With ‘staycations’ on the rise, Richard Watt beholds a Scottish beauty Eyemouth.
The small harbour town of Eyemouth lies on a beautiful and uninterrupted stretch of the Berwickshire coast.
Large tracts of beautiful coastline and barely-tamed wilderness surround the natural harbour. On entering by the main road, I was impressed by how well the town has kept its heritage.
The sense of charm was matched by the awe felt at the building that overlooks the working harbour, Gunsgreen House.
The mansion house was built in the early 1750s, and was designed by John Adam, one of the premier architects of his time. The house was built for brothers John and David Nisbet, who were known in the area as merchants. This partly explains why the building is so close to the harbour, and why it had large cellars.
However, the brothers should have been better known as smugglers, as their massive wealth and influence was built on the smuggling of tea into the country. The East India Company dominated trade and enjoyed privileged tax status, and tea was subject to such heavy duty that its illegal import was rife.
After a period of wild success, the brothers fell on hard times and the house changed hands on many occasions. Our guided tour of the building was comprehensive in its overview of the house’s distinguished owners: other smugglers, a minister’s family, locals who ran it as a bed and breakfast, and a golf club who used it as a social club. Gunsgreen House is now owned by a charitable trust that restored the mansion to its original state, according to John Adams’ floorplans.
In the house, visitors can find a number of secret places. Most of these seem to have been installed by John Nisbet to aid his nefarious operation. Cutaway lintels within the walls suggest a hoist for moving barrels between floors; a tea chute runs down to the ground floor, funnelling into what may be the world’s largest loose tea dispenser; and there are strong rooms, false windows and trapdoors in abundance. An afternoon’s exploration of the house’s more devious past will interest any child, although I have to say my Boy’s Own sense of adventure was kindled during large parts of our guided tour.
Gunsgreen’s cellar continues the story of how smuggling became so important to the area, and how the house would have been a hive of activity during the 18th century. Revisiting that shadowy past is made easy by audio-visual displays and a “smuggling aptitude” computer quiz. Upstairs, each of the ground floor’s rooms are decorated in the style of a particular period. Early wallpapers, shaped plaster walls and authentic furniture represent the Nisbets in their time of pomp; decorative touches, paintings and lovely tables reflect how occupants lived into the Regency era.
Accommodation in the house’s upper two floors is very spacious, and the period setting makes staying there a very singular experience. As the rooms follow original plans, the Georgian period’s appetite for wending corridors and curious design is present, as is the elegance and luxury of that era’s furnishings.
I haven’t stayed in a place anywhere like it, and likely won’t encounter anything like it again. The well-appointed bedrooms would sleep a very large family or party, with a four-poster, double, and twin beds available.
There are essential amenities available with a clean, modern kitchen and bathrooms, and also disabled facilities. A delightful roll-top bath is provided to complete a weekend of Georgian luxury this would possibly have bathed an entire family, it was so large. Across the harbour via a large gantry, the town is as charming as first impressions hinted at. A sandy beach stretches to an imposing stony head in the distance and there is a fantastic amount of walking to be done if a visitor has the time. There are a few ice cream/chip shops as is expected in a seaside town, Mackays and Giacopazzi’s being exceptional.
However, there is no overwhelming feel of Eyemouth being a tourist location: it is a working place, and friendly. There are a few pubs within a short distance of each other, which are packed with local flavour.
Upstairs dining rooms in The Contented Sole, which serves a selection of what is good “off the boat” that day, retain their sparred ceilings, so low in places that some ducking is required between rooms.
Continental bistro-style bar and restaurant Oblo is a great place to go for a bar meal, and there is a fine dining menu to choose from in the evening. I found its city bar styling worked well with the harbour surroundings: it was unexpected to see such a contemporary establishment, but it was very welcome.
We greatly enjoyed scallops with cauliflower pancakes and sweetcorn puree; steamed monkfish, and Scottish Border tarts with creme anglaise. The food is competitively priced, half the cost of similar meals from an inner city restaurant.
The quality was absolutely fantastic and the meal was a great way to end a stay in a very charming town.
As someone with very little experience of the east Borders, I approached the trip to, and the stay in, Eyemouth with plenty of curiosity. I found the landscapes full of character, the history rich and the experience rewarding.
Gunsgreen House is a jewel in the crown for Borders tourism, and it’s not possible to put a star rating on the opportunity to stay in a heritage centre. The travel experience was very pleasurable, but for those interested in history, Eyemouth and its coastline setting is much more significant.For more on Gunsgreen House, including how to book accommodation, visit www.gunsgreenhouse.orgHowever, there is no overwhelming feel of Eyemouth being a tourist location: it is a working place, and friendly. There are a few pubs within a short distance of each other, which are packed with local flavour.
Upstairs dining rooms in The Contented Sole, which serves a selection of what is good “off the boat” that day, retain their sparred ceilings, so low in places that some ducking is required between rooms.
Continental bistro-style bar and restaurant Oblo is a great place to go for a bar meal, and there is a fine dining menu to choose from in the evening. I found its city bar styling worked well with the harbour surroundings: it was unexpected to see such a contemporary establishment, but it was very welcome.
We greatly enjoyed scallops with cauliflower pancakes and sweetcorn puree; steamed monkfish, and Scottish Border tarts with creme anglaise. The food is competitively priced, half the cost of similar meals from an inner city restaurant.
The quality was absolutely fantastic and the meal was a great way to end a stay in a very charming town.
As someone with very little experience of the east Borders, I approached the trip to, and the stay in, Eyemouth with plenty of curiosity. I found the landscapes full of character, the history rich and the experience rewarding.
Gunsgreen House is a jewel in the crown for Borders tourism, and it’s not possible to put a star rating on the opportunity to stay in a heritage centre. The travel experience was very pleasurable, but for those interested in history, Eyemouth and its coastline setting is much more significant.For more on Gunsgreen House, including how to book accommodation, visit www.gunsgreenhouse.org