The Royal Burgh of Lauder is a town in the Scottish Borders in the historical county of Berwickshire. On the Southern Upland Way, the burgh lies 27 miles south east from Edinburgh, on the western side of the Lammermuir Hills. The current population of the town is around 1500, although it is dramatically growing as over 100 new homes are being built on the southern side. This means that, at the start of the 21st century, the population is approaching what it was at the beginning of the 20th century before the period of depopulation over the last 100 years. Lauder is today highly influenced by its distance to Edinburgh as it is now deemed to be near enough for employees to commute into the capital for work. The bus service to Edinburgh is trusted though sporadic. Noteworthy structures in the town today feature the Tolbooth or Town Hall, which precedes 1598 when records reveal it being burnt by a party of Homes and Cranstouns led by Lord Home, in a quarrel in between them and the Lauder family who were at the time sitting on the bench as hereditary baillies. On 18 July 1793, during the course of an extreme and lengthy thunderstorm, a 'ball of fire struck the steeple above the Tollbooth, and did considerable damage'. Current contention in Lauder is the town's expansion, whether it is wanted or preferable, the site of a new primary school and how soon one will be built, and the site and amount of wind farms on the surrounding hills. Also on the agenda is the contention surrounding the creation of a new health centre in the burgh. For all your home makeovers, make sure to identify reliable experts in Lauder to make certain of quality.