COMMUNITY leaders in Earlston are busy searching for new homes for historical documents and artefacts after a Borders estate has claimed back its building.

The historic Reading Room were built in the town during the mid-19th century to encourage education.

A Trust was responsible for the running of the popular Market Square building for more than a century.

Although the three-storey building hasn't been used as a private subscription library since the 1970s, it had remained as a meeting room and storage area for historic books and documents, as well as the town's vast array of Christmas lights.

Attempts have been made in recent years to form a Trust to bring the Reading Room back to their former glory.

And surveys have been carried out to establish the viability of a community facility.

But a shock email from legal representatives of Mellerstain Estate towards the end of last year has ended the plans.

Solicitors acting on behalf of the Earl of Haddington, owner of Mellerstain, indicated that the estate had ownership of the building - and they wanted it back.

The lawyers were also investigating the ownership of books within the rooms.

Sheila Gibb, chair of Earlston Community Council, told us: "The Community Council and Scottish Borders Council have been working together to establish the position regarding the Reading Room.

"It's a very complex legal situation as well as a building that is in a poor state of disrepair.

"At the moment Scottish Borders Council are supporting us as we look to relocate the books and artefacts held in the building.

"The Christmas Lights Committee are doing the same for their equipment and displays."

A meeting was first held to gauge support for the creation of a Reading Room in 1852.

It was reported at the time, Major Baillie of Mellerstain offered an initial donation of 50 books for the library.

A committee was formed with Major Baillie as President, with a librarian appointed as manager.

Many prominent members of the Earlston community, including the headmaster, minister and surgeon, served on the committee.

Both the Reading Room and the Recreation Room were open every day, between the hours of 9am and 10pm, except Sundays and New Year's Day.

A wide selection of books were gifted and loaned to the Reading Room during the years which followed.

By 1859 the facility had amassed around 700 volumes with a membership of 118 local people.

A billiards table was also placed in the Recreation Room.

During a celebration to mark the centenary of the opening on June 17, 1952 it was noted that among the valuable possessions being held in the Reading Room were a lock of Sir Walter Scott's hair as well as his autograph.

But the opening of a public library in the 1970s as well as the deaths of the Trustees over the following decade or so, led to a gradual decline in both the popularity and condition of the building.

It is thought the Reading Room Trust stopped operating in the 1990s.

In recent years attempts have been made to restore the building and bring it back into community use.

A feasibility study was carried out by Scottish Borders Council last year which estimated that around £500,000 would be required to complete any community restoration project.

But the recent correspondence by Mellerstain Estate over ownership has put a spanner in the works.

Local councillor David Parker believes it is unlikely the community will be able to oppose the claims.

He said: "The community has had an aspiration to do something with the Reading Rooms, and in 2016 I was handed some information about the historical operation.

"That information suggested that Mellerstain Estate had always had a claim on the building but the Reading Room had been operated under a Trust model, with the Trust basically becoming extinct in the late 1990s.

"If the community wanted to use the Reading Room again, it would need to try to reactivate the Trust and get permission to do that from the Sheriff Court and then find new Trustees.

"However, the building is in a poor state of internal repair, it requires quite a lot of investment to bring it back into life."