Looking Back: Dumfries House
Post date: 05 Aug, 2016
Set in 2,000 acres of land, Dumfries House is an 18th Century stately home situated in Cumnock, Scotland. Cited as one of Britain’s most beautiful, it houses an unrivalled collection of original furniture, including that of Thomas Chippendale.
Completed in 1759, the house recently come under threat and saw heavy investment in 2007 from HRH, Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay and Prince of Wales. With £20 million of his own charitable foundation’s money and £45 million personally brokered, a deal was completed with the hope to secure the house and its unique collection of furniture, whilst creating a sustainable business that would help in regenerating the local economy.
Throughout its history, Dumfries House has seen various regeneration projects and it was whilst working on-site in 2014 that Lynn Harris, of Passionate About Gardens, recognised a solution to a forthcoming project. Having used the product herself, Lynn believed that CED Stone Group’s ECCOgravel*, a gravel stabilisation system, would be ideal in transforming the walkways to the front of house formal gardens.
Lynn soon introduced CED Stone Group’s Divisional Director, Gary Ewing, to the Dumfries House Estate Manager. Following several meetings, samples were supplied for approval by Prince Charles, and once established, the go-ahead was given to contractors Hope Homes to proceed with ECCOgravel.
Speaking at the time, Gary Ewing stated,
“A classic case of what happens when old meets new. The original look and feel of the gravel is retained, but with this modern twist of ECCOgravel being used to stabilise the gravel and give a comfortable, wheelchair friendly surface that brings these roads and pathways right into the 21st Century.”
Originally, the front of house formal garden was completed, however, the product was liked so much, that the whole area was upgraded to incorporate Cedagravel*, including all of the roads leading to the house and the parking lot at the rear. The project was completed in June 2014.
*ECCOgravel has previously been named CEDAgravel and CEDAdrive