With a breathtaking setting, fascinating back story, an historic house with connections to John Paul Jones, George Washington and Robert Burns, dramatic trees, fascinating plants, and hidden gems, Arbigland House and Gardens near Kirkbean are a visitors’ favourite.
And owners Wayne Whittaker and Alistair Alcock, who took on Arbigland in 2018, are thrilled to have now won a Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Award, in honour of consistently earning great reviews.
Based on genuine feedback from anyone in the community who has visited and left an authentic, first-hand review on Tripadvisor over a 12-month period, making it a valuable and trustworthy designation of great places to visit, the award places Arbigland in the top 10 per cent of listings around the world on Tripadvisor.
Wayne said: “We have been here for six years and are delighted that so many visitors have appreciated our efforts, over that time, to develop this unique site on the Solway Firth looking across to the Cumbrian hills. We know that many people have been back to see the progress, particularly in the gardens.”
The gardens have seen many changes over hundreds of years, with different owners and gardeners imprinting their own mark on the 24-acres. The basic form of the gardens is 18th Century, with a straight third of a mile Broad Walk running from the house down to the beach on the Solway. Many of the trees lining the Broad Walk are more than 200-years-old.
The formal gardens are divided into distinct areas, including a Sundial Garden with a sundial from 1815 commemorating the battle of Waterloo; a Sunken Garden, with roses and a pavilion built by Italian prisoners of war; a Well Head Garden, with unusual plants and trees; a lake with an island and a Japanese Garden with a variety of acers and cherries.
Alistair and Wayne delight in meeting locals and visitors and sharing the history of the house, which was built in the 1750s in the Classical Adams-style by William Craik, who introduced the Agricultural Revolution to Scotland.
William’s illegitimate son, James Craik, was a close friend and physician to, George Washington, the first US President, who died in his arms.
The son of William’s Minister, John Campbell, was the first captain of HMS Victory and became the Governor-General of Newfoundland. He was also a remarkable scientist, inventor and sponsor of the brass sextant and appointed by the Board of Longitude to test the chronometers submitted to them.
And William’s gardener was the father of John Paul Jones, a founder of the US Navy. The John Paul Jones Cottage Museum, which celebrates his life, is next door.
