Description

Later 19th century (1860s). 3-storey and attic 7-bay rectangular-plan warehouse and offices. Squared and snecked buff sandstone to Ladhope Vale, whin rubble to river elevation. Ashlar dressings. Set alongside the Gala water with a substantial embankment to Ladhope Vale.

LADHOPE VALE (NE) ELEVATION: 2-storey. Regular fenestration. Entrance through elevated pedimented doorway. Single-storey advanced flat-roofed extension to outer right.

GALA WATER (SW) ELEVATION: 5 bays of regular fenestration and canted dormers to right. 2 and 3 bays of irregular fenestration to right. Brick infill to square-headed opening on lower left with corbel-table over.

Timber sash and case windows with a variety of glazing patterns. Single ridge-stack.

INTERIOR: interior largely modernised. Steel internal structure on upper floors.

Statement of Interest

Ladhope Vale House is a prominent building, important in the townscape, both from Ladhope Vale, where it presents a formal elevation, and from the town centre across the Gala Water. The building is a good example of a service building, related to the rapid expansion of Galashiels in the later 19th century. The building is also notable for its connection to the Hall dynasty of builders and architects.

Ladhope Vale House was built in the later 19th century as a store and workshop for the Halls, a local building firm. It was part of a larger complex, including a substantial building adjoining to the NW. From the late 19th century it was also used as an architect's office. A report in the Scotsman in 1864 mentions that the building had been built but was not yet occupied.

The surviving building appears to have been built in two phases, the 3 bays to NW probably predating the 5 to the SE.

Robert Hall and, later, J and J Hall, were the most prominent builders and architects in Gala and worked on a large number of housing and commercial buildings, and the South of Scotland Technical College (1908).

The building suffered from fire damage in the 1930s and was used in the late 20th century as an architect's office by the Halls.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q77779680

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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