Books, Bedrooms and Boudoir! Experience Bowhill House’s new tour this August

The Scottish Borders home of the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, Bowhill House, will open this August for guided tours. This year there are even more reasons to visit with a brand new tour available – Books, Bedrooms and Boudoir.

Bowhill House remains a family home with public tours exclusively limited to the month of August and two or three selected dates throughout the year.

Tours of Bowhill are led by knowledgeable, friendly, and local tour guides who love to share the history of the home, it’s family – the Scotts of Buccleuch – and the world-renowned art collection within. Rory Powell, House Manager, shares:

“The art at Bowhill needs to be seen to be believed with works by Canaletto, Gainsborough, Reynolds and the largest private collection of portrait miniatures in the UK, second only to Her Majesty the Queen.”

The new tour at Bowhill – Books, Bedrooms and Boudoir – shows a largely unseen side of Bowhill House with visitors taken to rooms not usually on show to the public including the Duke’s study and Victorian Passageway. Books form part of the tour with visitors taken to the library, which houses a copy of Adam Smith’s ‘Wealth of Nations’ first published in 1776, which is inscribed in the author’s own hand to his pupil, Henry, 3rd Duke.

Bedrooms make up another portion of the tour. Visitors are taken upstairs, behind the scenes, to bedrooms still used today. Recent guests include authors who took part in the Borders Book Festival.

Rory continues, “We hope visitors will enjoy seeing the behind-the-scenes elements of Bowhill and learn more about its fascinating history. It really is a family home, not a museum, and our guides thoroughly enjoy sharing its stories with our visitors.”

Bowhill guided tours are available daily throughout August at 12pm, 1pm, 2pm, and 3pm, lasting approximately 60 mins. However, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 3pm the Books, Bedrooms and Boudoir Tour will run, taking approximately 75mins.

The Bowhill Guided Tour charges are Adults £12, Concessions £10 and Children £6. For the Books, Bedrooms and Boudoir Tour, tickets are £15 but are reduced to £10 if taken with the regular Bowhill guided tour. Booking is strongly recommended for both tours with numbers on tours limited. Booking can be made online at www.bowhillhouse.co.uk.