NTS Places to visit - House Of Dun & Montrose Basin Nature Reserve

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Your Guide 2013 (PDF)

House Of Dun & Montrose Basin Nature ReserveHouse

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About this property
This beautiful Georgian house was built in the 18th century for David Erskine, a judge of the Scottish Court of Session. House of Dun is just 3 miles from Montrose and its picturesque unspoilt beaches and around 45 minutes’ drive from Aberdeen.

Set amongst 368 hectares of splendid Victorian gardens and woodlands, this elegant home has a truly spectacular setting. It now hosts the NTS Hutchison and Stirling collections, some of the finest paintings and furniture in the Trust’s ownership.

You’ll be enchanted by the model theatre display with its scaled-down stage and cast of miniature costumed characters; thrilled by the glorious, rolling views of the Montrose Basin; and chilled by the many ghost stories associated with this most atmospheric of country houses.

Visit the courtyard buildings, where you will find a handloom weaving workshop, a gamekeeper’s shed, a gardeners’ bothy and a rat-proof game parlour.

The house sits in its own formal gardens with parkland and woodland beyond. You can explore and enjoy the Victorian walled garden and wooded den, before venturing further afield to the Montrose Basin Local Nature Reserve.

Did you know?

A psychical research organisation, the Ghost Club, carried out an investigation of the House of Dun in August 2006 and recorded a range of previously reported phenomena, including a little girl skipping about the building, voices and music heard around the parlour area, ‘an austere looking gentleman in very dark clothes looking down sternly’, a black carriage being drawn by two ‘beautifully groomed’ horses, a woman grieving over her lost newborn baby and a phone heard ringing in reception when there was no phone installed.

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Opening times

Garden and Estate: all year, daily 9 until dusk.

House: 23 Mar to 30 Jun, Wed-Sun, 12-5; 1 Jul to 31 Aug, daily 11-5; 1 Sep to 28 Oct, Wed-Sun 12-5.
Guided tours only; tours last approx 1 1/4 hours starting from the NTS shop in the courtyard.

First tour starts 11.10 (high season), 12.15 (low season). On Sundays during July and August (and every last Sunday April-June and September-October) is 'freeflow'.

Last admission 45 mins before closing.

House also open on Bank Holiday weekends from Fri to Mon inclusive.

Tel. 0844 493 2144

Click here to see admission prices