Waverley Hydropathic Institution.

This morning, I was out for my daily cycle and stopped to take a picture of the Waverley Castle Hotel on the outskirts of Melrose. Recently it was owned by Specialist Leisure Group, as part of the Bay Hotels group, which unfortunately went into administration on the 22nd of May this year. All live in staff were given 28 days to find alternative accommodation.

When this hotel opened in 1871 as the Waverley Hydropathic Institution, it included a spa which drew healing water from St Mungo’s Well in the grounds. It is believed to be the first major concrete structure in Scotland, erected five years before Robert McAlpine’s first building in concrete.

In recent years, it has catered to the coach tour industry, as Shearings was owned by the same group. It’s a rather magnificent building and I hope it can be preserved in some form.