Old Photograph Black Bull Hotel And Tolbooth High Street Lauder Scotland

Old photograph of the Black Bull Hotel and Tolbooth on the High Street in Lauder in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. A Tolbooth at Lauder is referred to 1595 in the Register of the Privy Council of Scotland. The date of erection of the present building is not given, though the installation of a new clock in 1734 is mentioned. The upper storey of the Tolbooth is the Town hall. The under storey, which is in part arched, formerly contained three cells. It was used as the Burgh prison until about 1840, when the Police Station was built. This is a town in the historic county of Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders. The town developed in a pattern which was typical of a Scottish Burgh. The Tolbooth, later known as the Town House overlooked the Market Place. Lauder is situated beside what was in Roman times a main route north from England, Dere Street. The route came from Trimontium, modern Newstead, near Melrose, following the valleys to pass over the Lammermuirs at their west end at Soutra, In the 12th Lauder was the site of a major castle built by the de Morville family. Later, the site was used as a fort by the English. Later, still, the same site became the site of Thirlestane Castle Before 1500 the town had been created a Burgh by Royal Charter, the rights being renewed by James IV in 1502. Of interest to folks with ancestry, genealogy or Scottish Family Roots in Scotland who may wish to visit one day.



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