Dumfries House - 13/04/15

Irvine Seagate Rotary's speaker on Monday was Thomas Breckney, Assistant Curator at Dumfries House.  Thomas gave a comprehensive and informative talk on the history of the house and its contents, and recent developments on the estate.

The house, set in a 2000 acre estate, was built and furnished between 1747 and 1760, and is the only surviving Adam mansion complete with its original Chippendale furniture, ceramics and artworks.  It was bought in 2007 by the Dumfries House Trust, a consortium fronted by Prince Charles, for £45m.  As one item of furniture was going to be sold at auction for an estimated £25m this was seen as a bargain.  Since then the estate has been undergoing heritage led regeneration bringing buildings back into use and developing youth orientated educational facilities.  There is a restaurant, cafe, b & b, artists studios and a 70 bunk outdoor centre.  Courses are run for young people in hospitality and traditional building skills, and the walled gardens have been brought back into use growing produce for the house and restaurant and providing horticultural training opportunities.  

Tours of Dumfries House are available 7 days a week, and the estate is open to the public at no charge and provides miles of walks and wildlife attractions.  Much of the work of redevelopment is being done by local volunteers.  There were questions to the speaker, and a Vote of Thanks was proposed by Andy Slater.