Dunira (

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

: Dùn Iar) is an estate of about in

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

, Scotland, northwest of

Comrie Comrie may refer to: Places *Comrie (crater), a lunar crater *Comrie, Fife, a village in Fife, Scotland *Comrie, Perth and Kinross, a village and parish in Strathearn, Scotland People with the surname

*Aaron Comrie (born 1997), Scottish footba ...

and northwest of

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

. The estate is set against a backdrop of mountains, hills and rich lush lowland. Dunira was the home of

Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, PC, FRSE (28 April 1742 – 28 May 1811), styled as Lord Melville from 1802, was a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 1791 to 1794 and First Lord of the Admirality from 1804 to 1805. He ...

, although the house he built was replaced in the 19th century. The replacement house burned down in 1948, although the estate is still active.

Etymology

The name Dunira comes from the

Dùn Iarath, meaning "hillfort at the west ford".

History

The politician

Henry Dundas Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, Privy Council (United Kingdom), PC, FRSE (28 April 1742 – 28 May 1811), styled as Lord Melville from 1802, was a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 1791 to 1794 and First Lord of the Ad ...

(28 April 1742 – 28 May 1811) bought the estate in 1784. Dundas commissioned a design for a new house from architect Henry Holland in 1798, although the house that was built between 1803 and 1808 was the work of William Stirling. The surrounding parkland was laid out by Dundas, possibly with input from Holland. In 1802, Dundas was elevated to the

Peerage of the United Kingdom The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great B ...

Viscount Melville Viscount Melville, of Melville in the County of Edinburgh, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Origins The title was created on 24 December 1802 for the notable lawyer and politician Henry Dundas. He was created Baron Dunira, ...

and Baron Dunira. The estate was sold in 1824 to Sir Robert Dundas of Beechwood. His son Sir David Dundas had the house, which flooded regularly, demolished and rebuilt to the design of

William Burn William Burn (20 December 1789 – 15 February 1870) was a Scottish architect. He received major commissions from the age of 20 until his death at 81. He built in many styles and was a pioneer of the Scottish Baronial Revival, often referred ...

, who also constructed the terraces. In 1864,

David Bryce David Bryce Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE FRIBA Royal Scottish Academy, RSA (3 April 1803 – 7 May 1876) was a Scotland, Scottish architect. Life Bryce was born at 5 South College Street in Edinburgh, the son of David B ...

designed additions to the house. Dundas had established a pinetum by the late-19th century, and other improvements were made across the estate. The Dundas family sold Dunira some time before 1920. The new owner was William Gilchrist Macbeth, who commissioned

Thomas Mawson Thomas Hayton Mawson (5 May 1861 – 14 November 1933), known as T. H. Mawson, was a British garden designer, landscape architect, and town planner. Personal life Mawson was born in Nether Wyresdale, Lancashire, and left school at age 12 ...

, a landscape gardener, to redesign the gardens in the early 1920s. During the Second World War, the house was used as a military convalescent hospital. Most of the house was destroyed by a fire in 1948 leaving the office court standing. This was used as a residence until demolished in 2005. In 2000, the Thomas Mawson garden was partially restored as part of the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

television programme ''Lost Gardens''.

Current status and use

The estate was listed on the

Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland The ''Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland'' is a listing of gardens and designed landscapes of national artistic and/or historical significance, in Scotland. The Inventory was originally compiled in 1987, although it is a cont ...

, the national listing of historic parks, by

Historic Scotland Historic Scotland () was an executive agency of the Scottish Government, executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage and promoting its und ...

in 1987. The estate is currently used for shooting

game A game is a structured type of play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or video games) or art ...

stalking Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance or contact by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitorin ...

, fishing and golf with a variety of holiday accommodation and facilities for the family but the estate is not open to general public access.Durira Estate official website - accessed 28 August 2011
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References

External links

Durira Estate official website
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927101053/http://www.rushworth.com/dunira/index.htm , date=27 September 2011 : The local history of Dunira by Edward Rushworth Houses in Perth and Kinross Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes Demolished buildings and structures in Scotland Gardens by Thomas Hayton Mawson