Tweedsmuir History - Listed Buildings in Tweedsmuir Parish
1.The Crook Inn (Listed as Category C in 2002 - the Listing includes the out-buildings and the metal railings at the south side of the car park).
The Inn received its first licence in 1604 and is one of the oldest licenced premises in Scotland. It was however in existance before this date. The name Crook is probably from the word Cruik the Scot's word for the hook from which cooking-pots, gridles etc, were suspended. This is not a new idea as it was put forward in the reprint of the Works of Alexander Penneceuik in 1815. The Cruik or Cruiks hung by chains from a rantle-tree which was a iron or wooden beam high in the lum (chimney) or from an iron Sway. The Sway was a hinged right angled bracket fixed to the side of the fireplace allowing the cooking pots to be swung forward away from the fire - the hearth being at or just above floor level. The sway could be quite short, say about a foot long for more usually were much longer - about three feet. A good example of a medium sized sway can be seen over the grate in the tearoom section of the Laurel Bank Tearoom/Bistro/Bar in Broughton. It is surprising how big the fire-places were in those days - even in small rooms, particularly if their was ingle-neuk seating and the chain hanging from the rantle-tree and the associated cruiks could be quite substantial. At the Crook Inn it would certainly have been a large fireplace with ingle-neuk seating with the rantle-tree method for suspending the cooking pots.
The first date after 1604 when the Inn was mentioned in the records was in 1621 when a messenger was sent from Edinburgh to arrest Sir Patrick Porteous of Hawkshaws as he was wanted for debt. They broke their journey at the "Cruik in Tweddale" where Porteous was rescued by his neighbours. This must be the first recorded instance of the connection between the Porteous family of Hawkshaw and the Crook Inn.
The next date was in July 1624 when in the accounts for Peebles a Robert Fotheringham was reimbursed expenses incurred in the transport of a prisoner , Walter Grahame, from Peebles to Dumfries with an overnight stop at the Crewik.
In June 1682 the records of the Tweedsmuir Parish Kirk state "Claverhouse nearly captured at the Crook by hillmen returning from their quarterly convention at Talla Linns" More about the Covenanters can be found on the Tweedsmuir and the Covenanters page.
In 1688 the Crook got a second mention in the Tweedsmuir Kirk records. "Mr Francis Scott, Episcopalian had been outed by the parishioners - Mr Thomson ordained at the Crook, which was the place ordained for preaching - the church not yet having been obtined possession of."
There are many stirring stories involving the Crook including fugitive Covenanters, Poachers and many famous Scots such as Raby Burns, Walter Scott etc enjoying the hospitality and good cheer of the Inn.
It is mainly remembered as a Coaching Inn although there was also a farm on the site. The arrival of the railway system in the first part of the nineteenth century led to the cessation of the stage-coach service and the Crook Inn went into decline and farming became the main business of the premises.
However by the second half of the nineteenth century the railway system had expanded into all rural areas including Broughton. This expansion of the railways with associated "Station Hotels" brought a new age of travel and tourism, particularly to Scotland with Queen Victoria's encouragement. The Crook Inn jumped on this bandwagon. The building was remodelled and considerably extended - doubled in size infact - between 1871-1881. The new building extending southwards into what is the present day car park. It was at this time that the public bar with a new fire-place complete with sway/cruik/pot was probably added and named Willie Wastle's Bar - the fireplace included an ingle seat as described in Burn's poem and also a replica of the cat mentioned in the poem. For the poem about Willie Wastle and his wife by Robert Burns go the Willie Wastle page. Part of the fabric of the original building, ie the paved stone floor of the bar area, was possibly incorporated into the new extended building but this not specific. The Crook was rebranded as an Hotel and a shuttle service of horse/large two-wheeled gigs (also known as dog-carts) between Broughton station and the Crook was established.
The construction of the Talla Reservoir 1890-1905 brought in a new era with senior staff of the Edinburgh waterworks, engineers, surveyors etc resided at the Crook as did some of the navvies who lived in a hut on the site. Most of the navvies however lived in huts at the Talla dam site. The Talla railway built to service the dam construction passed to the rear of the Crook and a wooden "Station" was established there. The fact that the Crook at this time, according to the 1901 census, had full-time barman says it all! Previous census listing had the dairy-maids doubling as bar-maids.
During the early part of the twentieth century the invention of the internal combusion engine brought a new wave of tourism by car and charabanc. In 1936 an Art Deco road-house style infill single story extension and the Art Deco formal garden across the road had been added although the main building had been reduced in size - the south extension having disappeared, a 1931 photograph of the building shows the extension in a poor state. A visitor to the hotel in 1938 wrote a postcard - of the Crook - in which she said "This is a marvelous Hotel. I wish you could see the bed & bathrooms!" For images of the spectacular Art Deco bathrooms I suggest a visit to the Royal Commission of Ancient Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) website http://www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/ . Enter Crook Hotel in the search box.
Its a great pity that the Coaching Inn swinging sign which must have been above the main door has not survived as I am sure that this would have depicted a cruik/cooking pot alluding to food, warmth and hospitality. One would like to think that Alexander Pennecuik back in 1715 during his journeys through Upper Tweeddale actually stayed at the Crook and saw the Coaching Inn sign. The shepherd's crook and gambling lambs "logo" I am sure came with Art Deco. .
Sadly the present owners have closed the Inn (Our Pub!) and have made an application to convert the historic site into flats - November 2006. The local populace is up in arms and a battle to safeguard the Crook as an Inn has commenced. The battle is still on - November 2010 and the Crook now faces perhaps its greatest challange yet - to survive! To view latest news go to http://www.savethecrook.org.uk
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Photographs in Picture Gallery.
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