137 Canongate Edinburgh EH8 8BW, Edinburgh Old Town EH8 8BW | |
01315295151 | |
Dunbars Close Garden Website | |
Dunbar’s Close on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh’s Old Town is a hidden gem. The garden has been laid out in the style and character of a 17th century garden. To enter you travel along a narrow, cobbled close. It opens out into a surprisingly tranquil and elegant parterre of clipped shrubs under a cosy green canopy of trees. Beyond the entrance are further parterres, each with different atmospheres and all are sheltered thanks to high church walls on the west side and clipped hedging on the others. Entrance to the garden is free of charge.
The garden is special, particularly when the trees are in full leaf. It has such an authentic sense of place that you feel like you are one of the few to have discovered it. It is hard to believe that somewhere so peaceful, so city centre, was a building site until 1976 when The Mushroom Trust funded the creation of a new garden by Seamus Filor, landscape architect. The Mushroom Trust handed the garden over to the City of Edinburgh on completion and is still involved in its management.
The close was probably named after David Dunbar, a writer who owned the tenements at the garden’s entrance.
A fabulous Taste, Shop and Explore experience in the heart of East Lothian. We look forward to welcoming you through our doors to experience everything Archerfield Walled Garden has to offer...
READ MOREWhen you step inside Lauriston Castle, you see it just as it was in 1926, when it was left to the nation by the last private owner, Mrs Reid.
READ MORELying just to the south of Edinburgh City Centre, The Meadows is one of the city's best-loved public parks!
READ MOREVogrie offers a haven of tranquillity in the heart of Midlothian's countryside.
READ MORECraigmillar Castle Park is a natural heritage park with areas of mature and young woodland, grassland and old quarries.
READ MORESighthill is a large park with flat expanses of grass which are dedicated to football and it is bounded by community woodlands.
READ MORECalton Hill is a hill in central Edinburgh, just to the east of the New Town and is included in the city's UNESCO World Heritage Site.
READ MOREThis park is dedicated to sport, and home to the Jack Kane Centre, which provides a range of sporting and leisure facilities.
READ MOREThe Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction.
READ MOREProbably the best kept secret in West Lothian, Almondell & Calderwood Country Park is a 220-acre park and 4 star visitor attraction!
READ MOREHolyrood Park is a unique historic landscape in the heart of the city, whose dramatic crags and hills give Edinburgh part of its distinctive skyline.
READ MOREThis pleasant, leafy green space located at the heart of the historic New Town is an oasis of tranquility.
READ MORE