Moat Brae

A house known to have inspired the classic children’s story Peter Pan has shut the doors and on the market for sale.

It was with great sadness I have heard of the closure of Moat Brae that is in my home town of Dumfries.

The author JM Barrie lived in Dumfries between 1873 and 1878, during which time he was a regular visitor to Moat Brae.

At the time the house was occupied by the Gordon family, whose children Hal and Stuart were great friends with Barrie.

Barrie would later described the garden as an “enchanted land” which provided “the genesis of that nefarious work…Peter Pan”.

The house and gardens were run as a private nursing home throughout the 20th century until closing in 1997.

It was saved from demolition by the Moat Brae Trust in 2009 and transformed into a visitor attraction following a campaign from local residents.

Sadly following lockdowns etc the visitor numbers have dropped considerably and it was no longer viable to keep open.