London Road Gardens (formerly Royal Terrace Gardens) are one of the collection of
New Town Gardens
The New Town Gardens are a collection of around 30 mostly private gardens and parks within the Edinburgh New Town, Edinburgh, New Town Conservation area (United Kingdom), Conservation Area spread across the New Town and north of the West End, Edinb ...
located close to the city centre of
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
in the
New Town, part of the
UNESCO World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
inscribed in 1995. They occupy a long strip of land from east to west along the lower northern slope of
Calton Hill
Calton Hill () is a hill in central Edinburgh, Scotland, situated beyond the east end of Princes Street and included in the city's UNESCO World Heritage Site. Views of, and from, the hill are often used in photographs and paintings of the cit ...
, with an area of 4.37 hectares (10.8 acres).
[Byrom, Connie (2005), ''The Edinburgh New Town Gardens'', 19 pp. 337-344, Birlinn Limited, Edinburgh, ] The gardens are notable for their large, old trees including
lime
Lime commonly refers to:
* Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit
* Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide
* Lime (color), a color between yellow and green
Lime may also refer to:
Botany ...
s and some fine, surviving
elm
Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...
s, also spring flowers, particularly daffodils.
History
Royal Terrace Gardens were designed by the architect
William Henry Playfair
William Henry Playfair FRSE (15 July 1790 – 19 March 1857) was a prominent Scottish architect in the 19th century, who designed the Eastern, or Third, New Town and many of Edinburgh's neoclassical landmarks.
Life
Playfair was born on 15 ...
, as part of his plan for the
Eastern, or third New Town, approved by a committee on 27 September 1819. They formed the slope below
Royal Terrace and
Carlton Terrace (also designed by Playfair) preserving the view from these streets.
The site originally contained two quarries, and Playfair decided to fill these in, landscaping the gardens, using earth excavated in the course of building of the terraces above. Eventually the land was fenced, landscaped and planted with trees in 1829.
[
Following the arrival of the deposed King Charles X of France in October 1830, a special footpath was added through the gardens to enable him to walk between his residence in Holyrood Palace and the Catholic cathedral of St Mary's in Picardy Place at the top of ]Leith Walk
Leith Walk is one of the longest streets in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is the main road connecting the centre of the city to Leith. Forming most of the A900 road, it slopes downwards from Picardy Place at the south-western end of the street to th ...
.[
]
Management
The gardens were, and are, owned by the George Heriot's Hospital. They are leased to the City of Edinburgh Council for public use on condition that they are maintained in good order, to be used only as "pleasure grounds with walks". No trees may be removed without consent. The lease is renewed at 25 year intervals.[
]
Royal Terrace Gardens' House
Playfair also designed a gardeners cottage for the west end of the gardens which was built in 1836 when it was known as the Royal Terrace Gardens' House. It is now used as a restaurant.
See also
*William Henry Playfair
William Henry Playfair FRSE (15 July 1790 – 19 March 1857) was a prominent Scottish architect in the 19th century, who designed the Eastern, or Third, New Town and many of Edinburgh's neoclassical landmarks.
Life
Playfair was born on 15 ...
*Calton Hill
Calton Hill () is a hill in central Edinburgh, Scotland, situated beyond the east end of Princes Street and included in the city's UNESCO World Heritage Site. Views of, and from, the hill are often used in photographs and paintings of the cit ...
*Regent Terrace
Regent Terrace is a residential street of 34 classical 3-bay townhouses built on the upper south side of Calton Hill in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. Regent Terrace is within the Edinburgh New and Old Town UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed ...
*Royal Terrace, Edinburgh
Royal Terrace is a grand street in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, on the north side of Calton Hill within the New Town and part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 1995, built on the south side of a setted street, facing the slopin ...
* Carlton Terrace, Edinburgh
* Regent, Royal and Carlton Terrace Gardens
References
{{coord, 55.9575, -3.1779, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title
1829 establishments in Scotland
Gardens in Edinburgh
Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes
New Town, Edinburgh