The Joint Vision
In May 2012 a partnership was launched between the Mavisbank Trust, Historic Scotland, the Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust and Midlothian Council in support of a Joint Vision for Mavisbank.
The aims of the partnership were to:
- Enhance Scotland’s historic environment by restoring the exterior of the House and reinstating an 18th century interior.
- Provide a sustainable, economically viable long-term use for the House and Policies.
- Re-establish the formal relationship between the House and landscape.
- Re-unite the ownership of the House and Policies under the Mavisbank Trust.
- Support community engagement and local regeneration by opening up Mavisbank as an important community park for informal recreational and educational use within the valley of the North Esk and an important element of the Lothians green network.
- Manage the Polices with a view to bringing back the significance of the landscape in accordance with philosophies and theory informed by Sir John Clerk’s poem “The Country Seat”.
However, a 2013 Stage 1 grant application to the Heritage Lottery Fund by the Mavisbank Trust on behalf of the partners for project development funding was unsuccessful. Although invited by the Fund to re-apply, ongoing difficulties at the time relating to Mavisbank ownership and access prevented further progress.
