The Estate today

Mount Stuart Trust incorporates Bute Estate, Mount Stuart Visitor Facilities and the administration of the Family Archive and Art Collection.

Bute Estate is effectively the trading arm of Mount Stuart Trust and manages the agricultural property portfolio, the residential portfolio, forestry, the sawmill, the works department, the gardens department and the ranger service. The Bute Estate Factor, Nick Mellish has worked for the family for 19 years.

Mount Stuart Visitor Facilities manages day tourism, weddings and events, catering, retail, self-catering holiday lets and all matters relating to public access to Mount Stuart. Our commercial manager is Donna Chisholm who has worked for the family since graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University in 1997.

The Archives, libraries and other historic collections are managed by Andrew McLean who has worked for the family since 1997.

Bute Estate

One of the primary aims of the Bute Estate is to preserve the beauty and rural integrity of the estate. We run the estate along modern commercial lines whilst respecting the integrity of our rural surroundings.

The Ranger Service, which is of benefit to the local community as well as to the estate, was started in 1995 and our Ranger Billy Shields has played a key advisory role in the development of Argyll & Bute Council's 'Discover Bute Landscape Partnership Scheme'.

Recent projects on the estate have included water management, water recycling, sustainable energy and the development of local food production. Another saw the complete modernisation of the Victorian sand filtration waterworks system.

Because sustainability is a core part of our forward planning we are currently working on a woodchip biomass heating system for Mount Stuart. The key factor in this project is the availability of woodchip from our own sawmill.

The Sawmill is currently undergoing development works to facilitate the production of woodchip for the biomass system as well as a new sawdust extraction and storage facility, thus maximising the use of waste products from the mill.

The Gardens Department has recently reintroduced free range egg production as well as six beehives to provide branded Mount Stuart honey. We have also increased the horticultural production of the kitchen garden, much of this produce is used in our own restaurant.

The Forestry Department is run along traditional lines utilising a ten year planting plan, our forestry advisors are Tilhill Forestry . We continually plant indigenous broad leaf trees as well as rare and endangered conifer species from other parts of the world. Bute Estate is a member of the International Conifer Conservation project run by the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh.

Mount Stuart Visitor Facilities

Since 1995 we have steadily increased our visitor numbers, in 2007 we had 37,000 visitors excluding event and wedding clients.

Day tourism is a core part of our business whilst private events, corporate events and weddings are growth areas. We stage music events with the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, the Isle of Bute Jazz Festival and performing arts companies.

The Mount Stuart Trust Contemporary Visual Arts Programme is a key part of our annual events programme and has been developed since inception by Sophie Crichton-Stuart.

Our award winning visitor centre, designed by Munkenbeck & Marshall was opened to the public in 2001. Another recent project has been the completion of Nether Stravannan, our first self catering holiday let property.

The Archive department manage all manuscript and printed material in the collection. We co-operate with writers, historians, educational researchers and special interest groups to provide access to research material where possible. We also facilitate educational initiatives with the Rothesay joint campus. Andrew McLean recently produced and edited our first historical publication: the reproduction of an original eyewitness account of the execution of Mary Queen of Scots.

Future Projects, aims and objectives.

The continuation and development of our successful new food event 'eatBute' which brings together Argyll & Bute Council, Bute farmers and other Bute producers to develop a strong local food heritage and to analyse the feasibility of a Bute brand.

We are currently working with Glasgow architects Page\Park to develop and implement a masterplan for the development of Bute Estate property.

Directors

John C Bute
Chair, Bute Estate, commercial and property projects

Serena Bute
Retail, Catering and Mount Stuart refurbishments

Sophie Crichton-Stuart
Programme director of Contemporary Visual Arts

Anthony Crichton-Stuart
Works of Art Advisor

Colin Henderson
Legal

Stephen Jenkins
Finance and property projects

Mount Stuart, Britain’s most astounding Victorian gothic house