By Grant Smith

ONE OF the leading figures in Scottish arts and culture has criticised Dundee City Council for its handling of Camperdown House, the neo-classical mansion built by the son of naval hero Admiral Adam Duncan.

Sir Timothy Clifford, former director-general of the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS), has raised questions about the fate of various historic buildings and cultural projects across the country in an article for the National Trust for Scotland’s magazine.

In one section he writes, “There are problems facing other country houses in Scotland. Take Camperdown House, for instance, the home of that hero of the Napoleonic wars, Admiral Duncan, which belongs to Dundee.

“At the moment the house is being used as a store for pieces from the local museum. But some years ago the National Galleries of Scotland tried to return a considerable amount of Camperdown material in its hands to the house.

“The local council deflected the money then put aside to the project for the Dundee Contemporary Arts centre and now the whole thing has gone dead. The council are forever trying to slough the house off into a private trust, but I have been saying for years that Dundee has a duty to look after it.

“I still firmly believe that only if and when they do that will the NGS ever be prepared to put the collection back.”

Camperdown House was completed in 1828—more than 20 years after the death of Admiral Duncan, who defeated the Dutch fleet at the Battle of Camperdown in 1797.

This is not the first time that Sir Timothy has taken the council to task over the fate of the mansion, which stands in Camperdown Park, formerly part of the Duncan’s family’s Lundie estate.

Five years ago he complained that the authority was reluctant to take part in a project that would have seen a large collection of material held by the NGS and the National Museum of Scotland transferred permanently to Camperdown House.

This would have included portraits, swords, presentation boxes and silver.

Sir Timothy said then his vision was for the house to become “a satellite of the NGS.”

A spokeswoman for the city council said yesterday, “Yes, Camperdown House is being used to store collection pieces from the local museum, but this is a temporary measure until the extensive refurbishment of the McManus Galleries project is complete, which will be a magnificent addition to the city.

“There is no proposal at the present time to put Camperdown House into a private trust and the city council is well aware of its duty to look after the grade A listed building and is developing proposals for the future of the house, in consultation with Friends of Camperdown House.”