This is the official page for the Duns Castle 700 Committee (DCC 700) spearheading the community celebration of Duns Castle's 700th Anniversary in 2020.
02/08/2019
Here at last is the edit of the choreography performed by over 700 pupils of Berwickshire High School and Duns Primary School to help launch the celebrations of Duns Castle's 700th Anniversary in 2020. Filmed and edited by Sky Vantage Productions, the clip shows the children forming the letters DCC (for Duns Castle & Community and depicting 700 in Roman Numerals) then morphing into the number 700 before scattering in a colourful cloud burst. This was achieved with only a single rehearsal!
Our sincere thanks go to the teachers, schoolchildren and all involved in the making of this clip for their exemplary display of community spirit.
Please like this page and this post and share this clip as widely as possible to help put our dynamic community on the map. Enjoy!
02/08/2019
Here at last is the edit of the choreography performed by over 700 pupils of Berwickshire High School and Duns Primary School to help launch the celebrations of Duns Castle's 700th Anniversary in 2020. Filmed and edited by Sky Vantage Productions, the clip shows the children forming the letters DCC (for Duns Castle & Community and depicting 700 in Roman Numerals) then morphing into the number 700 before scattering in a colourful cloud burst. This was achieved with only a single rehearsal!
Our sincere thanks go to the teachers, schoolchildren and all involved in the making of this clip for their exemplary display of community spirit.
Please like this page and this post and share this clip as widely as possible to help put our dynamic community on the map. Enjoy!
29/06/2019
We made it to The Berwickshire News (and The Scotsman)!
Well done to all involved and thank you once again!
As Duns Castle prepares to celebrate its 700th anniversary, 850 Berwickshire High and Duns Primary School pupils took part in a drone film performance.
22/06/2019
In anticipation of Duns Castle's 700th Anniversary celebrations in 2020, the children of Berwickshire High School and Duns Primary School have done something quite amazing. This video provides an introduction and will be followed by some teaser images, however the full video of their achievement is currently being edited and will be released shortly.
On behalf of the Duns Castle 700 Committee, a huge thank you to the teachers and children of Berwickshire High School and Duns Primary School, R. Lamont, Sky Vantage Productions and Duns Castle Estate.
22/06/2019
They arrived cohort after cohort - some 850 children from Berwickshire High School and Duns Primary School to participate in a drone-filmed project to create a visual to help launch the 700th Anniversary celebrations of Duns Castle in 2020. And what an amazing job they did! This is just a teaser video. The official drone video is currently being edited and will be released soon. Thank you to all involved.
PS. Please follow us on Facebook to receive updates of our plans as they progress.
13/06/2019
So exciting to see the community getting behind the project. Here is a clip of over 700 children from Berwickshire High School and Duns Primary School rehearsing a choreography earlier this week to mark the 700th Anniversary of Duns Castle. A huge thank you and well done to all the teachers and pupils involved.
VOTING BY POSTAL BALLOT ENDS TOMORROW, FRIDAY 14th JUNE
To mark the 700th Anniversary of Duns Castle, a Sound and Light Show with 3D Mapping is being planned as a community celebration and to enhance the 2020 Duns Summer Festival. We aim to create a spectacle that showcases Duns and the Borders with such a Wow Factor that it may go viral on Social Media and help to promote the community and region internationally.
Residents and Communities can vote to determine which projects should receive Localities Bid Funding.
PLEASE NOTE:
- Online Voting closed on 7th June.
- Deadline for receipt of postal ballot votes has been extended to 14th June.
- To vote by postal ballot you must have requested a Postal Ballot to be sent to you by 6th June.
- To vote, you must live in the Scottish Borders and be aged 16 years or over.
- Berwickshire residents are each entitled to 5 votes.
- YOU MUST VOTE FOR 5 PROJECTS OR NONE OF YOUR VOTES WILL COUNT.
Today is therefore the deadline for posting your Postal Ballot.
This is a rare opportunity. Please help us make it happen!
THANK YOU!
- The DunsCastle700 Committee
12/05/2019
Our project, Duns 700 Castle & Community (DCC 700), is among the shortlisted candidates in Berwickshire for Scottish Borders Localities Bid Funding. To mark the 700th Anniversary of Duns Castle, a sound and light show with 3D Mapping is being planned as a community celebration and to enhance the 2020 Duns Summer Festival. Please help us create a spectacle that showcases Duns and the Borders internationally by voting for our project. Voting opens on 16 May 2019. Please rally your colleagues, friends and families to add their vote too!
To vote you must be over 16 and residing in the Scottish Borders.
For information and to view the video of how to vote follow this link: https://www.scotborders.gov.uk/info/20076/community_grants_and_funding/815/localities_bid_fund
Thank you!
Be the first to know and let us send you an email when DunsCastle700 posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Duns Castle, gem of the Scottish Borders, sits as the centrepiece of a beautiful 1200-acre estate, a haven of tranquillity with its own nature reserve, forest trails and pastures. The property includes several historical sites and has been in the Hay family since 1696.
Although Duns Castle is a private home and an exclusive use venue, there is a strong sense of community engagement and, in recognition of the Castle being an important landmark for the local community, a committee has been established for the 700th Anniversary to be a community celebration. Rather than this taking the form of a single event, we plan to create a programme of events, activities and initiatives that will be spread throughout the year and to boost shoulder season tourism and hopefully bring long-term benefits thereafter.
Key events will be spearheaded by the recently formed Duns Castle 700 Committee (DCC 700) consisting primarily of members of the Duns community. The aim of the Committee is “to mark the 700th anniversary (in 2020) of the building of Duns Castle, its history and its associations with the neighbouring town of Duns and the Scottish Borders.” Local associations and organisations are also being invited to celebrate the occasion in their respective ways and the year-long programme of events will then be communicated to the wider audience. Consequently, we anticipate this celebration will also foster an even greater cohesion and sense of pride within the local community.
We also see this anniversary as an opportunity for the Scottish Borders and for Scotland as a whole and will welcome the involvement and support of national and international organisations, public bodies, academia and corporate sponsors who may wish to capitalise upon this celebration and help to widen the audience globally.
By fortunate coincidence, 700 in Roman numerals is DCC, these initials also being applicable to Duns Castle Celebration, Duns Castle Committee, Duns Community Celebration and even local organisations such as the Duns Camera Club. It is our intention to build this into the identity and communications strategy for the programme of events taking place to mark the 700th Anniversary.
The castle was founded in 1320 by the Earl of Moray after the lands were given to him by King Robert the Bruce following the battle of Bannockburn in 1314. It was also here in 1639 that 12,000 Scottish Covenanters assembled to successfully defend Scotland’s freedom of worship and includes the birthplace of John Duns Scotus, one of the leading theologians of medieval times.
Thanks to its fairy-tale features and service offering, Duns Castle recently starred in HomeAway’s multi-million dollar global marketing campaign linked to Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, a campaign that generated over 50 million media impressions and included a live broadcast by the top US morning show Today on NBC, hailed by VisitScotland as a massive coup for Scottish Tourism.
Duns Castle has also served as a film location for numerous productions including Mrs Brown (1997, starring Judi Dench and Billy Connolly) and Netflix’s Frontier (2018, starring Jason Momoa).
The launch venue of the 2017 Scottish Borders Heritage Festival, Duns Castle Estate has scooped multiple awards including “Venue of the Year” and “Customer Experience of the Year” at the 2017 Scottish Event Awards and “Tourism and Hospitality Business of the Year” at the 2017 Scottish Borders Business Excellence Awards. The property was also “Highly Commended” in the 2018 Scottish Rural Awards in the Best Rural Hospitality category, coming 3rd out of 550 candidates and is the only Scottish venue among the 12 shortlisted finalists for Best Historic Wedding Venue in the 2019 UK Wedding Awards.
