on the Haining Estate offering an idyllic artisan haven in a stunning environment.�

]]> Now sensitively refurbished and named the Engine House, this building dates from 1858-65, and was extended to the NE in 1895.� Once used to power the huge mills this former engine shed/boiler house has been brought back to life by Allied Surveyors for their own offices with many of the original features retained.

Rubble-built with ashlar dressings. Central gabled engine house with three arched lights, skewputts oculus and ball finial. Lower three bays to right with roundheaded lights. Large semi-circular window over long opening with steel lintel. Projecting bay to the north with cast-iron roof tank inscribed with "Melrose & Sons Engineers and Ironfounders Hawick".��

]]> Facing on to St Georges lane off Buccleuch Road the church was built in 1916, replacing an older building dating from 1843. The building is surprisingly large with a high, dark stained, pine roof with open beams. The most eye-catching feature of the building is the east window, installed to commemorate the reunion, in 1929, of the United Free Church and the Church of Scotland.

]]> A notable example of an Episcopal Church originally built in 1854 and extended in 1881 with good interior details.

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Alterations have taken place over the intervening 151 years including incorporating a hall into the south aisle, removing pews to make more use of space and installing stairs to the attic.

]]> Listed Category B. William Burn designed the original church with the 1882-4 chancel, vestry and porch added by Hay and Henderson. Gothic front to Eastgate with simple rectangular plan inside. Fine 1909 Harrison three-manual organ.

]]> Simple rectangular gothic church with bellcote and pair of lancet windows on either side of a central buttress on the east gable. Porch on south wall with encaustic tiles floor. Altar, reredos and baldachinno of mahogany, designed by Archibald MacPherson in 1916 and depicting the Annunciation.

]]> Dating from 12C there has long been a church on this site. The current building is listed category B. The T plan shape with its outstanding bellcast-roofed tower dates from rebuilding in 1764, of which little more than the tower survived a major fire in 1880 (rebuilt 1883 Wardrop and Reid).

]]> Work began in 1843 with the church opening at 15 Buccleuch Street the following year. Alterations were carried out in 1879 when a side aisle (now a side chapel) was added on the south side of the chancel.

]]> Listed Category B. Plain Gothic style with single bay chancel. The church forms part of a group of buildings including the Presbytery (added 1899) and former school (now St Joseph�s Neighbourhood Centre).�The church serves the Catholic community in Peebles and district.

]]> The Church was the first to be built in Scotland in 1844 by the Oxford Movement (High Church) and is a Grade A architectural jewel. The architect John Hayward was a colleague of William Butterfield, the chief exponent of the principles of the Oxford Movement in church design.

The interior is richly furnished, with the altar, Sedilia, pulpit and font being sculpted from Caen stone. The latter two being a gift from Queen Adelaide. The tiles on the nave floor and the blue and gold tiles on the chancel ceiling were designed and presented by Herbert Minton of Stoke-on-Trent. Butterfield designed the communion vessels and the lychgate at the entrance to the church.

The modern stations of the cross are well worth a visit on their own.

]]> Currently listed category B the church was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott and built in 1858. It can be described as early decorated, chunky and self sufficient. It contains fine stained glass windows, the most notable of which is a memorial window (1889) to the Duke of Buccleuch.

]]> A fine Episcopal (Anglican) Church by Rowand Anderson replacing an earlier church of 1769. The church plan is a typical Anglican plan with aisles on either side of the nave and a chancel with stencil work decoration. The pencil-like spire makes a modest skyline contribution to Kelso. Current plans include modest internal rearrangement and a small extension to the liturgical west to accommodate service accommodation.]]> The spire of the church reaches high into the sky on the south-east side of Tweed Green. The church was erected by the remaining sons and daughters of the Rev. Thomas Leckie, the first Pastor of the Associate Burgher Congregation.

]]> St Abbs Visitor Centre is a state of the art facility is located in the old village hall, perched precariously on a cliff edge. Built as a resource for both visitors and locals, the Centre offers free admission, interactive exhibits, library area, web access, stunning photographs and historical artefacts. It's an ideal starting point to a visit to St Abbs, giving information on the history of the village, the geology and also the local flora and fauna visitors are likely to encounter.

The St Abbs Visitor Centre is an independent Scottish charity.

]]> The original slip launched lifeboat house with a simple arched corrugated roof was extended in the 1990s.

There has been a lifeboat station at St Abbs since 1911, so this is year is the station�s centenary. The station operates an inshore B Class Atlantic 75 lifeboat.

]]> This listed Category A courthouse was completed in 1804 with a 100 foot high spire that dominates the Market Place.


Still occasionally used for special meetings and re-enacted court cases using original scripts from old court minutes.


Sir Walter Scott served here as Sheriff from 1803 until his death in 1832.

]]> One of the most conspicuous features of the town, this B listed courthouse was built as the County Buildings by David Rhind in 1868, in the opulent Scottish Baronial style.�

It is precipitously sited on a steep downhill slope opposite the jailhouse (now the public library) with which it is linked underground.� Resplendent courtroom with open timber roof.� It replaced the smaller courthouse in the Market Place presided over by Sir Walter Scott.

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