Scottish-Indian curator helps bring 1700s alive at King Charles III’s Dumfries House

Glasgow/London: Dumfries House is one of the most majestic stately homes in Scotland, dating back to the 1700s and close to the heart of King Charles III – a regular visitor to oversee the work of his King’s Foundation charity, headquartered at this royal estate near Glasgow.

Satinder Kaur, Collections Manager at Dumfries House, is brimming with excitement as her research has helped curate a major new offering for visitors to Dumfries House – an authentic 18th-century dining experience in the historic home’s Pink Dining Room, complete with a “Butler Service” associated with the era and served on rare ceramics and silverware of the time thanks to the Royal Collection.

Starting this month, the Scottish Indian curator alongside Manager Evan Samson and Executive Chef Tom Scoble has successfully injected this added regal touch into the regular tours of the estate that visitors from around the world can book.

“As Collections Manager here at Dumfries House, it is a privilege to work with the fantastically varied collection of furniture, ceramics, glass and works of art that I'm looking after – dating from 1754 to 1759,” Kaur told PTI during a tour of the estate located in the Scottish town of Cumnock, East Ayrshire.

“I'm a second-generation immigrant and my parents are shopkeepers and post office owners. But they saw my passion and really encouraged me to find my path into the heritage world and it ended up being here at Dumfries House, where I am incredibly lucky to see something new every day that I find interesting or that I want to research and find out more about,” she said. 

Among the many highlights the curator loves pointing out to visitors is the Grand Orrery, a mechanical model of the solar system dating back to about 1750. It adorns the entrance of the grand home and even has a little touch of Indian history embedded within it.

“I think that as an Indian person, I always look for little spots of my own culture, like a little piece of home, really. So, the first thing I spotted on the earth within the Grand Orrery was that the Indian subcontinent is there – interesting to note, when there's no East Coast of America, and there's no Coast of Australia, and there's no New Zealand, but India is there,” said Kaur, who spends much of her time on the estate personally caring for many such precious items in the historic collection – from Murano glass chandeliers to rare British Spode ceramics.

It is past the grand entrance that the Pink Dining Room, which often plays host to King Charles and his guests, will now open to visitors for a chance to dine like a king themselves – for a grand price of GBP 375 per person.

“For a select number of guests, the 18th Century Dining Experience will be authentic to the 1700s, with traditional Butler Service – including the meal being served ‘family-style’ – and a menu researched and prepared by our chefs that reflects the culinary fashions typical of country houses in that age,” said Samson.

Chef Scoble’s challenge has been to curate a menu that resonates with the times gone by but also fuses with modern-day tastes and, more importantly, stays true to the King’s vision for Dumfries House as a champion of British farming and rural skills.

The produce on offer is harvested on the grounds of Dumfries House, which the then Prince Charles rescued back in 2007 by securing the funds required to acquire the estate for the local Scottish community.  As the headquarters of the then Prince’s Trust and now King’s Foundation charity, the estate is designed to deliver life-changing training programmes around traditional heritage crafts, rural skills, STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) and horticulture through a series of education hubs that nurture green skills and sustainability – priority themes for the 75-year-old British monarch.

Among the many activities on offer include an idyllic Health and Wellbeing Centre, offering yoga and meditation classes in keeping with the King’s own affinity with natural and nature-based therapies. According to the charity, around 170,000 people enjoy the estate grounds each year, with 10,000 students of all ages taking part in the foundation’s education programmes on site. 

Dumfries House itself attracts around 20,000 visitors every year to experience one of the largest and rarest collections of British Chippendale furniture in the world. Proceeds from commercial activities such as tours, weddings, events, stays at Dumfries House Lodge and dining experiences are ploughed back into supporting the work of the King’s Foundation to provide practical education courses for students from local schools and beyond. 

The 15-year transformation of Dumfries House under Charles’ vision has resulted in nurturing employment opportunities for the local area, showcased by the foundation as a prime example of heritage-led regeneration.

Dumfries House is now keen to cast a wider net for people from around the world to witness this first-hand. Already having served as a vibrant backdrop for some British films, a Bollywood film crew and Indian travellers following in its footsteps are among the many prospects on the team's agenda as the next chapter in the history of this 2,000-acre sprawling estate ensconced in the pristine Scottish countryside.