Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

HIGH STREET, CHAMBERS INSTITUTIONLB39180

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
A
Date Added
23/02/1971
Local Authority
Scottish Borders
Planning Authority
Scottish Borders
Burgh
Peebles
NGR
NT 25259 40443
Coordinates
325259, 640443

Description

John Paris, 1857-9; extensive remodelling, rear hall added; E extension George Washington Browne, 1911; incorporating fagments of late 16th/early17th century fabric. Large 3- and 2-storey complex of civic institution with large frontage to High street and quadrangle with hall to rear. Cream harl with Caen sandstone dressings. Chamfered reveals, ashlar mullions and transoms.

N (HIGH STREET) ELEVATION: 6-bay asymmetrical building with 5-bay extension (1911) to E. Gabled bay to outer left with single windows. Next bay recessed with ground floor infill of 5-light transomed window with stepped blocking course; single windows above, 2nd floor window breaking eaves in gabled dormer-head with blank panel. 3 centre bays with regular fenestration , 2nd floor windows breaking eaves as above; at ground floor broad hood-moulded segmental-arched pend opening flanked by hoodmoulded window to left and single storey bay window with tripartite transom window and stepped blocking course to right; 3 timber dormers; corbelled corner turret with fishscale slating to roof to outer right. Bay to outer right with square projecting tower with single windows and ogival roof over stone bracketted eaves. 1911 extension with shops at ground floor; 1st floor with bipartite transomed windows divided by shallow stone buttresses, crenellated parapet with empty stone niches, mock canon spouts and small bartizan to outer right. Recessed, blank 2nd floor.

S (REAR) ELEVATION: 2 bays to right advanced with cahmfered corner detail surmounted by small turret. Irregular fenestration. Segmetal-arched pend opening with doorway inside, hoodmoulded over inscription 'Chambers Institution'.

E (COURTYARD) ELEVATION: single storey and attic with tall central grooved crowstepped wallhead stack. Small single storey bay window to outer right; 2 large single storey projecting bays with tall parapets and 4-light transomed windows. 2 carved panels set in wall. 7 slanting attic windows with arched heads.

HALL (S COURTYARD) ELEVATION: 5-bay hall with elaborate projecting ashlar entrance to outer right, roll-moulded doorway surmounted by extensively carved foliate and armorial panel; 5-sided turret with swept pyramidal roof set in re-entrant angle with E range above. Ground floor of hall obscured by single storey timber lean-to addition (formerly open loggia). 4 tall segmental-arched keystoned windows above. gable elevations of hall with large semi-circular windows with scrolled hoodmould and radial astragals.

W COURTYARD: war memorial (listed seperately).

Timber sash amd case windows, mostly 2-pane upper sashes and 4-pane lower sashes, some 12-pane glazing, some leaded lights. Slate roofs with metal flashings. Moulded gutterheads.

INTERIOR: interior features include picture gallery with coved, ribbed ceiling with central skylight; long gallery in roof space with braced panelled roof housing 62ft section cast of the Elgin marbles and a complete facsimile of the 'Triumph of Alexander' frieze by the Danish sculptor Bertil Thorvaldsen (1770-1844) and a further galleried exhibition room with timber panelling.

Statement of Special Interest

William Chambers of Dictionary fame, a native of peebles, gave the Institution to the burgh with the purpose of 'social improvement'. It contained a library, reading room art gallery and museum. Before its extensive remodelling the Chambers Institution was known as 'Queensberry Lodging' or 'Dean's House' and the central portion of today's building probably dates from the 16th or 17th century. But only the thickness of the walls and the part vaulted basement of the

central block indicate any antiquity.

References

Bibliography

RCAHMS INVENTORY No 540. CHAMBERS INSTITUTION PEEBLES, pamphlet compiled and published by Sheila Scott, Peebles, n.d., held at Edinburgh City Library. Charles Strang BERWICK AND BORDERS

RIAS Guide 1994 pp230-31. W Chambers HISTORY OF PEEBLESSHIRE Edinburgh 1864 pp280-83.

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

Listed building consent is required for changes to a listed building which affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. The relevant planning authority is the point of contact for applications for listed building consent.

Find out more about listing and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.

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Printed: 28/03/2024 19:37