This post shares a little of the history of East Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh.
I am indebted to the work of Connie Byrom as published in this book:
Connie dedicated her book to her husband John for ‘opening her eyes to Architecture and Landscape’ and also to her five children who ‘opened her eyes still further’. John Byrom was one one of my Tutors when studying Landscape Architecture at the University of Edinburgh and I fondly remember him taking us on ‘field trips’ through Princes Street Gardens.
This map from 1840 reveals that East Princes Street Gardens was developed on the site of a flower nursery, on land owned by the Bank of Scotland:
Connie Byrom describes how the East Princes Street Gardens developed in the later years of that decade:
In May 1850, the Scotsman shared that East Princes Street Gardens would soon be ‘entirely open to the public’:
Peter Thomson had previously been Head Gardener on the estate of Craigiehall. I once made this film about Criagiehall ‘Temple’:
To play this short film please click here or on the image above.
This short film is for my Granny who died in 1998. She used to take me on the bus into Edinburgh and we fed birds in Princes Street Gardens. It is lovely to find that this tradition continues today.
