OUR STORY

For more than two centuries the building here in Ann Street has stood at the heart of old Gatehouse. The building has served a variety of uses over the years. The first fifty years this was the home and workplace of the Credie family; nurserymen and keen horticulturalists. Over the years, structural additions of various quality were added and removed – but the core building always remained.

In the mid 19th century, the usage was changed to a school and school masters home – and given the name of ‘Durweston’ after the birthplace of the school master’s wife’s father. By the early part of the 1920’s the building had become the administrative centre for the Cally Estate and to this day is commonly known locally as the ‘Cally Estate Office’. Elizabeth Murray Usher O.B.E. of the Cally Estate, not only ran her estate from the building, but presided over Gatehouse of Fleet with a keen eye for maintaining the appearance and feel of the place – a fact acknowledged by the plaque on the front wall of the cottage ‘Knocktinkle’.

We are passionate about the area and have created a page in this website with tips on where to visit and downloadable guides to help you explore some of our favourite walks, hikes and trails. Please click here to find out more.

THE REGION & OUR NEIGHBOURS

Gatehouse of Fleet lies in a National Scenic area on the edge of the Galloway Forest Park in rural Dumfries and Galloway. The town boasts both coastal and upland scenery and is steeped in history. Close by you will find family and dog friendly local pubs, great food, ruined castles, standing stones, chambered cairns, starry night skies, deserted sandy beaches, unfettered open moorland for walking and hiking, mountain biking, fishing, sailing, and of course golf.

We are dedicated to ensuring that our guests have a fabulous stay at Gatehouses of Fleet and to helping them explore the local area in a way that gets the best from it. Please have a good look at our Out and About section which outlines some of our favourite places to visit and contains downloadable guides to some of our favourite local walks.

RESTORATION & PRESERVATION

We are very proud to have restored this building, preserving it for future generations of both residents of Gatehouse and visitors alike.

When we bought the building and started to strip out the inside it became apparent that there was a considerable amount of re-building to do before we could even think about dividing it into the three cottages we had planned.

With the planning permission gained we set about designing and building the cottages you see today. The process was not without hiccups along the way and a considerable amount of negotiation between Building Control and Historic Scotland. Nevertheless, all was well in the end and what you now see are newly built houses inside a listed ‘shell’.