Art & Exhibitions
Patrick Home of Billie, who built Paxton House, was a great connoisseur of art. Today we keep his legacy alive by showing part of his collection alongside masterpieces on loan from National Galleries Scotland. Special exhibitions for all the family run in the summer and a series of permanent exhibitions highlight parts of the collection. You'll find that there is always something new to see at Paxton House.
Palimpsest- Billy Gérard Frank
Paxton House’s 2025 exhibition, Palimpsest, is a powerful new body of work by Grenadian-born, New York-based artist and filmmaker Billy Gérard Frank. Running from 3rd May to 31st October, the exhibition explores the deep-rooted connections between Scotland, Grenada, and England, confronting the legacies of the transatlantic slave trade through multimedia art, community storytelling, and education. Building on Frank’s Venice Biennale work, Palimpsest reimagines hidden histories and gives voice to those long overlooked. The exhibition forms the centrepiece of a wider programme which brings together young people from across the UK and Grenada in a creative cross-cultural dialogue.
We have a range of talks and activities linked to this exhibition- please see here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/paxton-house-110457631621
Caribbean Connections Event programme 2025
Events linked to our fantastic exhibition, Palimpsest by Billy Gérard Frank
Caribbean Connections tour of Paxton House & Billy Gérard Frank exhibition
Various dates throughout the season.
Join us for these special guided tours of Paxton House highlighting our Caribbean connections, this tour includes a visit to Billy Gérard Frank’s Palimpsest exhibition only available until the end of October 2025.
Online talk: Enslaved People at Waltham Estate
29th October, 1pm
Join Dr Paula Saunders for an online talk on the lives, resistance, and resilience of enslaved Africans at Waltham estate.
Billy Gérard Frank: In conversation with artists and historians
30th October
Hear first-hand from the artists interpreting Scotland’s past through film, multimedia, poetry, paint, music, spoken and written word.
Parallel Lives, Worlds Apart
Our award winning major exhibition is Parallel Lives, Worlds Apart which draws on Paxton House’s exceptional collection of historic costume to explore relationships in the lives of several owners of Paxton House in mid-18th century Scotland, Europe, Virginia and Grenada. Using original items from the collection alongside replica costume specially commissioned for the exhibition, the displays explore contrasts and connections between Paxton’s owners, their friends, descendants and the enslaved African people who worked on their sugar estates.
This exhibition is only available to view on the guided house tour.
Sugar & Slavery
Caribbean Connections, Slavery & Paxton explores the relationship between the Home family of Paxton House and their plantations in the West Indies where they grew sugar and nutmeg. A specially commissioned model and a unique series of watercolours, made by Scottish landscape artist Adam Callander in 1789, show the lives of the enslaved people who worked the plantations. Central to the exhibition is The Paxton Secretaire, one of the most important pieces of mahogany furniture made for plantation owner Ninian Home by Thomas Chippendale.
The exhibition can be visited on a house tour or, unguided at no charge, between 10am and 2pm on Tuesdays and Sundays until October. Please check in at the Shop for directions.
Explore our online Sugar & Slavery trail.
Masterpieces of Scottish Painting
The Picture Gallery at Paxton is the largest private gallery ever to be built in Scotland and one of the most ambitious of any British country house. It was designed by the King’s Architect in Scotland, Robert Reid, for George Home in 1814 with the advice of Sir Henry Raeburn, Scotland’s premier portrait painter.
Today we have an important loan collection of pictures from National Galleries Scotland which tell the story of Scottish painting from the 17th to the 20th centuries – portraits, land and seascapes, still lifes, romantic and avant garde paintings.
The Ellem fishing Club
Paxton House is host to a museum dedicated to the oldest fishing club in the world. Founded in 1829, the members of the Ellem Fishing Club fish for trout in the river Whiteadder which runs into the river Tweed just east of Paxton. The museum has interactive displays where you can explore everything from the life cycle of the trout to the history of mills on the river or watch underwater footage of fish travelling upstream. Access is via the Gift Shop.