Loreburn, the Dumfries & Galloway Housing Association, and the Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust today announced agreement on the way forward for the proposed development of Moat Brae, one of Dumfries’ finest Georgian mansions, the garden of which was the inspiration for JM Barrie’s Peter Pan.

The Trust will now take forward a restoration project of the Moat Brae house, incorporating Loreburn’s vision to mark the birthplace of Peter Pan with a restored garden and visitor centre.

Loreburn Convener Iain Agnew commented, Loreburn’s voluntary management committee is very pleased that we secured this site for the town.   We were determined that a long neglected piece of Dumfries & Galloway heritage be brought back into good use,  whilst increasing the number of visitors to the area by finally marking the birthplace of Peter Pan.   I am certain that without our involvement and significant investment this was never going to happen.  After months of close co-operation with the Trust we feel it is now best placed to lead a restoration project that will see all of Loreburn’s objectives realised.  We urge everyone to now get fully behind the Trust to ensure that Dumfries & Galloway has an attraction of international significance.

Roger Windsor, chairman of the recently formed Trust, is delighted:  “It was Peter Pan who said ‘Dreams do come true, if we only wish hard enough’. The wishing and the hard work by a dedicated team has set us on the road. We need immediate remedial work to stop further deterioration and the Trust will be concentrating its initial efforts in raising funds to this end. Work has already commenced to re-establish “Neverland” on the banks of the Nith, and to restore this beautiful house as a cultural inspiration for the whole community. We also acknowledge Loreburn’s contribution in securing and saving the house for the benefit of the Dumfries Community, and making it available to the Trust to restore.”

International campaigner Joanna Lumley says ‘To have such a strong literary link with the greatest fairy story of all time is thrilling – I’m delighted that the efforts to save this beautiful little house for Dumfries’ sake have been successful.  They have my wholehearted support.’

The Trust has ambitious plans to restore the building designed in 1823 by the distinguished Dumfries architect Walter Newall, to its former glory and ensure it becomes a major tourist attraction for Dumfries and plays a significant part in the town’s regeneration.  The future uses for the building are likely to have an emphasis on children and literature – with ideas for a holiday flat for respite care for sick children and outreach centres for the Museum of Childhood and the Scottish Storytelling Centre. There may be an associated visitor centre, shop, and a cafe, spilling out into the garden in the summer months.  The house might also host recitals, exhibitions, and may be available for other functions.   A major public fund-raising appeal will soon be launched and plans to celebrate the 150^th Anniversary of JM Barrie’s birth next year are underway.

The Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust is a company limited by guarantee, awaiting approval of charitable status.  The Registered Office of the company is c/o Primrose and Gordon, Solicitors, Irish Street.  Dumfries.

To become a friend of Moat Brae, or if you wish to support the work of the Trust  in any way, please contact friends@moatbrae.org for further details.

Barrie, who played in  the Moat Brae garden while a schoolboy at Dumfries Academy in the 1870s, said in 1924 when he received the freedom of the town:  “When the shades of night began to fall, certain young mathematicians changed their skins, crept up walls and down trees and became pirates in a sort of Odyssey that was afterwards to become the play of Peter Pan; for our escapades in a certain Dumfries garden, which is enchanted land to me, was certainly the genesis of that nefarious work.”

A show of hands at a packed public meeting, called by campaigners, confirmed everyone present was in favour of restoring Moat Brae House and its garden to their former glory.

But the support is not only local.

Save Britain’s Heritage, which fights for the preservation of historic buildings, has made an urgent plea for help and actress Joanna Lumley, fresh from winning justice for the Ghurkhas, has joined the battle.

The meeting,  in Dumfries Academy Minerva Hall on Friday , was told that the recently-formed Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust  had offered £50,000 to purchase the property from the owners, Loreburn Housing Association who have threatened to demolish it, retaining only the facade,  Restoration is estimated to cost up to £3m.

The Rector of the Academy, Mr Kenneth Glendye, made a short introductory speech of welcome in which he pointed out the Barrie connexion.  Dame Barbara Kelly, who presided,  said there had been a lot of “regrettable heat and controversy” about Moat Brae but they were not there to debate the ramifications of the recent past but to look to the future.  Roger Windsor,  chairman of the trust which organised the meeting,   said Moat Brae was closed in 1997, and sold to a developer who was determined to let it fall down to provide a site.

He said that when he realised the Peter Pan connexion:  “a wonderful attraction was lying rotting”;  he gathered few friends together and set up an action group in June 2007 to save the house and garden. A letter to the Walt Disney organisation asking for support received a frosty reply.

Mr Windsor said the group was delighted when Loreburn bought the property “for the town” .  But grant applications came to nothing and we were told the house might have to be demolished,” he added. “We were very upset and asked for a stay of execution.  Loreburn gave us three months to come up with a plan but  before the three months was up, the association decided the building had to come down.   “Conservation architects and engineers advised us that it could be saved and we applied for an interim interdict preventing it from being demolished and this was granted.”

He said the trust, formed on August 7^th, then offered to buy Moat Brae and was awaiting a reply. He told the audience: “We need to raise money, we need public support. If you don’t want it you won’t get it. My vision is to restore Moat Brae House and its gardens to their former glory”.  He ended by quoting Barrie: “Dreams do come true if we only wish hard enough”..

Conservation architect James Simpson, of Edinburgh, said he had visited Moat Brae two  weeks earlier with a construction  engineer and a quantity surveyor. The first thing that impressed him was the sheer architectural quality of the building -  designed by Walter Newall, one of the prominent provincial architects of his period.

He added: “It would be a huge disaster to lose the house. Its reduction to a facade would be completely meaningless.”  He said the building was in a somewhat sorry state caused by  water  from a lighting well in the roof and from taps or burst pipe but it was saveable.  He gave examples of other buildings “in at least as ghastly a state” which had been restored.

Describing Moat Brae as “an extremely important house”, Mr Simpson said  preserving it was  not just a Dumfries cause celebre but a national cause celebrity. Save Britain’s Heritage had made an urgent plea to save it.
He said it would be illegal to pull it down without consent and he thought funding for restoration would be forthcoming from Historic Scotland and other sources.  He estimated it would cost £25,000 to make it wind and water proof.

Trust spokeswoman Cathy Agnew said the project had to be supported by the community and the council and commissioning an options appraisal and a business plan were essential.  There were a number of exciting and realistic proposals for the building’s future use – a holiday flat for respite care for sick children, an outreach  for the Scottish storytelling centre and the museum of childhood, a Walter Newall archive and literary centre.

She said the preliminary estimate for the restoration work was between £2 and 3 million. Planning committee chairman Roger Grant said it was with great horror he heard of the plans to demolish Moat Brae.”We are looking hard at regeneration  and have decided it must be culture-led,”  he said. “The campaign to preserve Moat Brae gives me huge hope that it would be at the core of what we wanted to do.”   He gave an assurance that the council would be “as supportive as possible.”

There were numerous other contributions from the floor, all of which were supportive and members of staff from the Academy were particularly supportive. 

Frank Ryan