Exchange Bar [Dalton's], Hawick (Dalton's)

Mid 19th century three-storey tenement building where the Hawick Co-Operative opened a Provisions Store in 1839 – this was 5 years before the ‘Rochdale Pioneers’ opened a similar venture in England. When in 1885 the Co-Op created their main branch in the High Street this became the Exchange Bar. The most impressive interior feature is the very ornate cornice, there are good ceiling roses and the large single room has floor to ceiling panelling. From the 1960s to the 1980s the panelling was covered by plasterboard and wallpaper.

When in the late 1880’s it became a public house the present bar counter was added and there was a separate snug on the far right where there is an area at a lower level, which was accessed via the right hand doors. The snug was removed in c.2003 and the bar top here is a replacement. There was another snug on the rear left but this was swept away to create the ladies toilet in the early 1980s. There is a water tap on the bar counter but it is no longer working. The lower shelves of the gantry are old but the upper section is modern.

The lounge bar at the rear is a modern addition and the bar counter created by cutting out of a section of the panelled wall forming the gantry. There were a set of McEwans window screens but they current reside in the cellar. Also in the cellar are two water engines – these were used to raise beer from the cellar to the taps on the bar using air pressure until 1981.