Biggar Corn Exchange

In medieval times, there was a stone cross in the High Street, known as the Cross Knowe, which dated from the mid-15th century. Behind the Cross Knowe was a market house known as the Meal House at which corn merchants conducted their trade. However, by the mid-19th century, the Meal House was infested with rats and mice. The burgh leaders decided to acquire it from the then-owner, Colonel John Elphinstone-Fleming (later the 14th Lord Elphinstone), to demolish it and to commission a new building on the same site. The foundation stone for the new building was laid by the Grand Master of the Upper Ward of Clydesdale, William Edward Hope-Vere, with full masonic honours on 24 August 1860. It was…