The £1.6m campaign to save the 200-year-old Scottish island home of great Arctic explorer

A £1.6 million fundraising campaign to save the Orkney island home of the great Arctic explorer Dr John Rae has been launched.

The Hill of Clestrain in Orkney is at risk from the elements, with the Grade A listed building no longer able to withstand wind and rain.

Hall of Clestrain, the Orkney birthplace of Arctic explorer John Rae, is at risk from the elements with a £1.6m campaign now launched to save it. PIC: David Fleetwood. | David Fleetwood

Sitting at Orphir on the mainland, it was here that John Rae was born in 1813.

He is considered one of the great Arctic explorers after undertaking several voyages with the Hudson’s Bay Company and discovering the final navigable link of the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans.

Now the Save the Hall of Clestrain campaign is to be launched by the John Rae Society in Kirkwall on December 16 to preserve the building closely linked to both the explorer and a key part of Orkney’s heritage.

Cheryl Chapman, chair of the society, said: “We have a small window of opportunity to make this nationally significant Category A listed building on the Buildings at Risk Register wind and watertight and save it from the elements.

“It is vital we focus on raising the funds in the next year to preserve this important heritage for future generations and we need Orkney’s help to do so.”

The society has been working with Simpson and Brown Architects and Historic Environment Scotland (HES) to create a project of urgent conservation work and repairs. Priority jobs include the reinstatement of the Orkney slate roof, the replacement of interior timbers and repairs to the exterior walls.

Ms Chapman said: “The works will re-establish the hall as a visible landmark and will make it ready for the next stage – to faithfully restore it as the fine Georgian building it was in its 18th-19th-century heyday.”

The total price of the restoration project is around £2.2m, which includes the laying of a new access road to the property. The pediment that was part of the original Palladian style building will also be re-laid.

Dr John Rae, Arctic explorer. | CC

Ms Chapman said it was “excellent news” that HES has earmarked £500,000 for the job. A further £25,000 has come from The Barr Trust, £10,000 from The Headley and more than £50,000 from public donations for the road.

“We believe we can raise the remaining £1.6m to save this significant heritage through the support of other trusts and foundations, businesses, society members and the public,” Ms Chapman said.

John Rae, a surgeon by training, signed up for service in the Hudson's Bay Company that employed his father as an agent in Stromness.

Dr Rae, a medical graduate from Edinburgh University, signed on as ship’s surgeon on the Prince of Wales bound for Canada and was forced to winter in Canada when the ship’s return route was blocked by ice.

He then served as surgeon and clerk at the Moose Factory station for ten years and learned travel and survival skills from the First Nation and Metis people.

Inside the Hall of Clestrain, the birthplace of Dr John Rae. Around £2.2m is due to be spent on restoring the Georgian house at Orphir on the Orkney mainland. | Contributed

Due to his skills and reputation, Dr Rae was chosen to search for fellow Arctic explorer, Sir John Franklin and his missing party, which he did in 1854 after making four long explorations of the Canadian Arctic from 1846.

The society’s vision is to raise funds for the Hall of Clestrain to create a first-class heritage attraction by 2030, sharing the true story and ethos of John Rae and Orkney’s key role in Arctic exploration and discovery.