Save Moat Brae
Welcome to the new website and blog for Moat Brae House, an exceptionally fine Georgian townhouse in Dumfries, Scotland.
Moat Brae was designed in 1823 by the architect Walter Newall, for Robert Threshie of Barnbarroch. The interior of the house has a particular charm and theatricality about it, arranged as it is around a circular gallery and top-lit dome over the central saloon. Newall was born in New Abbey, and spent most of his working life in Dumfries. The range and quality of his work is becoming more widely appreciated since the archive of his records was acquired by Dumfries & Galloway Council and is now in the care of the Dumfries Archive Centre.
Many will know of the house because of its connection with the story of Peter Pan. In 1873, on his first day as a pupil at Dumfries Academy, the author JM Barrie befriended the Gordon boys, sons of a local solicitor whose family were then living at Moat Brae. Stuart Gordon shared Barrie’s appetite for high adventure, and invited him to join his pirate crew… “…when the shades of night began to fall, certain young mathematicians shed their triangles, crept up walls and down trees, and became pirates in a sort of Odyssey that was long afterwards to become the play of Peter Pan. For our escapades in a certain Dumfries Garden, which is enchanted land to me, were certainly the genesis of that nefarious work.” (JM Barrie, Speech on being awarded the Freedom of Dumfries, 11 December 1924) The garden of Moat Brae house is the birthplace of Peter Pan.
However, there is a proposal to set up of a Building Preservation Trust to acquire, restore, and find a suitable and sympathetic use for the house and its garden. The Peter Pan Action Group, formed by Roger Windsor and made up of concerned and dedicated local people with a wide range of backgrounds, interests and expertise, has included and has been working with Loreburn Housing Association to ensure a positive outcome for Moat Brae. Loreburn HA have now indicated to the Peter Pan Action Group that they would be open to passing the property on to such a trust, and so a small working group of volunteers is now incorporating a Building Preservation Trust to save the house and garden at Moat Brae.
Historic buildings preservation trusts (BPTs) are charities established to preserve buildings of architectural or historic importance whose survival is threatened and for which an economically viable solution is beyond the reach of both the original owner and the normal operation of the market. BPTs are usually constituted as companies limited by guarantee and have charitable status.
Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust wishes to acknowledge the contribution of Loreburn Housing Association in making Moat Brae available to the Trust to restore and thereby saving it for the benefit of the Dumfries Community.
WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT!!!!
Please contact us if you can help in any way, or become a “Friend” of the Trust we are establishing for Moat Brae. Please email friends@moatbrae.org if you would like to become involved; or to offer your support – specific or general, in cash or in kind. Please also let us know if you would like to be added to our mailing list.
Luke Moloney
NOTE: Unfortunately this post has been massively edited, cut, abridged, and translated into ‘newspeak’ by somebody since it was first posted in June 2009. Much of the story has been censored, and many of the comments below have therefore lost their context. Thank goodness for newspapers. LM
I think that if Dumfries was to lose Moat Brae then we would be losing a significant piece of history, The powers that be wouldnt even consider demolition if the house was linked to Robert Burns but surely J.M Barrie is just as an important figure in our past.
Too much of our History, Identity and Heritage has disappeared in many towns already! How can Dumfries even consider redeveloping such a fine outstanding building and with the connection to Mr J.M. Barrie the Author of the much loved Peter Pan books as well.
This is a fine looking building of some character and the building will look absolutely superb inside and out when repaired and painted.
People of the future will look on with amazement if the house disappears now and say how could they (the planners of today) have allowed this fine house of character with connections to J.M. Barrie to disappear, when he is amongst one of the most famous childrens authors, such as Enid Blyton.
I am absolutely disgusted, horrified and astonished that even the idea of redevelopment of this substantial fine town house of character, is even being considered anyway.
The owners and town planners should hold their heads in shame and disgrace if this is what they are contemplating!
Mark Hood
I think that Dumfries council should be ashamed of themselves. They have the opportunity to make this into a place where Peter Pan fans from all over would visit. I suggest that you make a page on facebook highlighting this, it would get the attention of a wider audience of people who could support this.
Best of luck with it, Luke. Hope it works out for you.
Reminds me of the old Moloney mausoleum in Tulla, Clare which are being allowed to fall into complete decay, even though they are protected stuctures of the Irish Government (meaning nobody else can touch them except gov. officials or we’d get the jail even though they won’t do anything with them!).
Good to hear from you again, Luke. I’ll be very glad to support your project. Moatbrae is a beautiful building and I remember visiting it when it was a Nursing Home. As a volunteer with Dumfries Archives, I appreciate the importance of any Newall structure.
Luke,
When you are up and running, please let me know. If the Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America, based here in New York, can help by bringing attention to your project and spreading the word to our members, I’ll work with you to make that happen.
Best wishes,
Christine G. H. Franck
I am behind you all the way! Obviously there are some very philistine-minded people in Dumfries who are bent on trying to destroy Georgian Dumfries, we need to gather momentum fast to stop this beautiful house being turned into development flats of something worse. I am going to be in touch with Gavin Stamp to see if he can offer us any suggestions and support.
This is a very worthy effort. No house of this sort should be described as a “goner”. I doubt it is in such a bad state as Auchinleck (in Ayrshire) was some years ago, or Greenlaw Town Hall (Berwickshire)is today. Auchinleck is now owned by the Landmark Trust and a beautifiul place to visit and to stay. Contractors start work at Greenlaw on Monday (29th July). Setting up a building preservation trust is absolutely the right thing to do: I wish you all success and will help in any way I can.
Hi Luke,
good luck with the whole project
Well done for taking it on its definitely worth saving such a historic building
sounds like you have some good connections already
best wishes
Lucianne
Lucianne, thank you. It’s not just me!! We have a hard-working team on this, and we hope to involve many others. We’ll keep you informed.
@Lucianne Lassalle
Thanks Luke -we visited the sorry site at the weekend and are amazed that it should be considered for demolition however bad its state is. The hoardings all show Peter Pan -is that you or the Loreburn Trust trading on its past name?
It is a most handsome house. Can the preservation trust persuade the Council to serve a repairs notice on the building and follow it with a Compulsosry Purchase Order with the BPT pre arranged to acquire at D.V.’s valuation? The Council won’t move without such an agreement. Perhaps it might even be persuaded to loan the Trust the finance for acquisition, at the DV’s valuation,(which the Council could ascertain beforehand), giving the Trust time to raise the purchase-finance and secure the building from the vandals. We got the local Council in North Arshire (a not very sympathetic Council to restoration work) even to serve an ‘Unknown Persons’ CPO. Perhaps a letter, also, to our First Minister who has taken a recent interest in castles, and, hopefully, other buildings! It might be worth contacting the recently retired Director of the Art Fund, David Barrie, c/o The Art Fund, Millais House, 7 Cromwell Place, London, SW7 2JN. He’s a nephew or grand nephew, but please don’t mention my name! Good luck. ROBERT CLOW
Sorry Luke, Didn’t recognise it was you behind the web site till I read the comments. Hope you found Cromarty useful. I meant to speak to you before it ended but Victoria was travelling by car and had to leave early. ROBERT.
It is good to see proposals to set up a Building Preservation Trust for this building. Designed by a distinguished local architect and of national and international importance through its connections with JMBarrie and Peter Pan, the restoration of Moat Brae House and its garden would give the residents of Dumfries a beautiful Georgian townhouse to enjoy, it would also bring visitors and business to Dumfries from all over the world.
Margaret Gilfillan
I suppose if Moat Brae goes we could have another Tesco’s
Another example of horizontal thinking
Well done DGC…………..
The building is not about to collapse and is patently salvageable this in spite of a lack of planned maintenance by the current owners. It’s a structure of considerable merit and probably should be jump listed to Category A. It is critical that it is conserved repaired and bought back into use, as the town would be further impoverished were it to be ‘removed’
Good luck to the BPT.
I support the restoration of this house that has an interesting history- an asset for Dumfries.
Whilst i full support any attempt to save historical buildings for Dumfries, this is unfortunately a dangerous building. The trust misrepresent LHA in their text by stating LHA have allowed the rot to set in. I was in the building on their takeover in an engineering capacity and can confirm that the rot/deterioration was well in place.Trust supporters have had ample opportunity to purchase the building in the past or propose renovation, but no one was interested. Only now when a worthwhile proposal is on the cards, to make the building first of all safe for those who will have to work on it in the future, and secondly to make it a valuable asset to the town do the renovationists crawl out of the woodwork. Where were you for the last ten years?
just to add, you appear to be allowing people on this site to believe the plan is total removal. it is not….a new internal structure will be proposed using the existing georgian facade, so, no new box of flats is intended!
i would like to add that i am fully supportive of any practical scheme to bring this building back to life. It is scandalous that the Council in Dumfries, with their usual apathy have allowed this piece of history to deteriorate to the extent it has. And, what role have Historic Scotland had in this? However, I feel it is important to note that it is the grounds which are the inspiration, and, sadly, not the Newall architecture. It would though be totally appropriate for any new reconstructed interior to retain the majority of the elements of the existing building; particularly the dome and gallery. If the building interior structure could be saved then fine I would welcome that, but the situation is as far as i can see terminal. This is not LHAs fault. Look elsewhere for targets to blame…..(BTW i have no connection to LHA, no involvement in the structural decision process, and no professional axe to grind. I only want this building brought back into useful service as a memorial to Barrie, and his Dumfries connections)
Best wishes on your campaign Roger,the building once restored to its former glory will make the most wonderful art gallery.
We simply cant allow “social housing” on this site and we must repel boarders at all costs!!
I am rather bemused as to why last nights message was deleted.
Anyway,once again all the best Roger and lets hope lots of money can be raised to halt the decline of this building.
I believe many council officials are keen to lend support so it may be that they will step in help us financially.
This building is an asset to Dumfries and the people here should be ashamed it has been neglected like this.
The building is not in imminent danger of collapse, it is not a danger to the passing public, it has been inspected by one of the UK’s leading historic building engineers (Charles Blackett-Ord, Appleby, Cumbria) and one of the leading conservation architects (James Simpson, Edinburgh) and although it requires urgent work to turn off the water supply and prevent further vandalism and flooding, replace a long missing skylight to prevent further water ingress and deterioration, ensure the dome is watertight, and the building allowed to dry out, it is NOT beyond rescue. Once the building is watertight then dry rot will die also, as it needs a level of moisture to thrive.
It is also the case that removal of the fine interior, of which a great deal survives, would mean destruction of the listed building. This sort of destruction and facade retention scheme is not what conservation of important historic architecture is about. It should not be contemplated. Newall was a fine architect, and his work should be respected.
Grants (including heritage lottery funding) should be available to help repair/restore the whole historic building, if the building and garden can be acquired, and the right re-use scheme is brought forward (not a facade scheme). I understand that such schemes are being urgently considered by the newly formed Building Preservation Trust, with professional high level advice being given.
The building and the garden cannot and should not be considered separately.
The Trust needs all the support, practical and financial, it can get at this time. This is not now simply a local matter, it is a national cause, if not an international one, see website below:
http://www.savebritainsheritage.org/news/article.php?id=86
We all just have to shout loudly that we believe in fairies! But it can happen. Give this all the suport you can.
The rescue of this house and garden will not be rapid, not be easy, but will be supremely worthwhile.
I have no doubt that all practical and financial support, including donations, will be hugely welcomed, and the matter of financial support is an urgent one.
Is it true that a joint bid will be put forward to Loreburn from the Trust and The Dumfries and Galloway Council?
The meeting was fantastic and the support from those there was solid.
With some big hitters on our side we must be hopeful of saving the building now.