BROUGHTON HOUSE

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

2005: GARDEN only: 1 Feb to 31 Mar, daily 11-4. HOUSE and GARDEN: 1 Apr to 30 Jun and 1 Sep to 31 Oct, daily 12-5; 1 Jul to 31 Aug, daily 10-5.

2006: GARDEN only: 1 Feb to 13 Apr, daily 11-4. HOUSE and GARDEN: Good Fri to 30 Jun and 1Sep to 31 Oct, daily 12-5; 1 Jul to 31 Aug, daily 10-5.

Information about BROUGHTON HOUSE..

BROUGHTON HOUSE, which is 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.