Ballantyne Memorial Institute, Caberston Road, Walkerburn

Ballantyne Memorial Institute, Caberston Road, Walkerburn

Designed by J.B. Dunn in 1903, this is a two-storey Scottish Domestic Memorial Hall with a near-rectangular plan. The building is distinguished by crowstepped gables that break the roofline. Later additions include single-storey, single-bay flat-roofed entrance extensions flanking the main elevation.

The base course is constructed of coursed whinstone, with rock-faced red sandstone and polished dressings applied to the principal elevation. The other elevations are harled with red sandstone dressings and angle margins. A sill course, band course, and eaves course all meet sandstone angle margins. The crowstepped gables are finished with kneeler putts.

The south elevation is symmetrical, featuring a whinstone base course with a red sandstone sill course. At ground floor level, a tripartite window with stone mullions sits within a sandstone panel at the centre, with single windows flanked by sandstone margins. The first floor displays a projecting sandstone gable with a corbelled base (set below the band course) that supports a moulded panel inscribed "BALLANTYNE MEMORIAL" in relief. A four-light window with sandstone mullions and transoms is surrounded by a decorative lintel bearing relief decoration and the date, marked with a rose, thistle, and shamrock and the numerals "03". Pilastered surrounds terminate in decorative stone finials. An arched pediment with a lion shield and foliate detail rises into the gable head and ends in a further decorative finial. Plain walls with lower wallheads flank the main decorative gable and terminate in piended roofs. To either side of the main building are single-storey, single-bay harled flat-roofed extensions with doors positioned adjacent to the main structure. The left return of the left extension is blind, while the right return of the right extension contains a 21-glass block window.

The west elevation includes a single-storey extension that conceals part of the ground floor on the right. The remaining ground floor is regularly fenestrated. At first-floor level, the centre displays paired bipartite dormers with crowstepped gable heads. Tall stacks rise from the outer flanks.

The north elevation represents the end of the original building.

The east elevation shows the original ground floor to the left concealed by a later extension, with a tripartite dormer to the first floor featuring stone mullions and a crowstepped gable head. Off-centre to the right is a symmetrical projecting gable containing a bipartite window at ground-floor level with single windows to the flanks. The first floor has a bipartite window adjacent to a single window, which together create the appearance of a tripartite arrangement, with lintels aligned to the outer eaves. A blind crowstepped gable head breaks the eaves line. A stack rises to the right. To the left return, a partially concealed bipartite window exists at ground level with a single window above. The right return is not visible. To the far right, a later harled extension conceals the original ground floor, with the upper floor blind.

Some leaded windows with square quarries survive in the principal hall at first-floor level. Modern PVCu replacements have been installed throughout the later wings and the rest of the building. A glass block window appears in the east entrance extension. The pitched purple slate roof features piended angles flanking the raised gable heads. Stone ridging with lead flashing and valleys complete the roof structure. Painted cast-iron rainwater goods are present throughout. A pair of tall harled wallhead stacks rises from the west elevation, stepped above the roofline with moulded stone neck copes and three to four plain terracotta cans. A similarly styled tall stack stands to the north of the east elevation.

The interior is currently in use as a hall and social club. The ground floor has undergone remodelling, but the upper hall retains some original features including windows, interior sills, and original room layouts.