House of Dun, Montrose, United Kingdom

The Dun Estate was home to the Erskine (later Kennedy-Erskine) family from 1375 until 1980. John Erskine of Dun was a key figure in the Scottish Reformation. The current house was designed by William Adam and was finished in 1743. There is elaborate plaster-work by Joseph Enzer, principally and most elaborately in the saloon. The house replaced the original 14th century Tower House to the west when David Erskine, Lord Dun, the 13th Laird of Dun, an Edinburgh lawyer appointed Lord of Justiciary in 1710, wanted a more comfortable and prestigious home. He opposed the union.

It continued as the home to the Erskines for a further 250 years, undergoing some internal re-modeling when Lady Augusta Fitzclarence, natural daughter to William IV (previously the Duke of Clarence) and his long term mistress, Dora Jordan, married the Honourable John Kennedy Erskine, heir to the property through his mother Margaret Erskine of Dun. When they married they moved to the property and Augusta set about making several alterations, modernizing the property. The writer and poet Violet Jacob (1863 - 1946), author of 'Flemington' and 'Tales of Angus', was a member of the Kennedy-Erskine family and was born in the house. The last Laird of Dun was Mrs. Millicent Lovett. She moved out of the house to an estate house 'temporarily' in 1948, moving all the furnishings and artifacts up into the attic. The rest of the house was leased to a local farming family who ran it as a bed and breakfast establishment for many years.

Millicent never returned to the house and on her death in 1980 it was bequeathed by her to the National Trust for Scotland. The Trust discovered all the original furnishings in the attic and spent 9 years returning the house to the state it had been in at the time of Augusta. In 1989 the house opened to the public, the Queen Mother presiding to mark the tercentenary of William Adam's death.

The adjacent Montrose Basin nature reserve, part of the estuary of the South Esk, is also a National Trust for Scotland property.

References:

Wikipedia

Palaces, manors and town halls in United Kingdom

User Reviews

Mark Graham (6 months ago)
Whilst the property itself is currently closed due to Covid-19, the garden and grounds are open and was nice to have a stroll around today and enjoy the autumn colours.

Douglas Young (7 months ago)
The car parks, gardens and woodland walks are all OPEN, the NTS website and road signs all simply say "property closed", but it's only the house which is closed. Surely someone could correct this as only local knowledge meant we visited this place twice last week.

Mark Chamberlain (2 years ago)
What really makes this property is the grounds and events that they hold throughout the year. Don't get me wrong the house is a gem for the period and much effort has been spent making the tour as interesting as possible but the property comes into its own outside whether it be the mausoleum or the vegetable gardens. The walk around is lovely and there is a small obstacle course and picnic area. Well worth a visit if in the area or perhaps travelling to if nearby!

Chris F (2 years ago)
Lovely "small" country house. Gardens lovely even in autumn. Guided tour of largely intact family home excellent. Plenty of outdoors to explore. I am pleased we stopped by.

Paul Goodison (2 years ago)
Lovely example of a Georgian House with an excellent guided tour highlighting little gems about how the family lived and their connection bro the Royal family. Watch out for the tour times as they were one an hour and several were full meaning waits for others. We were lucky and had a 40min wait. Tea room had great food and lovely cakes. Gardens looked lovely even in heavy rain.

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