Preserving our Heritage

The Buccleuch Living Heritage Trust

The Buccleuch Heritage Trust formed in 1984, by the 9th Duke of Buccleuch is an educational charitable trust, which administers the educational and public access to Bowhill House and the Estate. In 2011 it merged with the Living Landscape Trust to become the Buccleuch Living Heritage Trust. It aims to build bridges in the understanding between town and country and provides facilities for educational visits from pre-booked groups of all ages.

The Buccleuch Living Heritage Trust represents a continuity of the Buccleuch commitment to conserve the British countryside. It provides, on the Borders Estate, access and information for a public that is rightly becoming ever more aware of environmental issues. Although the term “national heritage” is usually applied to historic houses and their contents, it is equally relevant to our landscape, its wildlife, and the people in its communities.

The Buccleuch Living Heritage Trust continues the traditions of a rural estate – under one family’s stewardship – in preserving its identity as part of the national heritage, and by providing instructive and rewarding access to many of the fascinating aspects of the countryside.

These efforts earned Bowhill a Sandford Award in 1993, 1998, 2004 and 2009.