Trust plans ambitious project at Newhailes

The National Trust for Scotland has unveiled the first stage of an ambitious plan to secure the future of one of East Lothian’s architectural jewels.

Newhailes House, near Musselburgh, dates to the 1680s and is rated as one of the finest Palladian-style stately homes in the country.

It was owned by the influential Dalrymple family for almost three centuries before the NTS acquired the estate in 1997.

The first £2.4 million of investment will be divided between £1.48m to be spent on conservation and landscape enhancement, and £972,000 on commercial and visitor services improvements.

Among the projects is a plan to restore the historic doocot, the installation of a play area for younger children, and the rebuilding of the walled garden.

The estate’s curling pond will be given a synthetic surface to allow usage all year round.

Patrick Duffy, the NTS’S chief operating officer, said: “Newhailes House is to be one of the first priority projects to be taken forward by the Trust and deservedly so.

“Our ambition is to do nothing less than reawaken Newhailes and return it to the elegance and excitement of its Enlightenment heyday.

“These first steps will provide the means to attract many more visitors to see what was once one of the great cultural and intellectual hotspots, but in ways that are innovative.”