Former Galashiels Liberal Club, 42 Bank Street

Later 19th century; major interior alterations in 1935-36; later 20th-century rear additions · 42 Bank Street; a historical directory records the club at 43 Bank Street · Category C listed, LB50668

A restrained late nineteenth-century classical club building whose snooker rooms, bathing facilities and later alterations record the political, recreational and welfare role once played by working-men's clubs in Galashiels.

Last reviewed: 22 July 2026

Bank Street in Galashiels, with the former Liberal Club beyond the white-painted frontage at the right — The former Liberal Club is the building immediately beyond the white-painted frontage at the right of this Bank Street view, photographed in 2014. Photograph: James Denham / Galashiels' Bank Street / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Quick Facts

Date / main phases	Later 19th century; major interior alterations in 1935-36; later 20th-century rear additions
Location	42 Bank Street; a historical directory records the club at 43 Bank Street
Building or site type	Former purpose-built Liberal Men's Club
Designation	Category C listed, LB50668
Architect or designer	Original architect not identified; 1935-36 alterations by Dick Peddie, Todd and Jamieson
Current use	Retail premises at street level, with upper and rear parts in separate use; arrangements may change
Public access	Commercial access only according to the current occupier; upper and rear areas are private

Why It Matters

The former Liberal Club is important because it preserves evidence of a kind of institution that combined political organisation with recreation, sociability and practical welfare. Its club rooms, snooker facilities and baths served members whose homes often lacked comparable amenities. The building also helped shape Bank Street physically: the club was among the early proprietors who gave land for the adjoining public gardens on condition that it remained open space.

The Story

The building was erected later in the nineteenth century as a purpose-built Liberal Men's Club. Its four-bay Bank Street frontage uses plain classical details, giving the club a dignified public presence without the monumentality of the burgh's larger civic buildings. The original architect and a precise construction year have not yet been identified.

The club was much more than a political meeting place. Historic Environment Scotland records first-floor snooker halls for working men and bathing facilities on the upper floor for members whose homes did not have bathrooms. David Steel later recalled five bathrooms and packed Friday-night bingo sessions. These accounts show how political clubs could also provide recreation, fellowship and useful facilities within an industrial town.

In 1935-36 the Edinburgh practice of Dick Peddie, Todd and Jamieson carried out substantial internal alterations. The work included changes to ground-floor partitions, repositioning the stair and providing new pool rooms, toilets and a domino room. A Jacobean-style ceiling was introduced upstairs. Drawings preserved in the national collection also refer to a smoking lounge and card room, helping to reconstruct the range of activities accommodated inside.

The original building was L-shaped and occupied about half the depth of the plot, with garden ground behind it. Later twentieth-century additions extended the premises towards Overhaugh Street and eventually filled the site between the two streets. A separate entrance at the right of the Bank Street elevation once served the upper accommodation; it was later altered to form a window and incorporated into the shop floor.

The club remained part of the political and social life of the Borders well into the twentieth century. Steel remembered using the Bank Street premises as a campaign office during his early parliamentary career, while club members also contributed to election campaigns. In 1976 he cited the Galashiels club in Parliament after it raised GBP1,500 in three weeks for muscular-dystrophy work, evidence that its community role extended beyond party organisation.

The club also affected the setting of Bank Street. Scottish Borders Council's Common Good register records the Liberal Club among the early donors of land for Bank Street Gardens, with the condition that the ground should remain permanently in use as open space. The surviving facade therefore faces a public landscape to whose creation the institution itself contributed.

After the Liberal Club closed, the extensive premises found other uses. Historic Environment Scotland recorded retail accommodation at the front and nightclub use in the upper and rear parts in 2005. Those observations describe a particular point in the building's afterlife and should not be treated as a statement of present occupancy. What remains clear is the adaptability of a deep, substantially altered building behind a recognisable nineteenth-century public frontage.

Things to Notice

The restrained four-bay classical composition facing Bank Street
The former separate upper-floor entrance at the right, later altered to a window
The depth of the present building, extending through later additions towards Overhaugh Street
The contrast between the composed public frontage and the more complex building behind it
Bank Street Gardens opposite, linked historically to a gift of land by the Liberal Club

Why It Matters Today

The building makes visible a form of political and social life that has largely disappeared. It recalls a time when a local club could be simultaneously a campaign base, games room, bathing facility, charitable fundraiser and place of fellowship. Its relationship with Bank Street Gardens also demonstrates how the actions of a private association could leave a lasting benefit in the public townscape.

Significance Scores

Criterion	Score	Reason
Architectural interest	4 / 5	A refined but restrained classical frontage with documented twentieth-century alterations.
Historical importance	4 / 5	A purpose-built political club associated with Borders Liberal activity and nationally documented figures.
Social significance	5 / 5	Snooker, bathing, bingo, charity and fellowship made the club a substantial community resource.
Rarity	4 / 5	A surviving purpose-built Liberal working-men's club with unusually well-recorded welfare facilities.
Townscape contribution	5 / 5	A strong Bank Street frontage with a direct historical relationship to the public gardens opposite.

Scores follow the published significance-scoring methodology. They are interpretive judgements, not statutory designations.

Timeline

Later 19th century – the purpose-built Liberal Men's Club is erected on Bank Street
1897 – Ordnance Survey mapping records the original L-plan building and rear garden context
1935-36 – Dick Peddie, Todd and Jamieson remodel the interior and provide new social rooms
1939-65 – Bank Street Gardens are assembled; the Liberal Club is recorded among the early land donors
1965 – David Steel's recollections place the club within local Liberal campaigning and social life
1976 – the club's rapid fundraising for muscular-dystrophy work is cited in Parliament
Later 20th century – the club closes and additions extend the premises towards Overhaugh Street
2006 – the former club is designated as a Category C listed building

Notes and Uncertainties

The exact construction year and original architect remain unresolved. A historical Galashiels directory gives the club's address as 43 Bank Street, while the statutory listing and current postal records use 42 Bank Street; this may reflect a change in numbering or recording, but the reason has not been established. HES records a bath facility on the upper floor, while David Steel specifically recalled five bathrooms; both accounts are retained without assuming that they describe precisely the same internal arrangement or date. Uses recorded by HES in 2005 are historical observations rather than evidence of current occupancy. The surviving interior has not been independently inspected for this entry.

Image and Licence Notes

James Denham’s 2014 Bank Street photograph is reused from Wikimedia Commons under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 licence. It is a streetscape view rather than a dedicated architectural portrait; the former club is the building immediately beyond the white-painted frontage at the right. No HES or Trove image has been copied. A square crop may be used for the directory card provided the alteration is identified and the adapted image remains under CC BY-SA 2.0.