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.