A Dumfries attraction that has had multi millions of pounds of funding spent on it in recent years has gone up for sale today, after it being announced in recent weeks that it was going to cease trading. The Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust announced earlier this month that the Moat Brae Visitor Centre in Dumfries will close its doors to the public on 23rd August 2024.
A spokesperson stated “This decision comes after the Trust encountered ongoing financial challenges, including a reduction in funding and a decline in visitor numbers, alongside increasing operational costs.”
The large sandstone building has been put on the market by ‘Shepherd Chartered Surveyors’ and does not have an asking price listed.
Shepherds state in the listing that Moat Brae is a wonderfully designed and re-imagined house with ‘enchanted lands’ that lay claim as the genesis of J.M. Barrie’s classic story, Peter Pan.
The Category B listed building was originally designed by Walter Newall as a private residential dwelling in 1823. Such was its grandeur that at one time the property was
known as ‘Number One Dumfries’. During its use as a residential dwelling, the author and
playwright J.M. Barrie is said to have befriended the children who resided here, whilst he studied at the nearby Dumfries Academy.
It is from these visits, and especially his time in the gardens, which he later eluded provided inspiration toward one of the world’s most famous children’s novels. The building was subsequently used as a private nursing home for most of the 20th century before closing in 1997 and then falling into disrepair.
In 2009, the property was saved from demolition and afterward re-opened as a visitor centre in 2019, following an extensive multi-million pound redevelopment project
