The Hall of Clestrain was the childhood home of Dr John Rae, Arctic explorer.

The John Rae Society have been working on its restoration and their plans to develop it into an Arctic resource centre. Recently they were visited by Sir Mark Jones, Chair of the Pilgrim Trust.

The Pilgrim Trust supports heritage projects through funding.

Sir Mark was able to meet some of the JRS volunteers and to have a guided tour of the outside of the Hall of Clestrain by President of the JRS Andrew Appleby.

The JRS volunteers have been unravelling the history of the house and its grounds recently with exploratory archaeological digs.