Accommodation

History of Carfraemill

The Lodge, Carfraemill is centered on the site of a community which has flourished for more that eight hundred years.

The Mill of Carfrae is first mentioned in ancient documents at the end of the 12th century.  William de Morville, Lord of Lauderdale, was one of the early owners of the Mill and the surrounding lands.

Old manuscripts also refer to Carfraemill in 1380 AD, and again in the time of Mary, Queen of Scots.  It is unlikely that the hotel was ever a mill.  The mill would have been on the other side of the road beside the Leader burn.  The original part of Carfraemill was probably an Inn.  Coaches drawn by teams of four horses began to run regularly through Lauderdale; and in the early years of the 1800’s, James Turnbull of Carfraemill had organised four coaches to travel between Kelso and Edinburgh.  One of the most popular owners of Carfraemill when the Inn preceded the hotel of today, was George Henderson (Old Georgie) who, according to the Rev. Archibald Allan, historian of the Parish, was a “mine host” in the traditional manner and much given to telling tales of days of old and apparently, no one appreciated these tales more than the Marquis of Tweeddale, Georgie’s landlord in that time of more than a hundred years ago.

In 1938, two sisters who owned it at that time, the Miss Walkers, added on the delightful wood panelled dining room with bedrooms above which gives the building its present form.

By the 40’s and 50’s the car became a popular and more affordable means of transport.  Many people from Edinburgh would make a day trip to the Borders and stop at Carfraemill for a High Tea on the way home.  Over the last century Carfraemill has been a popular meeting place for many families and friends as well as an ideal stop for coffee, a meal or overnight stay while travelling North or South on the A68 or A697.

From horse and carriage to satellite navigation  - a customer recently said that now he had found Carfraemill, he would put it into  “favourites” in his sat nav so that whenever  he was   travelling south, it would take him there for a refreshing break and tasty meal on his way home!