[2] It had a tall tower on the southwest side[3] and, like other buildings in Kelso, it was originally thatched and was almost certainly badly damaged in the fire which destroyed much of the town in 1684.

[1] On the first floor elevation, there was an Ionic order portico which slightly projected forward and was surmounted by an entablature and a modillioned pediment and, at roof level, there was a balustrade and large octagonal cupola with a dome.

[9] The 8th Duke of Roxburghe transferred ownership of the building to the burgh council in 1902,[3] and it was re-modelled by John Daniel Swanston and William Syme in the Baroque Revival style at a cost of £3,000 between 1902 and 1908.

[1] The remodelling works included the enclosure of the ground floor and the creation of a central round headed doorway flanked by banded pilasters supporting an open pediment with the burgh coat of arms in the tympanum, as well as the elevation of the columns of the first floor portico onto pedestals and their detachment from the walls, and the removal of the roof level balustrade.

[3] A piece of public art, sculpted by Jake Harvey and entitled the "Kelsae Stane", was unveiled in front of the town hall in July 2014,[13] and the River Tweed Salmond Fishing Museum, featuring a 31 kilograms (68 lb) salmon caught by the 7th Earl of Home in 1735, was established in the town hall in September 2020.