The Scottish Borders home of the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, Bowhill House, will open this August for guided tours.
And this year there are even more reasons to visit with a brand new tour available – Books, Bedrooms and Boudoir.
Bowhill House remains a family home with public tours exclusively limited to the month of August and two or three selected dates throughout the year.
Tours of Bowhill are led by knowledgeable, friendly and local tour guides who love to share the history of the home, its family – the Scotts of Buccleuch - and the world-renowned art collection within.
House Manager Rory Powell said: “The art at Bowhill needs to be seen to be believed with works by Canaletto, Gainsborough, Reynolds and the largest private collection of portrait miniatures in the UK, second only to Her Majesty the Queen.”
The new tour at Bowhill – Books, Bedrooms and Boudoir - shows a largely unseen side of Bowhill House with visitors taken to rooms not usually on show to the public including the Duke’s study and Victorian Passageway.
Books form part of the tour with visitors taken to the library, which houses a copy of Adam Smith’s ‘Wealth of Nations’ first published in 1776, which is inscribed in the author’s own hand to his pupil, Henry, 3rd Duke.
Bedrooms make up another portion of the tour. Visitors are taken upstairs, behind the scenes, to bedrooms still used today. Recent guests include authors who took part in the Borders Book Festival.
The Boudoir is another highlight of the tour. The room was once the best-preserved room of the House, surviving dry rot in the 1970s and 1990s. In 2016 it was recognised that silverfish were destroying the remarkable hand-painted Chinese wallpaper, one of the most characteristic features.
A programme of conservation began, and the wallpaper was expertly removed and cleaned by experienced conservators Mark Sandiford and Louise Drover.
The programme took 14 weeks to complete and will ensure the room can be enjoyed for years to come.
Rory continued: “We hope visitors will enjoy seeing the behind-the-scenes elements of Bowhill and learn more about its fascinating history. It really is a family home, not a museum, and our guides thoroughly enjoy sharing its stories with our visitors.”
Bowhill guided tours are available daily throughout August at 12noon, 1pm, 2pm and 3pm, lasting approximately 60 mins.
However, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 3pm the Books, Bedrooms and Boudoir Tour will run, taking approximately 75mins.
The Bowhill Guided Tour charges are Adults £12, Concessions £10 and Children £6. For the Books, Bedrooms and Boudoir Tour, tickets are £15 but are reduced to £10 if taken with the regular Bowhill guided tour.
Booking is strongly recommended for both tours with numbers on tours limited. Booking can be made online at www.bowhillhouse.co.uk
The Grounds, with adventure playground, way-marked walks, Old Kitchen Café, Victorian Kitchen and designed landscape, are open daily until the of August, 10am until 5pm.
Adults £6, Concessions and Children £4 and under 3’s free.
For more information on Bowhill, visit www.bowhillhouse.co.uk, or follow @BowhillHouse on Facebook and Instagram. To find out more call the Bowhill team on 01750 22204.
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