God Bless the Prince of Wales!

[Nigel Watts]

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/...+a+Scottish+palace+for+£45+million/article.do

 

[Nemesis]

I've posted all the national news links in the Dumfries House thread earlier...


http://periodpropertyshop.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7806&start=15


Oh we do all love a cliffhanger!

 

[Nemesis]

And a reminder:

http://periodpropertyshop.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8009&highlight=save


http://www.savebritainsheritage.org

 

[Nigel Watts]

I know you got there first, but when I saw the article I was so pleased I couldn't resist posting a new headline, especially after after all the Scottish gloom of recent days (not least here in London)

 

[Nemesis]

Thanks! It's all been rather last minute... but all concerned hoped it would come off...


I think maybe I'd better send a bottle of fizz to the SAVE office (again!!).


I have no doubt you would be welcome to partake... there's a large and rather good ale cake there at the moment too...


"Without the Prince, none of this would have happened," says Marcus Binney.

"It's been one of the greatest cliffhangers in the history of country houses, but the result is a boost for the whole country. There is tremendous potential here."

"The Prince was aware that time was running out, and he thought: 'What can I do?' says a Clarence House spokesman.

"He's never done something like this before, but he could see what a remarkable place this was and how it could drive the regeneration of a whole area."

On a day that Britain has acquired a Scottish Prime Minister, it has also taken delivery of a priceless Scottish masterpiece which will last rather longer.

 

[Nemesis]

http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh_gfx_en/ART48453.html

More!

 

[Nemesis]

Country Life:

http://www.countrylife.co.uk

http://www.countrylife.co.uk/news/property/article/126354/Dumfries_House_saved_for_nation.html


(Hope the link works...)

 

[Nemesis]

Scotsman:

http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1006252007

 

[Nemesis]

HRH news release:


http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/mediacentre/pressreleases/dumfries_house_saved_for_the_nation_656279566.html


and SAVE's press release, which is about the most accurate!!:

http://www.savebritainsheritage.org/sbh_pressrelease_dumfrieshouse_saved_270607.pdf


PRESS RELEASE IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE
27/06/2007
Dumfries House saved for the nation
Against one of the toughest deadlines in the history of heritage, SAVE’s campaign to preserve
Dumfries House, its magnificent contents and beautiful 2000 acre estate has reached a triumphant
conclusion. The intervention of HRH The Prince of Wales with the stated intent of setting up a trust to
own and open the house to the public, provides Dumfries House with a secure future of the best
possible kind. It completes the financial package needed to secure the cancellation of the Christie’s
sale due to take place on July 12 & 13 at King Street, London.
SAVE’s initial plan for the house was drawn up with Kit Martin, the well-known rescuer of
endangered historic houses, and developed into a detailed business plan by local surveyor Mark
Gibson.
The SAVE campaign received its first initial boost from the Art Fund with an unprecedented pledge of
£2million, the Garfield Weston Foundation (£1million) and the Monument Trust (£4million,
subsequently increased to a magnificent £9million). Further funds have been raised with the approval
of a grant of £7million from the NHMF and £5million from Historic Scotland. The shortfall has been
covered by the Prince. Further funding will come from development of adjacent land, next to the town
of Cumnock, with a model development through the Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment.
SAVE’s President Marcus Binney says “SAVE has fought many battles, but we have never had a
success such as this. It saves not only the whole estate and one of the finest collections of furniture
made by the greatest name in the whole of history of furniture, Thomas Chippendale. With this comes
the best collection of contemporary 18th century Scottish furniture by the leading Scottish cabinet
makers of the day. This furniture was all commissioned or bought for the house, has always remained
there, and is all in superb condition. As Christies handsome catalogue shows it is all superbly
documented and would have fetched record prices at auction as collection of such provenance and
quality has come on the market in many years.”
SAVE extends thanks to both Christies and John Bute for leaving open a window for realistic pre-sale
bids till just three weeks before the sale.
SAVE wishes to pay special thanks to the many people in the town of Cumnock who have supported
the campaign with £1 donations to the fighting fund, through the Kyle and Carrick Civic Society. In
two afternoons more than a thousand signatures and a £1000 were collected in the High Street and the
current total stands at £1250. Other important pledges to the fighting fund have come from a number of
generous individuals.
Adam Wilkinson Secretary of SAVE says “we have had fantastic support both locally and nationally in
the form of donations and people’s time and energy, in the belief that the saving of the Dumfries
House can provide a major boost to Cumnock and the countryside around it while giving the public
access to a cultural gem”.
James Knox and Mark Gibson, who formed SAVE’s Ayrshire action group said “this is a stunning
result for Ayrshire, with the saving of Dumfries House there is now a cluster of internationally
important buildings including Adam’s Culzean Castle and the neighbouring Auchinlech House. The
heritage led regeneration will breathe new life into this hard hit area.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
DUMFRIES House is a complete and undisturbed work of the Adam brothers, John and Robert and
James -exquisitely built, perfectly symmetrical in plan, with ornamental plasterwork of great delicacy
and fine marble fireplaces.
It contains, intact, Chippendale's first important commission, consisting of an extensive set of
mahogany chairs, sofas, giltwood overmantels, girandoles and pier glasses, exotically crested rococo
four poster beds, and towel rails, chamber pot cupboards and trays -the full range of kit that could be
bought or commissioned from England's most famous cabinetmaker.
The house was commissioned by the 4th Earl of Dumfries, a man of exceptional taste with a fine
picture collection. His new drawing room was designed round a magnificent set of Gobelins tapestries
given to his cousin the Earl of Stair by Louis XIV while ambassador to France. Dumfries House also
contains furniture by the best Scottish makers, notably Francis Brodie, William Mathie and Alexander
Peter.
Sebastian Pryke, an expert on the Edinburgh furniture makers, says: "There is more documented mid-
18th-century Scottish furniture here than in the whole of the rest of the world."
The correspondence shows that Lord Dumfries consulted the Earl of Hopetoun about the design; he in
turn wrote to the high priest of Palladianism, Lord Burlington, shortly before his death. Robert Adam
came to stay at old Leifnorris Castle in 1754 as the guest of the Earl for three months, laying out the
foundations.
The house stands in an Arcadian park with a handsome three-arch bridge over the River Lugar. It could
be straight out of a Claude Lorraine landscape painting, with its two sets of John Adam lodges, an ice
house and a Gothic temple on a hill by Robert Adam.
Dumfries House passed by marriage to the Butes, who in the 19th century were to build two of the
most astonishing houses in Britain, Cardiff Castle and Mount Stuart on the Isle of Bute. Dumfries
House became a dower house, left untouched until the 3th Marquess, feeling that it was the only one of
his houses where he could be warm and comfortable, commissioned Robert Weir Schultz to extend it.
With great subtlety Schultz doubled the depth of the wings, introducing domed corridors and a gallery
to display all the Gobelins tapestries.
The SAVE plan for the estate showed how the major interiors could be opened to the public,
while ancillary accommodation, including the wings, the home farm and the laundry be used as
holiday accommodation, generating income to look after the house. Up to 26 apartments can be
created in this way with no damaging alterations to the fabric or fine interiors. Further income was to
come from visitors and events. The report was written by Mark Gibson who has rescued the nearby
2000 acre Craigengillan estate from dereliction, and supported by The Pilgrim Trust and the
Georgian Group
CONTACT
Adam Wilkinson

 

[Nigel]

The Christies catalogue (2 volumes, totalling 2 inches thick) makes a fantastic read, up there with Samuel Messer. You might even be able to get it on the cheap now (who knows, it could be an investment!).

 

[Nemesis]

Sixty quid a throw I think...

Donations to the local fund raising effort still appreciated: I gather:

Kyle and Carrick Civic Soc

c/o GM Hitchon Esq

1 Barns Terrace

Ayr KA7 2DB

 

[Nemesis]

According to one source, the Christies' vans loaded furniture this week and drove off... then had to turn round and put it back!

It all sounds so unreal, and you have to wonder at the way our national heritage is protected. It's down to a few determined people with balls really working against the odds.

Thank Gawd we have 'em!!!

 

[Nigel]

Christies catalogues now available for £20 and the proceeds go to the Great Stewards Trust

 

[Nemesis]

Thanks!!!


http://www.christies.com/presscenter/pdf/06272007/980.pdf

 

[Nemesis]

Twenty plus six quid postage:

 

[Nemesis]

Christies tell me they are now sold out!

 

[Nemesis]

It's all steaming ahead nicely:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6897360.stm

 

[Nemesis]

Hopefully link to Newsnight report showing some of the stunning interiors:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=wiuyr5hJ4xw

and the Channel Four report which is longer, although I've been having intermittent problems getting it to work:

http://www.channel4.com/player/v2/player.jsp?showId=7638


or

http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/arts_entertainment/art/inside+dumfries+house/597077

via the page link.

 

[Penners]

Sorry this is rather off-topic, but did anyone see the wonderful photo in Thursday's Torygraph of HRH presenting medals to some Army Air Corps members - male and (very) female?

The photographer must have been hugging himself!

 

[Nemesis]

Oh dearie me - from the sublime to ... well, Penners really.

:roll: