New Town Gardens

The New Town Gardens are a collection of around 30 mostly private gardens and parks within the New Town of Edinburgh, listed as a heritage designation since March 2001. The gardens comprise a series of 18th and 19th century town gardens, squares and walks, established contemporaneously between 1767 and around 1850 with the New Town of Edinburgh.^[1]

History[]

Queen Street Central Gardens

Most of the gardens were established contemporaneously to the New Town of Edinburgh.

Some have unique history such as the , which were the original site of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.^[2] The Queen Street Central gardens have a pond with an island, said to have inspired Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island.^[3]

Membership and access[]

Each garden has different rules concerning criteria for membership and access, with some permitting only those owning or renting surrounding properties a key, while others welcome applications from residents in other parts of the City of Edinburgh.^[4] Some gardens are regularly opened to the public, such as St Andrew Square, while others are only opened to the public on Doors Open Days or not at all.^[5]

Ownership and management[]

Each garden has a different management and ownership structure. Ownership is often by private shareholders or a joint ownership by the local residents.^[6] For example, East Queen Street Gardens are owned by shareholders who have explicitly bought a share in the land, and keys are rented to those who apply successfully for access, as a way of bringing in income to the garden. The gardens are then usually managed by Commissioners – around eight for each garden. The Commissioners are elected by the owners, and have responsibility for sourcing gardeners, and ensuring the gardens are well maintained. A Clerk of the gardens usually handles membership applications and entitlement. The Clerk will be a member of a local solicitors firm, with their contact details often on plaques on the gates to the gardens.^[7]

Some of the gardens, such as Bellvue Crescent Gardens and Gayfield Square Gardens, are now owned and managed by City of Edinburgh Council.^[8][9]

List of gardens[]

Moray Place Gardens

Queen St. Gardens West

• Charlotte Square Gardens
• Dean Gardens
• London Road Gardens
• Moray Feu Gardens
• Queen Street Central Gardens
• Queen Street Gardens East
• Queen Street Gardens West
• Regent, Royal and Carlton Terrace Gardens
• St Andrew Square Gardens

References[]