The man who created Moat Brae House in Dumfries

Dec 4 2009 Dumfries Standard Friday

THE ongoing fight to save and preserve Moat Brae House in Dumfries has focused on its link with writer JM Barrie and his most famous character Peter Pan.

Rightly so, for the classic tale of the boy who never grew up had its origins in the mansion’s garden where the author played as a youngster and first dreamed up the fantasy world of pirates and fairies.

But there is another good reason for ensuring the building is restored to its former elegance: it is the creation of one of the finest architects ever to grace this part of Scotland.

Walter Newall has left his stamp on Dumfries and the surrounding area with a vast range of distinctive buildings – town and country houses, churches, manses, schools and farm steadings. They are his memorial and Moat Brae is acknowledged as one of the most outstanding.

There will be a chance to learn more about Newall and his work at an exhibition in the Dumfries Midsteeple, open 10am to 4pm daily from December 15 to 23 (except Sunday the 20th).

It has been organised by the recently formed Friends of Moat Brae who support the trust that is campaigning to restore the house and garden and will feature some of Newall’s architectural drawings, sketches and biographical details.

Walter Newall, at the height of career in the first half of the 19th century, was a man about town in Dumfries, a member of the town council as well as a leading light in the professional community with an office in Bank Street and a house in stylish George Street. A collection of his plans, sketches and personal papers, acquired by Dumfries Museum in 1991 and now in the town’s archives centre, give some idea of how prolific and orderly he was in his work.

Letters

A small box of letters and receipts reveal something of the character of the man with his absorption in every aspect of his profession and his rather endearing love of fine clothes – rich India silk handkerchiefs, Parisian kid gloves, a Persian velvet vest, best quality London hats.

Walter Newall was born on April 3, 1780, at Doubledykes near New Abbey where his father Robert was a farmer. Walter was the third of seven sons and had two sisters. When he was aged three the family, said to be “quietly respectable and moderately prosperous”, moved to Airdrie Farm at Kirkbean.

No record exists of Newall’s schooling or apprenticeship but on December 9, 1806 – when he was 26 – his name appeared in the Dumfries Weekly Journal in a notice about a local cabinet maker’s business, Hannah and Reid. John Hannah announced he was taking a back seat for health reasons and recommended his partner John Reid and Newall to his customers.

A year later, Newall was admitted to the Squaremen or workers in wood, one of the town’s seven trade incorporations and in the following July he was made a burgess as a cabinet maker. The firm had a workshop in Nith Place and for a time a shop in the High Street but Newall’s career gradually veered away from cabinet making.

In 1811, he was employed by the Nith Navigation Commission to supervise improvements to the river and three years later when his firm landed in debt and was declared bankrupt he set out to establish himself as an architect.

He entered a competition to design a church at the corner of Buccleuch Street and Castle Street but was beaten by a London entry. He went on to win another contest for a church at Buittle, near Castle Douglas, and was presented with a prize of four guineas (£4.20). His next venture was Kirkmahoe Church, near Dumfries, where he was responsible for the building and supply of fixtures as well as the plans.

From then on his career took off and he was responsible for many of the late Georgian classical and Greek Revival buildings in Dumfries and Galloway. His work is readily recognised by its well-proportioned elevations, a variety of mullioned windows, porches with square Doric columns. massive door pieces and Egyptian-inspired details on openings and chimney stacks.

Examples are dotted all over Dumfries – St Mary’s Church, the Assembly Rooms in George Street, the house that is now the Albert Club, houses in George Street and Castle Street, and many of the huge ornate tombstones in St Michael’s kirkyard. Most spectacular was his conversion of the Maxwelltown windmill into an observatory (now part of the town’s museum) to coincide with the 1835 appearance of Halley’s Comet.

Out of town, Newall was responsible for such diverse works as estate buildings for the Duke of Buccleuch at Drumlanrig, Southerness Lighthouse and Dalawoodie House.

Architects agree that the best of his urban buildings are equal to any of his city counterparts, and his county houses and parish churches give this area an architectural heritage of considerable quality.

A civil engineer as well as an architect, Newall helped to bring a piped water supply to Dumfries and Maxwelltown from Lochrutton Loch. Another ambitious engineering project was his 1824 design for a suspension bridge with a 100-foot span. It would have been one of the earliest such bridges in Scotland but was never built.

Moat Brae was one of his earliest works, designed in 1823 for solicitor Robert Threshie. In Barrie’s day, in the early 1870s, the house was owned by another solicitor Henry Gordon whose sons befriended the shy teenager from Kirriemuir and shared his adventures in the garden. The author later revealed when receiving the freedom of Dumfries that his escapades there had been the ‘genesis’ of Peter Pan.

The house is now derelict but conservation architect James Simpson, of Edinburgh, told a public meeting in Dumfries he was impressed by the sheer architecture of the building and said it would be “a huge disaster” to lose it.

Describing Moat Brae as “an extremely important house”, he said preserving it was not just a Dumfries cause celebre but a national cause celebre.

Newall retired in 1861, having worked for almost 50 years, and died at his home in New Abbey on Christmas Day, 1863. He is buried in St Michael’s kirkyard, Dumfries, where his grave is marked by a simple granite stone. There is no statue or monument to his memory. Even Newall Terrace in Dumfries is named after someone else … but that’s another story.

Frank Ryan

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.

Moat Brae - gallery over saloon. Photo Graeme Robertson 2009

Moat Brae House was designed in 1823 for Robert Threshie of Barnbarroch, by Walter Newall, South West Scotland’s most distinguished architect.

The house, Category B listed in 1961, is exceptionally fine – indeed of better quality than nearby A-listed houses in Castle Street, and some contemporary A-listed houses in the New Town of Edinburgh. Apart from the problems associated with recent vandalism and decay, the house is in remarkably original condition.

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, then, the inspiration for Peter Pan.

Moat Brae was purchased in 2008 by Loreburn Housing Association (LHA), since when, deliberately or at least through sheer negligence, wet and (particularly) dry rot have spread extensively, and thus the internal fabric of the house has been allowed to deteriorate dramatically. At no point has the local authority, though fully aware of the situation, served any repairs notice on the owners of this house.

In May of this year, to the shock and dismay of the local community, LHA announced their intention to demolish the house.

This announcement was published in the front page of the Dumfries and Galloway Standard, prompting a general outcry, and as a result of which was proposed an alternative solution: the establishment of a Building Preservation Trust to save this important and much-loved house and its garden. 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.

This proposal was put to LHA, who on 1st July confirmed their agreement to give the newly formed Trust a lease on Moat Brae with an option to purchase the property at any time, at its market value, with payment deferred for two years, to enable the Trust to raise funds, restore the house and garden for the public benefit, and to find a long-term use that would be sympathetic, and economically sustainable. As part of this agreement, the Trust has been given until 31st August to present its proposals. This all forms a legal contract.

LHA made a surprising public announcement this week that they intend to demolish the house on Monday 10th August, and appear to have instructed demolition contractors, who displayed their signs on the site fencing during last week. We now know that the Housing Association has consulted with both the local Council and Historic Scotland, and that both have written to them with plain and strong confirmation that, without listed building consent, or a dangerous buildings notice – neither of which they have – they would be committing a criminal offence if they proceed to demolish any part of the building. Yet, with this full knowledge of the criminality of their proposals, they announced to the press, to the Council, and to MSPs that they will go ahead and do it anyway. For a private developer to behave in this way is one thing, but for an organisation like a housing association, with funding from Central Government and in partnership with the local Council, to make a conscious decision to commit a criminal act is very shocking indeed. (Their CEO Ahsan Khan makes the astounding statement, published in the Standard on 7 August, that he “would be astonished if the council were to move for prosecution”).

The reason given for the proposed ‘urgent’ demolition is that the house is in danger of ‘imminent collapse’. The Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust’s specialist consultants have confirmed that this is most certainly NOT the case. Moat Brae is NOT about to suffer a ‘catastrophic collapse’ and presents no danger to the public.

We (Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust) have been working behind the scenes, and have secured an Interim Interdict for 7 days, granted by the Sheriff Court in Dumfries, and which was served on LHA on Friday morning, to prevent them from demolishing the house on Monday (10th August). There will be a subsequent hearing at the Sheriff Court next Friday. In the meantime meetings have been arranged with LHA and their solicitors in order to try to negotiate an immediate purchase of the house and garden at Moat Brae.

PLEASE – WE NEED YOUR URGENT SUPPORT!

We need letters of support for the work of the trust, and in condemnation of LHA’s proposed demolition of the building, by the middle of next week, to submit to the Sheriff in Dumfries. We also need to raise significant funds for the project as a whole; but we must raise, very urgently, about £25K to cover the Trust’s legal and start-up costs and to carry out urgent emergency works to arrest the decay of the fabric of the house. A Fund-raising campaign towards the capital purchase costs of the building and the on-going associated costs needs urgently to be underway.

If you know anyone who can help with any of this, please pass this on to them.
Please feel free to circulate this to anyone you think may be in a position to help us.

Please contact us if you can help in any way, or become a “Friend” of the Trust.

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.

Any letters of support should be addressed to

The Trustees
Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust
c/o 24 Queen Street
Dumfries DG1 2JF

www.moatbrae.org

Moat Brae, Dumfries

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.

Over recent years, the house and garden have, sadly, been allowed to fall into a very bad state of neglect. The house is currently owned by Loreburn Housing Association, who recently announced that the house is “a goner”, and suggested its demolition, followed by a redevelopment of the site.

An alternative proposal, however, is the setting 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.

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