| Corn Exchange, Kelso | |
| Coordinates: | 55.5987°N -2.4322°W |
| Location: | Woodmarket, Kelso |
| Built: | 1856 |
| Architect: | David Cousin |
| Architecture: | Jacobethan style |
| Designation1: | Category B Listed Building |
| Designation1 Offname: | Corn Exchange, 29 Woodmarket, Kelso |
| Designation1 Date: | 2 July 1980 |
| Designation1 Number: | LB35859 |
The Corn Exchange is a commercial building in Woodmarket, Kelso, Scottish Borders, Scotland. The structure, which accommodates a health clinic, a dental practice and an online publisher, is a Category B listed building.
In the mid-18th century, a group of local businessmen decided to form a company to finance and commission a new corn exchange for the town. The site they selected was on the southeast side of Woodmarket, an area where merchants originally traded in timber.[1]
The foundation stone for the new building was in July 1855.[2] It was designed by David Cousin in the Jacobethan style, built in rubble masonry with ashlar stone dressings at a cost of £3,000 and was opened in 1856. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of three bays facing onto Woodmarket. The central bay featured an arched doorway with an archivolt and a square hood mould on the ground floor and a five-part mullioned and transomed window on the first floor. The outer bays were fenestrated by tri-partite mullioned windows on the ground floor, by oriel windows on the first floor and by bi-partite mullioned windows in the gables above. Internally, the principal room was the main hall, which was long and wide,[3] and featured a hammerbeam roof and a gallery.[4]
The building was initially very popular and the directors claimed that "more grain is sold by the grower, in Kelso Corn Exchange, than any other building in Great Britain".[5] However, the use of the building as a corn exchange declined significantly in the wake of the Great Depression of British Agriculture in the late 19th century.[6] Instead, it was used as a venue for agricultural worker hiring fairs where labours could seek work. It accommodated a cinema known as the "Corn Exchange Picture House", which showed silent films from 1917 until shortly before the Second World War.[7] After the war, it became a popular events venue: performers included the rock band, The Move, in June 1967 and the garage rock band, The Troggs, in October 1967.[8]
By the 21st century, the use of the building had changed again with occupants comprising a health centre known as "Kelso Health & Wellness",[9] a dental practice known as "Gentle Touch",[10] and an online publisher known as "Texthouse".[11]