It’s going to be an incredibly poignant day for The Queen’s first born who was inspired to save Dumfries House seven years ago, when in a very dramatic coup just hours before the sale of the House on June 26 in 2007, the Prince managed the impossible. He pulled together a consortium of charities, government, individuals, heritage bodies and a bank loan – to the tune of £20 million which he personally brokered – to conserve this handsome Palladian mansion, its contents and estate, as a piece of living history for future generations.
The Weekly was lucky enough to be given a personal private tour of Dumfries House and its grounds a couple of months ago, to see first-hand the renovation of this country estate to its former glory and the social projects Prince Charles has implemented here and it’s a remarkable place.
This is a heritage project on a huge scale which exemplifies many of the issues about sustainable building, traditional arts and crafts, heritage and social regeneration that the future King fights for in so many of his cherished projects and the results are undeniably impressive.
Prince Charles believed that unless someone was prepared to take a risk, this house and its contents would be lost and he daringly stepped into the breach. It was a move that immediately fired up his critics and while seven years later the property is still far from profit, it is something His Royal Highness is rightly proud of… Something that goes beyond mere economics.
Though once grand and opulent, the House now sits in a depressed part of Scotland ravaged by unemployment with few opportunities for young people. For the Prince, saving Dumfries House wasn’t just about restoring an ancestral estate, antique furniture and works of art, it was also about giving hope, purpose, a sense of pride and most importantly employment, to the beleaguered local community. And this he has achieved in spades.
One of the key elements of the Dumfries House project is the Belling Hospitality Centre and where unemployed youths receive hospitality training from top teachers, with the best of the students hired at the House. There’s also the Kuanyshev Traditional Craft Skills Centre, another partnership with The Prince’s Trust which offers training in skills from bygone eras. Additionally, The Dumfries House Trust now employs 55 permanent staff and an additional 25 seasonal staff.
Inside the House sits a world class collection of Rococo furniture, which at the time of visiting was still in the process of being lovingly restored using painstaking processes that replicate the original lustre. These pieces – including an incredible Chippendale four poster bed – are now on display when the House opens to tourists. You can hire the House for weddings and special occasions and cottages are currently being built for holiday lets.
Equally important are the grounds here, where old-fashioned logging methods using horse and cart have preserved the ancient woodlands and old buildings are being regenerated for modern use and enjoyment.
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh with the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay.
Today though, it’s all about the opening of The Walled Garden, one of the largest of its type in Scotland, neglected for some 250 years and regenerated with the help of the local community in what is a remarkable work of restoration.
When Prince Charles decided to restore the garden to its former glory, he identified one third of the garden for development as a vegetable production area with an educational bent which was complimented by the building of an Education Centre. This Centre has already been in operation for two years and is successfully used by over 3000 primary school children per year.
The remaining two thirds of the garden combine formal gardens, parterres and vegie patches. The re-installation of two greenhouses and the personal design by His Royal Highness of a gothic belvedere complete the new garden design.
Prince Charles is extremely hands-on at Dumfries House and regularly stays at the House to take charge of the work there. Showing all this to his parents will mark another milestone for this very special project.
