The ''Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland'' is a listing of

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

s and

designed landscape {{Unreferenced, date=April 2022 A designed landscape is an area of land which has been modified by people for primarily aesthetic effect. The term is used by historians to denote various types of site, such as gardens, parks, cemetery, cemeteries, a ...

s of national artistic and/or historical significance, in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The Inventory was originally compiled in 1987, although it is a continually evolving list. From 1991 it was maintained by

Historic Scotland Historic Scotland ( gd, Alba Aosmhor) was an executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage, and promoting its understanding and enjoyment ...

and

Scottish Natural Heritage NatureScot ( gd, NàdarAlba), which was formerly known as Scottish Natural Heritage, is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government responsible for the country's natural heritage, especially its natural, genetic and s ...

, and is now updated by a dedicated team within

Historic Environment Scotland Historic Environment Scotland (HES) ( gd, Àrainneachd Eachdraidheil Alba) is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the mer ...

. As of 2016 the Inventory includes over 300 sites across Scotland.

Background

Unlike

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

status, there is no statutory basis for the Inventory, and inclusion of a site on the Inventory does not offer any legal protection. However, under the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 2013, planning authorities are required to consult

on "development which may affect a historic garden or designed landscape".Historic Environment Scotland Policy Statement (2016) pp.24–26, para 2.77 This is confirmed in Scottish Planning Policy, and the inclusion of a site on the Inventory is a

material consideration A material consideration, in the United Kingdom, is a process in planning law in which the decision maker when assessing an application for development must consider in deciding the outcome of an application. Material considerations in the past ...

in planning terms.

Types of site

The majority of the Inventory sites are estate or park landscapes associated with country houses. However, a wide variety of other types of site are included, including cemeteries, urban parks, and small gardens, where these are of historical significance. Examples include

Benmore Botanic Garden Benmore Botanic Garden (formerly known as the Younger Botanic Garden) is a large botanical garden situated in Strath Eachaig at the foot of Beinn Mhòr, on the Cowal peninsula, in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The gardens are on the west side o ...

in Argyll,

Duthie Park Duthie Park, situated in Aberdeen, Scotland, by the banks of the River Dee, comprises of land given to the council in 1881 by Lady Elizabeth Duthie of Ruthrieston, in memory of her uncle and of her brother. She purchased the land for £30,000 f ...

in Aberdeen, the Balmoral Castle estate in Deeside, and

Ian Hamilton Finlay Ian Hamilton Finlay, CBE (28 October 1925 – 27 March 2006) was a Scottish poet, writer, artist and gardener. Life Finlay was born in Nassau, Bahamas, to James Hamilton Finlay and his wife, Annie Pettigrew, both of Scots descent. He was e ...

's garden at Little Sparta in Lanarkshire.

Site selection

Sites are selected and graded based on seven value-based criteria. These are: *value as an individual work of art *historic value *horticultural, arboricultural, silvicultural value *architectural value *scenic value *nature conservation value *archaeological value Each site is assessed, on a scale of ''none—little—some—high—outstanding'', for each criterion, using guidance set out in the Historic Environment Policy Statement.

Other parts of the United Kingdom

Separate registers of parks, gardens and designed landscapes are maintained in the other

countries of the United Kingdom The United Kingdom, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK), since 1922, comprises three constituent countries and a region: England, Scotland, and Wales (which collectively make up the region of Great Britain), as well as Nor ...

: * The

Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England The Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England provides a listing and classification system for historic parks and gardens similar to that used for listed buildings. The register is managed by Historic England ...

is maintained by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

* The Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales is maintained by Cadw * The

Register of Parks, Gardens and Demesnes of Special Historic Interest The Register of Parks, Gardens and Demesnes of Special Historic Interest is a listing of significant ornamental parks and gardens in Northern Ireland. It is maintained by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), an executive agency within t ...

is maintained by the

Northern Ireland Environment Agency The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) is an executive agency within the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA). It is responsible for conservation of Northern Ireland's environment and natural heritage. Origi ...

References

External links

Gardens and Designed Landscapes
Historic Environment Scotland {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2017 1987 establishments in Scotland Listed parks and gardens in the United Kingdom