Take a trip to splendour

Ian Black visits Mount Stuart, the ancestral home of the Butes on the Isle of Bute, and finds Gothic grandeur writ wide and handsome If you're going to create an architectural fantasy, it would be a good thing to be the richest person in Europe at the time and to be more than a little eccentric. The 3rd Marquis of Bute was certainly both and the fantasy he created when building Mount Stuart, now the ancestral home of the Butes on the Isle of Bute is completely spectacular.

If you haven't escaped the city and spent a day there you should, and if you have, you should return as things, as of this weekend, have changed.

They have a brand new Visitors' Centre opening this weekend in the grounds and all the stuff that cluttered up the courtyard has been housed there.

There is also now a 15-minute audio-visual presentation which is well worth the watching, as it enhances your appreciation of the rich and strange things that the rich and strange 3rd Marquis brought into being. There is also a new art gallery in the Centre, currently showing the landscapes of Kate Whiteford OBE. Or you could create your own landscapes by going on one of the signposted shoreline walks after you visit the house.

And it is a house, not a castle. It was built for living in, not for defending, and it is High Victorian Gothic grandeur writ wide and handsome. Its marble hall is the heart of Mount Stuart.

This is the most beautiful place in Scotland and one of the least- visited. No throngs of tourists, just the odd awe-struck visitor gazing on elegant opulence. Speaking of which, the dining room is another gem, with one of the most impressive and important series of 18th century pictures in the British Isles. Raeburns and Reynolds compete with Ramsays for the eye, and the five Ramsays on the long wall facing the windows are worth making the trip for by themselves.

The chapel (every home should have one) is another wonder, especially the floor, which is a magnificent piece of work in marble and mosaic. In fact it is difficult not to use the words "magnificent" of everywhere you look. It truly is worth a day. Take a picnic if it is sunny and dine al fresco in the lovely gardens.

Getting there is simple a train ticket at #15.50 #7.55 (conc) from any station in Strathclyde gets you to Wemyss Bay and the ferry and the bus round to Mount Stuart are free, as is entrance to the house. Or you can take the car on the ferry and drive round. It is closed on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

For more information, contact Lynne at Mount Stuart on 01700 503877.

Copyright 2001
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.