Scottish Borders Hotel | Bed and Breakfast | Black Bull Hotel Lauder
Black Bull Hotel Hotel is a privately owned hotel pleasantly situated in the peaceful town of Lauder
Scottish Borders Hotel
The Black Bull Hotel &
Restaurant
Lauder Berwickshire TD2 6SR UK Tel: 01578 722208 Fax: 01578 722419
The
Black Bull Hotel is a splendid Scottish Borders Hotel situated proudly in
the heart of the Lauder. The main A68 connecting runs through Lauder and
connects Edinburgh to Newcastle. This recently upgraded coaching inn dates
from the mid-nineteenth century, award winning hoteliers with many years hotel and restaurant
experience within the Scottish Borders.
Catch a fish on the river, and the chef will cook it for
you. But fear not, they won't send you out to bring home the beef for the Sunday
roast, steaks and burgers. That said, we are talking local Borders beef, bought
as a beast and hung for three weeks. The Black Angus rib roast is pink and
served with dizzying Yorkshires and your personal jug of gravy, while the steaks
are a revelation of what properly reared beef can be. Still not salivating?
Black tiger prawns come to the table as crackling hot little explosions of sweet
potato and coriander batter, while a bowl of smoky, creamy Cullen skink could
hearten the most disappointed of fishermen. To finish, ice-cream confections
would sweeten any child (although the boozy armagnac mousse is definitely the
preserve of those above drinking age). The Black Bull Hotel's a class act, and
this is evident not just in the cooking, but also in the fresh and
well-presented front-of-house service, spoilt-for-choice wines by the glass and
the endorsement of the 2007 Good Beer Guide.
The Sunday Herald's Joanna Blythman
reviews the Black Bull and gives an 8.5 out of 10 rating
The peace and tranquillity of the beautiful
Scottish Borders or the hustle and bustle of Edinburgh, Scotland's capital
city, can be enjoyed from this wonderful Scottish Border hotel set in the
peaceful town of Lauder. Just 30 minutes south of Edinburgh you can enjoy
the best of both worlds! The Royal Burgh of Lauder is a charming town, ideal
for shopping, browsing or enjoying a stroll in the borders countryside. You
may wish to walk into the surrounding hills, play golf, fish or explore the
turbulent history of the Borders with visits to our ancient houses and abbey
ruins or you may wish to visit Edinburgh and this Scottish Borders as the
ideal base with excellent road links and frequent bus services.
You may, or course, just want to sit back
by the fire, relax and unwind before enjoying a bar meal prepared with the
very best of Scottish produce in our award winning restaurant. Most of our
rooms are large all are en suite and enjoy views to the surrounding
countryside.
We look forward to welcoming you to The
Black Bull Hotel and to the Scottish Borders.
Activities
Golf, fishing, walking, cycling, Edinburgh
(Castle, museums, Royal Yacht Britannia), Abbotsford and Traquair Houses,
the Great Border Abbeys, Floors Castle. Weddings and Meetings (35). Children
and dogs welcome. Swimming, walking, putting, trout fishing. Salmon fishing,
shooting, riding, golf, off-road driving -all by arrangement.
The restaurant serves some of the finest
food in the country. The menu changes daily. A fine dinner awaits you after
a day filled with walking, touring, sporting or visiting nearby sites of
interest.
Set in the very heart of the Borders, with
the historic towns of Melrose, Galashiels, Kelso, Jedburgh, Duns, Peebles,
Selkirk, Hawick or the capital city Edinburgh to the north all within 30
minutes - less than an hour away - there is always plenty to see and do.
Six miles south nestling on the banks of
the Tweed, in the shadow of the Eildon Hills, Melrose lies at the very heart
of the Scottish Borders. It is one of Scotland's ancient burghs, set in a
valley which once attracted the Romans. They established the large fort of
Trimontium. Christians from Lindisfarne followed in the 7th century, and
built the predecessor of the current abbey, a little chapel at Old Melrose,
two miles from the present town. In 1136, Kind David I founded the
magnificent abbey whose ruins stand in the town today, where the heart of
Robert the Bruce lies buried. This land of myth and legend, of beautiful and
contrasting scenery, was the inspiration for Sir Walter Scott's historic
novels whose descriptions brought 18th century visitors from around the
world to experience the splendour at first hand.
History of
the Black Bull Inn & Hotel The Black Bull Hotel in Lauder dates from the 18th
century. This Scottish Borders hotel is reputedly the site of a peel ,
although no trace of such a building exists today. The land was sold in 1721
but the sasine does not mention a peel. The land was sold again in 1737
although this time the sasine does record a 'high house called the peel'. It
seems reasonable to assume therefore that a peel may have been built between
1721 and 1737 but it is strange that a defensive building should be built
during a period of peace and prosperity for the Burgh of Lauder. Whatever
it's earlier history, what is certain, is that the Black Bull in Lauder
served as a coaching inn for many years and in the early 19th century it was
one of the busiest inns in the Borders. After the Treaty of Union in 1707,
Lauder was situated on one of the main north-south routes through the
Borders providing a convenient stage where the coach horses could be
changed. One tale of the Black Bull in Lauder refers to the son (Tom)
of the head ostler who got into trouble and was sent to the Tolbooth jail.
Tom was a post boy at the stables, and during the period of his
incarceration, when all the other postboys were out, a post-chaise arrived,
drawn by four horses with two postilions . His father was in quite a
quandary and eventually decided to run to the jail and plead that Tom be
released in order to attend to his duties. He was duly granted his freedom
but it was not long before he was imprisoned again for another offence in
the town! The building was enlarged in the 19th century to include the
section on the left. Here you can see two tripartite windows, the ground
floor set have an elegant round headed Palladian window with Gothic
astragals. The earlier part of the building, to the right, is typically
Scottish in detailing, notice the dormer windows at the eaves with their
pedimented gables. It is conceivable that the Black Bull was once thatched.
In the past this Scottish Borders Hotel was known as the Black Bull Inn and
was one of several inns in Lauder providing stages for changing horses on
the road between Edinburgh and the North of England as well as providing
rest on the local routes to Jedburgh, Kelso and Duns.
Winners of the Scottish Tourist
Board's 'Best Bar Meal 2004/2005' in the Borders
The Black Bull named
as one of the top ten scottish
establishments of 2004 in the Sunday Herald
Opening details
All year round
Nearest City:
Melrose
Nearest Airport:
Edinburgh
Location:
6 miles from Melrose - 25 miles south of
Edinburgh
