The first building on the southwest side of the Market Square was a town house, which dated back to 1664. A gatehouse to
Jedburgh Abbey, with tower and spire, was erected to the south of the building and initially deployed as a prison, in 1755. It was in the old town house that Sir
Walter Scott worked as a young advocate in 1793. By the early 19th century, old town house was dilapidated and the
Commissioners of Supply decided to commission a new courthouse for the area. The new building was designed in the
neoclassical style, built in
ashlar stone and was completed in 1812. The original design featured a symmetrical main frontage of nine bays facing onto Castle Gate. The central section of three bays, which was slightly projected forward, featured a three-bay
arcaded porch with a
balustraded parapet. There were three
sash windows on the first floor, with recessed panels above. The outer sections were fenestrated with sash windows on the ground floor, and featured
niches flanked by sash windows on the first floor. There were single
Doric order pilasters flanking the bays in the central section, and paired Doric order pilasters at the corners of the building, all supporting a
frieze with
triglyphs, a
cornice and a
parapet. Internally, the principal room was the courtroom on the first floor. In the 19th century, the building, which became known as "County Buildings", served as the offices of the county officials for
Roxburghshire and the local commissioners of supply, as well as being the venue for local hearings of the sheriff court. In May 1913, the building was the venue for the trial of the suffragettes,
Arabella Scott,
Elizabeth and Agnes Thomson and
Edith Hudson, who were accused of trying to set fire to a racecourse stand at
Kelso Racecourse. They were found guilty and sentenced to imprisonment. During the
First World War, to protect local people from German bombing, the court rigorously enforced the blackout regulations, imposing fines or imprisoning anyone who breached them. A plaque, intended to commemorate the centenary of the death of Sir Walter Scott, was designed by
Alexander Carrick and placed on the front of the building in 1932. A major programme of refurbishment works, which involved the complete reconstruction of the Castle Gate porch, was completed in 1991, enabling the building to continue to serve as the venue for sheriff court hearings in the area. ==See also==