Head Post Office, High Street, Galashiels

The Head Post Office in High Street, Galashiels, was likely designed by W W Richardson and dates back to 1894. This two-storey, seven-bay building showcases a Free Renaissance style, featuring prominent octagonal corner towers and single-storey sorting offices at the rear. The front and returns are made of polished buff sandstone ashlar, while the sides and rear are constructed of brick. The design includes a base course, moulded sill courses, a cornice at the first-floor level, a corbelled frieze with carved panels, and an eaves cornice with a blocking course. The ground floor has banded ashlar, and the window surrounds feature continuous vertical bands. The ground floor windows are square-headed, while the upper floor windows are round-arched, adorned with raised architraves and projecting keystones.

The front elevation is symmetrical, highlighted by a projecting central porch with a pediment, ionic surrounds, and a banded archway. Above the porch is a pedimented central armorial panel flanked by Doric pilasters that extend above the eaves. The corner towers are topped with octagonal slated roofs.

The building features 4-pane fixed light and casement windows with palmette details on the front elevation, while the rear has timber sash and case windows. The roof is covered in purple slate, with ashlar skews and vertically-banded, corniced gable-head stacks. The cast iron rainwater goods include decorative hoppers.

Inside, the building has been largely modernised, but the internal layout remains mostly intact. The timber-lined sorting office features a wrought-iron truss roof.