Tag Archives: Georgian mansion

Dumfries House, Ayrshire, Scotland

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I’ve been meaning to visit Dumfries House for absolutely ages and last week we got around to it at last. I thought it would have taken us longer to get there, it was about a two hour drive from Fife, but we stayed in the area overnight so we would have plenty of time to look around. The house is part of the Prince’s Foundation, does it have to be called the King’s Foundation now? Anyway, the fine Georgian mansion was due to be auctioned off piece by piece and some furniture was actually in a London auction house, when the then Prince Charles stepped in and organised a financial rescue package for it. The name of the house is somewhat confusing as it isn’t near the town of Dumfries, it’s actually in Cumnock, Ayrshire. It was designed by the Adam brothers – Robert, John and James.

Dumfries House, Georgian mansion, Ayrshire, Scotland

Sadly they don’t allow people to take photos inside, suffice to say that it’s well worth a visit, it has all sorts of bits and pieces in it and glorious furniture, including Chippendale pieces, one cabinet is valued at £25 million! But I loved the clocks and the huge orrery which is 260 years old, so of course isn’t correct now.

Below is the back of the house, where the guided tour begins.

Back of Dumfries House, Georgian mansion

The whole place is incredibly vibrant with all sorts of things going on educationally with lots of apprenticeships available, and it is now the second largest employer in the county.

The Lugar Water runs through the estate and there are some lovely bridges spanning it. But I’ll leave that and the grounds for another blogpost.
Adam Bridge, Dumfries House, Georgian mansioen, Lugar Water tr

You can see the Education Tour in the You Tube video below.

If you’re interested in the history of the house you can read about it here.

Pollok House and Garden in Glasgow, Scotland

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Here we are back at Pollok House and Garden, you can see my previous post about it here.

Pollok House garden

Unfortunately the wedding which was taking place inside the house later went outside for the reception in one of those wedding marquees, not my idea of an elegant do but they are very popular nowadays. It meant I couldn’t get photos of all of the garden.

Pollok House garden

I do love box hedging and it’s so easy to strike cuttings from any trimmings you make. I think I’ll make some sort of wee design in my own garden, nothing grand like this of course.

Pollok House garden

Below is an area of mixed flower beds.

Pollok House garden

And a stone wall bedecked with self seeded flowers.

Pollok House garden

No grand house is complete without a lovely bridge it would seem. This is the bridge which the Clydesdale horse in my previous post walked over.
Pollok House bridge

The tearoom is located in what was the kitchens of the house and it’s obviously the place to go for lunch as it was very well patronised. It’s worth taking a look down there even if you don’t want anything to eat or drink as it’s all very Downton Abbey-ish, with the butler’s telephone booth. I recommend the gingerbread though Jack chose the shortbread, we sampled each others – as you do, both were very tasty. There’s also a good exhibition of Scottish landscape paintings downstairs.

It was a good day out all in all.