Dumfries House

Designations

The house is a category A listed building, described by Historic Environment Scotland as "an exceptionally fine and unspoilt Adam mansion". The grounds of the house are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland, the national listing of significant gardens and parks.

History

Lochnorris estate

Originally the estate was known as Lefnoreis or Lochnorris, and belonged to a branch of Craufurds of Loudoun. The original castle stood on the elevated ground close to the coach house.

Earl of Dumfries

In 1635, the estate was purchased from the Craufords by William Crichton, 2nd Earl of Dumfries (1598–1691). The estate, and the title, passed via his daughter to his grandson William Dalrymple-Crichton, 5th Earl of Dumfries and 4th Earl of Stair (1699–1768). He commissioned the Adam brothers to design a new house for the estate.

Dumfries House was designed and built between 1754 and 1759, by Scottish architects John and Robert Adam; the style of the house is more in keeping with John Adam's other work. Robert Adam oversaw construction until his departure on the "Grand Tour" of Europe. The House is an early independent work by the Adam Brothers, who had taken over the architecture business of their father William Adam on his death in 1748. The house is a Palladian design, with a three-storey central block connected to smaller pavilions by linking wings. James Armour, father-in-law of the poet Robert Burns, was a master mason who worked as a contractor at Dumfries House.

Marquess of Bute

In 1814, Dumfries House was inherited, along with the earldom of Dumfries, by John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute, and the property remained in the Crichton-Stuart family until 2007.

Intended sale

With John Bute facing a bill from the death duties of both his father and grandmother, he offered to sell the house to the National Trust for Scotland in 1994, but they declined. John Bute later replaced the roof. The house was scheduled for sale through Savills and its contents for auction by Christie's. It was thought that some of the art and furniture might fetch nearly as much as the house itself; one Chippendale rosewood bookcase, for example, was valued at £2m-£4m.

With the announcement of the sale, preservationists lamented the imminent dispersal of an ensemble said to have remained virtually untouched since an 1803 inventory, and organised a campaign intending to buy the house and hold it in trust under the Save Britain's Heritage organisation. With the funding the campaign managed to raise still falling short, a sale via the auction route looked inevitable after Historic Scotland announced in May 2007 that they would not financially back the campaign.

Charity ownership

The estate was finally purchased as a whole after Charles, Prince of Wales, heard about the campaign from the writer and campaign member James Knox, who made "an impassioned impromptu speech" at one of the Prince's bi-annual conservation conferences at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.

The trust was set up with the name "The Great Steward of Scotland's Dumfries House Trust", a reference to the title Great Steward of Scotland then held by Charles in his role as Scottish heir apparent. A major element of the financial package was a £20m loan backed by The Prince's Charities Foundation.

The trust's intended model is to have the estate become a self-sufficient enterprise, in the process revitalising the local economy. The project was to be achieved through donation and sponsorship of various renovation projects around the estate, as well as through revenues from the construction of an 'eco-village' in the grounds, a planned community called Knockroon.

In 2008, the Great Recession had a major impact on the project, affecting the prospects for the Knockroon development and thus the recouping of the £20 million loan. The Prince faced much media criticism for putting the Foundation's other projects at risk for what was seen as a vanity project, prompting a response in 2010 describing the risk as "manageable and fully covered." After switching to a model of private and corporate fundraising, the £20m loan was repaid by 2012, with a further £15m backing having been raised for the various renovation projects and ongoing maintenance of the estate.

Following restoration, Dumfries House itself opened to the public for guided tours on 6 June 2008. From mid-2009, supermarket chain Morrisons began funding the restoration of the meat and dairy farm attached to the estate to become a research and education tool into sustainable farming methods, but also with the intention of its becoming profitable by 2014, part of Morrisons' vertically integrated supply chain. Renovation of the former coach house and associated stable block began in winter 2010. It reopened in 2011 as both a visitor cafe and bistro dining facility. The first phase of the Knockroon village opened in May 2011.

In October 2011, work was started on clearing the area that used to be the Walled Garden, which had fallen into disuse and become overgrown. In April 2012, the six-bedroomed guest house Dumfries House Lodge opened, to provide guest accommodation for wedding parties and other events. It was created by renovating a derelict farm building on the estate. The estate's former water-powered sawmill was renovated to full working order and, with the addition of a larger workshop building, re-opened as the Sawmill Building Skills Centre, a traditional skills education facility.

Charles, while Prince of Wales and known in Scotland as the Duke of Rothesay, continued to support Dumfries House. In September 2012, with his wife Camilla, then the Duchess of Rothesay and of Cornwall, and First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond, Charles attended Ladies' Day at Ayr Racecourse in aid of the Trust.

In 2017, the Prince of Wales celebrated 10 years of Dumfries house; he was quoted in Dumfries House Magazine as saying, "We now have over 150 employees and thousands of individuals using the estate. My hope, therefore, is that this publication can help to involve a wider audience of supporters by providing an insight to all that happens on this estate and to its even more important outreach work."

In September 2017, the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay welcomed Michael D. Higgins, the president of Ireland, and his wife, Sabina Higgins, to Dumfries House and attended a concert celebrating 25 years of Classic FM.

In May 2018, "The Great Steward of Scotland's Dumfries House Trust" was renamed "The Prince's Foundation".

In 2019, the BBC reported that The Prince's Charities Foundation had accepted US$202,000 in donations from Quantus Division Ltd, a company that was part of an offshore network managed by Ruben Vardanyan's Moscow investment bank Troika Dialog that moved billions out of Russia. Money from the network was used to help with restoring parts of Dumfries House. Vardanyan stated that any donations to the Prince's Charities Foundation were from his personal funds.

In October 2022 Charles, now King, took part in a special edition of the BBC TV programme The Repair Shop filmed at Dumfries House, sharing objects from the collection in need of restoration. In January 2023, it was reported that Dumfries House would be open to the public as a part of an initiative by the Prince's Foundation to tackle loneliness and isolation in cold weather by providing warm spaces.

In September 2023, the King held a Privy Council Meeting at the house for the first time.

In January 2026, The Foundation announced plans for a 430 m2 extension to the east wing of the house to be used for ticketed events and private hire, at an estimated cost of £6.5 million. The extension, to be known as the King's Hall, would replace the existing Pavilion marquee, and was scheduled to open in summer 2027.

Gallery

|Dumfries sca6.jpg|The Chinese Bridge |Dumfries sca7.jpg|The Queen Elizabeth Walled Gardens |Dumfries sca8.jpg|The Queen Elizabeth Walled Gardens |Dumfries sca9.jpg|The Queen Elizabeth Walled Gardens |Dumfries sca10.jpg|The Queen Elizabeth Walled Gardens

|Dumfries House dovecot.JPG|Old Dovecote at Dumfries House dated 1671 |Lochnorris Dovecot, Dumfries House.jpg|Old Dovecote at Dumfries House following restoration

Education

Dumfries House is home to several separate education centres where school pupils can visit to learn about topics ranging from science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) to farming and gardening. Education programs are linked into the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence and offer pupils from the surrounding Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Glasgow and Lanarkshire an opportunity to learn about future careers and learn new skills.

Centres are open year-round to primary schools and secondary schools.

In 2022, the MacRobert Trust began funding a new purpose-built farming and rural skills training centre at Dumfries House, where the Prince's Foundation will host events and hands-on workshops for around 1,800 participants each year.

References

References

1. (27 June 2007). "Historic mansion sold to nation". BBC News.
2. Prynn, Jonathan. (2022-09-10). "Queen died 'with Charles and Anne by side as other royals dashed to Balmoral'". [[Evening Standard]].
3. {{Historic Environment Scotland
4. {{Historic Environment Scotland
5. Close, Rob (1992) ''Ayrshire and Arran: An Illustrated Architectural Guide'', RIAS, pp.140-141
6. Glendinning, Miles, MacKechnie, Aonghus, & MacInnes, Ranald (1996) ''A History of Scottish Architecture'', Edinburgh University Press p.128
7. Freyberg, Annabel. (27 May 2011). "Dumfries House: a Sleeping Beauty brought back to life by the Prince of Wales". The Telegraph.
8. Tim Cornwell. (2007-06-05). "Bid to save house for nation looks doomed". [[The Scotsman]].
9. Auslan Cramb. (2007-06-28). "Charles saves Dumfries House at 11th hour". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
10. Jenny Booth. (2007-06-27). "Prince Charles saves Dumfries House for nation". [[The Times]].
11. Annabel Freyberg. (2011-05-27). "Dumfries House: a Sleeping Beauty brought back to life by the Prince of Wales". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
12. Singh, Anita. (2008-12-17). "The Prince of Wales appears on Antiques Roadshow". "[[The Daily Telegraph]]".
13. (9 September 2010). "Statement from Clarence House about Dumfries House". Clarence House.
14. ''Prince Charles: The Royal Restoration'', ITV1, 29 May 2011
15. Auslan Crumb. (2008-06-06). "Stately home Dumfries House finally opened to the public". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
16. Butler, Sarah. (24 October 2010). "Morrisons' farm gets royal seal of approval". The Telegraph.
17. McInnes, Yonnie. (5 August 2011). "New Coach House Café and Stables 'break-out' conference facility opens at Dumfries House". Ayrshire Post.
18. McInnes, Yonnie. (13 May 2011). "First phase of Knockroon's sustainable homes is launched by Hope Homes". Ayrshire Post.
19. Neil, Alistair. (2 November 2011). "Walled Garden gets make-over". Cumnock Chronicle.
20. (22 September 2012). "Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall visit Ayr Racecourse". The Scotsman.
21. Dumfries house magazine. "Dumfries house".
22. (6 September 2017). "The Duke and Duchess of Rothesay welcome the President of Ireland to Dumfries House and attend a concert celebrating 25 years of Classic FM". The Royal Family website.
23. {{Scottish charity. SC038770. The Prince's Foundation
24. (4 March 2019). "Prince Charles charity link to Russian offshore network". BBC News.
25. (28 October 2022). "The Royal Week 22-28 October 2022".
26. (1 February 2023). "King Charles III: Warm space opens at Highgrove House". BBC News.
27. (15 September 2023). "Business transacted at the Privy Council, held by The King at Dumfries House". Privy Council Office.
28. (6 January 2026). "Dumfries House to get £6.5m expansion". The Herald.
29. Reid, Stuart. (30 March 2023). "Dumfries House: Prince's Foundation plan for education centre". Cumnock Chronicle.