The building was commissioned by Captain Alexander Mitchell-Innes,[2] who, in 1839, had inherited a large country estate, which had originally been amassed by a former Deputy Governor of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Gilbert Innes. Mitchell-Innes had plans to develop Stow into a holiday destination for people living in Edinburgh.[3] The foundation stone for the new building was laid with full masonic rites, with Mitchell-Innes presiding as acting grand master, on 21 February 1854.[4] It was designed in the Scottish baronial style, built in rubble masonry with ashlar stone dressings and was completed in 1857.[5][6][7]
The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage of five bays facing Earlston Road. The central section of three bays formed an arcade with three openings on the ground floor, a carved panel depicting the coat of arms of Alexander Mitchell-Innes above the central opening, and three square-shaped windows on the first floor. Above the windows, there was a machicolated parapet, three water spouts shaped to resemble cannons, a central gablet and a fleur-de-lis finial. The left hand bay was curved on the ground floor and corbeled on the first floor with sash windows on both floors and a stepped gable above. The right-hand bay was fenestrated with sash windows on both floors with a stepped gable above: it was flanked by bartizans on both sides although the left-hand bartizan was corbelled out at a lower level than the right-hand one and was octagonal rather than circular in its upper stage. Internally, the principal rooms were the reading room on the left-hand side on the ground floor and the main assembly hall on the first floor.[1]
Mitchell-Innes continued to develop the town and commissioned the Church of St Mary of Wedale in 1876.[8] However, following the collapse of the City of Glasgow Bank in 1878, most of the proposed housing was never built.[3] The town hall continued to serve as a community events venue throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century.[9] The reading room was adapted to form a local history museum and archive, managed by the Gala Water History and Heritage Association, in 2005.[10][11]
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