The rise and fall of the Peter Pan mansion

Moat Brae was credited by JM Barrie as helping inspire him to write Peter Pan

It has been, to steal a line from JM Barrie himself, "an awfully big adventure".

Moat Brae - a grand sandstone mansion in Dumfries - has stood in the town for more than 200 years.

It is best known for the fact that the author of Peter Pan played in its gardens as a child and credited them for helping inspire his most famous work.

It looked to have a bright future when it was converted into a centre for children's literature and opened in 2019.

However, it has now been announced it will close later this month - putting question marks over its fate once more.

It is not the first time it has faced such uncertainty.

The "birthplace of Peter Pan" will close its doors on 23 August

Moat Brae was built in 1823 - designed by architect Walter Newall for a local solicitor - and has had many lives.

The first was as a private home and that was how Barrie would have known it.

Born in Kirriemuir in Angus, he moved south in 1873 at the age of 13.

In his memoirs, he wrote of Peter Pan: "Our escapades in a certain Dumfries garden which was an enchanted land to me was certainly the genesis of this work."

Moat Brae came close to demolition before it reopened as a literature centre

For many years, though, it operated as a private hospital/nursing home until the 1990s.

When that closed, it was the beginning of troubled times that took it to the brink of demolition.

It was sold at auction to a private buyer in late 2000 but plans to convert it to a grand hotel were never realised.

Instead, it became a target for vandals and fell into severe disrepair.

It was not until 2008 that firm plans to redevelop it emerged when it was secured by Loreburn Housing Association (LHA) who hoped to create a residential development and visitor centre.

Not everyone was pleased with that.

JM Barrie played in the gardens of the mansion while he was growing up

In August 2009, the Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust (PPMBT) served a legal order to stop works which would have seen the façade retained but much of the rest of the building demolished.

The housing association ultimately agreed to sell the building to the trust for £1.

It was the start of a lengthy fundraising journey to raise the millions of pounds needed to create a children's literature centre.

That opened - to much fanfare - in 2019 but it was quickly hit by a series of setbacks.

It was closed due to Covid and struggled after reopening as running costs rose, funding support dwindled and visitor footfall failed to reach the levels hoped for.

That prompted the decision to close its doors on 23 August.

Dame Barbara Kelly - who once chaired the trust and was part of the campaign to save the building - said there was still hope for the future.

She said a general meeting was planned very soon to examine options for the property.

"I think we have to come up with positive solutions," she said.

"It is of such economic significance to the town - but it is also of historical significance."

The building is said to be historically and economically important for the town

Dumfries and Galloway Council - which helped fund the project - has pledged to do everything it can to assist with finding a way forward.

"We are willing to support the trust in its ongoing work to identify a viable long-term use for this much-loved and historic local building," it said.

It will also work with other agencies to assist any staff affected by the closure.

It remains to be seen what role - if any - can be found for the imposing property going forward.

Another period of transition is clearly in store if its story is ultimately to have a happy ending.