By Joan McAlpine, Project Director, Robert Burns Ellisland Trust

It’s hard to believe that a full year has passed since we launched Saving the Home of Auld Lang Syne, our ambitious plan to restore and reimagine Ellisland Farm, the only home built by Robert Burns, and the place where he wrote Tam o Shanter and Auld Lang Syne.

It was in autumn 2024 that The National Lottery Heritage Fund announced its £489,000 investment in our vision for Ellisland. This development-stage grant, lasting two years, gives us time to prepare a large delivery-stage application that will make the vision a reality.

Last year’s news came as both a shock and a joy. It’s rare for such a small, organisation to receive a major development award on its first application. But the Fund recognised the urgency of our case, a site of national importance, at real risk, backed by detailed evidence and widespread community support.

Building momentum

That initial award sparked a year of hard work and momentum. Before we could begin in earnest, we needed to raise six-figure match funding,  a daunting prospect after just completing one major grant bid. Thanks to the backing of our partners, we succeeded: South of Scotland Enterprise contributed more than £313,210, Museums Galleries Scotland awarded £60,000, and The Holywood Trust generously provided upwards of £78,000, with Annandale and Nithsdale Community Benefit Company contributing £4,500.

Altogether, these commitments brought our first-phase budget to £945,000, a remarkable investment in Ellisland’s future, but one which also supports jobs and skills across Dumfries and Galloway and Scotland. This funding allows us to develop the detailed architectural, conservation and interpretation plans that will underpin our delivery-stage bid in 2026.

Managing a project like this puts significant strain on a small organisation’s finances. Invoices must be paid in advance of grants being claimed, which can be financially challenging if several large invoices land at once. We are therefore very grateful for the support of the Architectural Heritage Fund who have given us a short-term loan to ease cashflow. The AHF are a long-term supporter who funded past feasibility and development work that ultimately supported our successful Heritage Fund application.

Restoring the Home Burns built

Since receiving our award, we’ve appointed a talented design team led by Collective Architecture, supported by specialist engineers, surveyors and landscape designers. Their work includes 3D scans of Burns’s original 1788 buildings and topographical surveys of the farm, essential steps to address the damp and decay threatening the historic structures.

Our goal is to return Ellisland as closely as possible to the home Burns shared with Jean Armour, while ensuring it is accessible and welcoming to all. That means undoing later alterations, such as reinstating the original courtyard door and replacing a 1990s staircase with something closer to the poet’s time.

Our curator, Adam Dickson, has been leading fascinating research into the house’s interiors, from the authenticity of the 18th-century cast-iron range to the details of Burns’s domestic life. Adam has worked with experts at the National Records of Scotland and the archives of Carron Iron Works where Burns’s landlord, Patrick Miller of Dalswinton, was a director. He’s also studying the Barnbougle Papers, a remarkable collection of Burns’s Ellisland shopping lists and receipts discovered by our trustee, Professor Gerard Carruthers. These will help us reconstruct the farm Burns would recognise.

Interpreting the past for everyone

Museums Galleries Scotland are also funding our Interpretation Plan, developed by Borders based consultants Abound, to explore how best to tell Ellisland’s story, through its artefacts, landscape and the songs created here. Accessibility is central to this process.

Our charming cobblestones, laid in the 1990s, are picturesque but treacherous for visitors with mobility issues. The challenge is to balance authenticity with inclusion, to create a site that looks right, feels right and welcomes everyone.

A centre for song and creativity

Ellisland was where Burns became a songwriter of genius. Here, he penned Auld Lang Syne, Ae Fond Kiss, John Anderson, My Jo, Of a’ the Airts and many more. Our long-term vision is to celebrate that legacy through a Centre for Song, transforming the barns and outbuildings into spaces for music, performance and creative residencies.

Already, that vision is taking shape. We’ve hosted a series of musical events featuring Burns’s family flute, once played by his son James Glencairn, now beautifully restored and performed by Claire Mann. A trio led by Robyn Stapleton, with Claire on flute and Wendy Stewart/Rebecca Hill on harp, is reviving the songs written here centuries ago. The trio have already featured on the BBC and will appear in a forthcoming short film to support our Saving the Home of Auld Lang Syne campaign.

New voices at Ellisland

Nurturing creativity is at the heart of our future plans. This autumn, Ellisland welcomed its first artist residency in partnership with the Scottish Poetry Library, bringing together National Makar Peter Mackay and former Jamaican Poet Laureate Lorna Goodison. Their collaboration, inspired by Burns’s landscape and legacy, culminated in a powerful shared reading at The Stove in Dumfries.

We also ran our first young people’s songwriting workshop, led by composer Rua Soul (Rory Comerford). Over a weekend, eight emerging songwriters aged 16–25 created music inspired by nature and Burns’s themes. Their songs have since been recorded and will be showcased later this year, a glimpse of the creative future we want Ellisland to nurture.

Looking ahead

When our Trust took over Ellisland in 2020, we knew that survival depended on innovation. Visitor admissions alone couldn’t sustain the site. Saving the Home of Auld Lang Syne is about building resilience, through cultural residencies, heritage tourism and new income streams such as accommodation.

One particularly exciting idea is to recreate the Hermitage at Friars Carse, where Burns wrote among the trees at his friend Robert Riddell’s estate. Our architects are exploring designs for modern-day “hermitages”, small retreats where artists and writers can experience Ellisland’s beauty and solitude, just as Burns did. These can also be rented by visitors who just want to immerse themselves in the landscape Burns called “Sweet Poetic Ground”.

All of this must make financial sense. Another key piece of work during the project is our new business plan, being developed by heritage expert Rob Robinson. His first draft makes several practical recommendations that we’ll take forward this year. However, he predicts that our vision can be both a commercial and a cultural success.

It’s been an extraordinary first year of planning, partnership and discovery. We have expanded our team and capacity thanks to the grant. Cameron Hinde has recently joined us as project Audience Development and Operations manager, with an events, education and engagement project officer joining soon. Peter Thierfeldt, our Director of Development is working with me on the fundraising campaign and we have marketing support from Fiona Drane and Lorna Young. All this builds much needed capacity.

It’s extraordinary to think that when we started in 2020 we employed one part time member of staff. There’s still a long way to go, but the foundations are strong. Thanks to The National Lottery Heritage, South of Scotland Enterprise, Museums & Galleries Scotland, Holywood Trust, Architectural Heritage Fund and all our supporters, we’re one step closer to securing Ellisland’s future.