BROUGHTON HOUSE

12 High Street,
Kirkcudbright.
DG6 4JX.
Tel/Fax: (01557) 330437
E-mail: broughtonhouse@nts.org.uk

NOTE:  Broughton House will be closed for the whole of 2003 and the early part of 2004 to allow for major repair and refurbishment.  The gardens will remain open during most of this time.

BROUGHTON HOUSE, which is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland, was the house lived in by E.A. Hornel from 1901 until his death in 1933. It is an eighteenth-century townhouse in the High Street, which belonged at one time to the Murrays of Broughton and Cally.

E.A. Hornel, who came from an old Kirkcudbright family, studied art in Edinburgh and Antwerp and then became a leading member of an important group of Scottish artists known as the 'Glasgow Boys'. He settled in Kirkcudbright at the height of his fame. By personal contact and reputation he attracted other artists to the town, and so can be seen as the founder of the art colony.

In 1901 he purchased Broughton House and extended it by adding a gallery and studio where examples of his work can still be seen. His furniture, china etc are still there as is his extensive library - about 25,000 books and manuscripts, most of them with a Dumfries and Galloway connection. On his death the house and its contents were left "for the benefit of the people of the Stewartry and visitors thereto."

For many visitors the crowning glory of the property is, however, the garden that backs on to the Dee estuary and still contains many features designed by Hornel himself. The influence of his visits to Japan can be seen in plants and design.

A visit to this fascinating house and its tranquil garden makes a compelling reason to visit Kirkcudbright.

Open Easter to October, Monday to Sunday. Admission charge. (NTS/NT members free)