Gunsgreen House, Eyemouth, Berwickshire

Gunsgreen House was remarkably undamaged, despite its chequered career. The only serious interventions had been made in its time as the local Golf Club House, when rooms were knocked together on all levels to create effective function spaces.

A new staircase had been added to the outside of the House on the north side to link the basement to the cellars as part of an earlier scheme to create facilities for visiting yacht crews in the early 2000s. This was not successful, but the stair has been essential to the current use of the House.

The major new work as part of the current scheme has been the addition of a lift/stair tower to the rear of the building to provide emergency means of escape and disabled access to the ground and first floors. Initially this was intended to be contained with the envelope of the House, but it would have destroyed the surviving warren of small rooms and closets supporting the main bedrooms.

Within the House all the Golf Club alterations have been reversed, except for the opening out of the two rooms on the first floor. The Golf Club had created an arched opening, which has been replaced by a double doorway modelled on a pattern used in the New Town in Edinburgh. This maintains the ability to have a large function space, but is appropriate to the design of the building.

It was necessary to replace the original doors throughout the House with fire doors. On the ground, first and second floors the fire doors replicate the design of the originals and examples of these are displayed in one of the public areas.

The decorative scheme for the House is either based on paint scrapes and other research or is appropriate to the period. The blue wainscot parlour is particularly striking, as is the rear room on the entrance level which revealed a series of fine wallpapers, some of which have been reproduced.

The house is heated by a gas hot water system using two condensing boilers, which also supply hot water. Most of the window frames have had to be replaced and although they are single glazed, the overall fit is far better than the originals.

Gunsgreen House – by its very location – is a key building in Eyemouth. For the past hundred years or so it has also been part of the community. From 1912 to 1964 it was a guest house, to which local people were welcomed for whist drives and other events and from the 1960s into the 1990s it was the headquarters of a range of sporting organisations, so many Eyemouth people have fond memories of the House, which the Trust is seeking to build on.

There are a number of very special features about the House:
• It is a significant John Adam Merchant’s House in a small fishing port
• It is in remarkably good condition with many original features, including traces of early decorative schemes
• It has a very strong story, linked initially to the large smuggling trade of SE Scotland
• It contains within it unique hiding places related to smuggling – the tea chute (for hiding tea, lined with re-cycled Chinese tea chests); a large hiding place under the floor on the top floor; other hiding places within the walls.
• It stands upon substantial cellars built as harbourside warehousing.
• There are local stories about the House, involving revolving fireplaces and secret tunnels

The reaction of visitors to the House indicates their pleasure in seeing it. Virtually every one comments on how comfortable it feels and one man – who has holidayed in Eyemouth all his life – wrote “a childhood dream fulfilled” in the visitors book.

Gunsgreen House is a very special building and the restoration project has preserved that “specialness” while producing a place that everyone enjoys visiting and seeing.

Summary
Designed by John Adam c.1751 for local “merchant” John Nisbet, Gunsgreen House dominates the town and harbour of Eyemouth.
By 1998 it had ceased to have a clear use. Gunsgreen House Trust was established to safeguard the future of the House and was granted a 99 year lease by Scottish Borders Council.

A major £2.4m project has been undertaken which involved the total restoration/conservation of the House and the provision of a range of facilities to make it viable, including disabled access, an interpretation display about smuggling, a suite of historic furnished rooms and a large self-catering apartment.

Architect: Bain Swan Architects, Eyemouth

No formal evaluation has been carried out, but the Visitors’ Book in the Visitor Attraction section provides very positive feedback:
• Beautifully done and hope you do really well (Edinburgh)
• Wonderful – have wanted to visit for years (Tyne & Wear)
• A fantastic house with many stories to tell (Notts)
• Absolutely lovely – and so interesting (Eyemouth)
• Sophie aged 3 enjoyed the children’s activities and we enjoyed the history – well done (Selby)
• Lovely to see so much original decor – smuggling bit very good too! (Muir of Ord)
• Fantastic historical journey – keep up the good work! (S. Australia)
• A beautiful house well worth a visit – so glad we came. What a lovely surprise (Cleveland)
• Very professional restoration – good for Eyemouth (Eyemouth)
• After 60 years of visiting Eyemouth what a surprise! (East Saltoun)
• Fascinating to think all this happened in Eyemouth! (Eyemouth)
• Brilliant – a rare gem! (Bradford)

What these comments illustrate is that people appreciate all aspects of the finished project, from the smuggling displays to the historic wallpaper.

The second to last comment: ‘fascinating to think all this happened in Eyemouth’ expresses the loss of confidence the town has suffered in recent years as it has watched its busy fishing industry gradually close down. The restored building, which is in a prominent position overlooking the harbour, enhances the harbour side and the view across the quay from the town.

The Harbour Trust, who are having to rely more heavily on income from the tourist industry, see Gunsgreen House as a significant attraction and have been very supportive throughout the project.

Local Primary Schools have made excellent use of the House and its story to develop learning materials for children of all ages from P1 – 7. This has ensured that a whole generation of children will grow up with a clear knowledge and understanding of Gunsgreen House.

The next stage is to fully develop the community use of the function areas. A period Wedding Permit has been obtained for a number of different spaces, with the first wedding taking place on 27 February. The Trust has set a reduced charge for weddings for people from Eyemouth, to encourage local use. This is being supported and promoted by the Registrar and the Council more generally.

Meetings and private parties have also been held and a concert is provisionally planned for June 2010.

The Herring Queen ceremony returned to the Gunsgreen side of Eyemouth harbour in 2009, with the Queen and her court processing from Gunsgreen House.

One comment that has been made is that the availability of Gunsgreen House for events has given Eyemouth a real lift, and the concert in June is being organised by people from Berwick-upon-Tweed as there is nowhere as good as Gunsgreen in the Town.

The client was Gunsgreen House Trust which was established to “preserve for the public benefit the property known as Gunsgreen House”.

Despite difficulties with the execution of the project – notably the liquidation of the main contractor in November 2008 – the Trust is very pleased with the end result. It fully meets the needs of the Trust in terms of quality of workmanship and range of services. The concept of the Smuggling Interpretation, designed and executed by a sub-contractor, has proved to be very successful and the mixture of fun and seriousness appeals to all visitors. (see section above)

The addition of the lift/stair tower has assisted with the use of the building and is important for visitor flow and access.

It is, however, the quality of the design and oversight of the project that has made it work so well and be so well received by all our users.

The actual owners of the building, Scottish Borders Council, are also pleased with the outcome and are very excited at the prospect the House offers as a potential prestige venue for special meetings and events in East Berwickshire. As mentioned above, the Council is actively helping with the promotion of the House for weddings and related events.

Gunsgreen House is a very special place. It has received sensitive and imaginative treatment from the architect and the contractors, the end result of which has been a first rate visitor attraction, self-catering apartment and event venue which are of great importance to the steady development of Eyemouth as a growing visitor destination.