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Saughton Park

Saughton Park is a public park in Edinburgh, Scotland.[1] It includes formal gardens, specimen trees, exotic plant greenhouses, a cafe,[2] a bandstand,[3] playing fields, an athletics track, a skateboard park and a creative play area. The skatepark was constructed in 2010 and is the largest in Scotland.[4][5]

Bust of Mahatma Gandhi, Saughton Park, Edinburgh
Bust of Mahatma Gandhi, Saughton Park, Edinburgh
Saughton Park
Saughton Park

Facilities

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The park benefitted from an £8m restoration[6] with funding from the National Lottery, and cycling lobby group Sustrans amongst others.[7][8] The park was awarded Green Flag in 2020.[9] The redevelopment work was developed to include the restoration of key historic features, enhance accessibility[10] and provide visitor facilities. Conservation, sustainability and biodiversity formed an integral part of the masterplan.[11] Garden and building restoration work was done to give an understanding of the heritage, context, place quality and future use the Park. Local community groups were involved in consultation and co-design.[12][13] The park is well known for its rose gardens[14] and provision of new facilities including community teaching areas, a café and toilets. The new facilities are of a modern design. The restoration of heritge assets included repairs to the walled garden, reinstatement of the wrought iron bandstand and the renovation of the winter gardens glasshouse.[15] The bandstand which had been removed in 1987 due to its condition was made in the Lion Foundry in Kirkintilloch in 1909. The glasshouse features a bust of Gandhi, tropical plants and a statue of the Goddess Sakthi. The replanting of the restored gardens required more than 5,000 hedging plants, 8,000 herbaceous plants, roses worth more than £40,000 for the rose garden. 5,000 plants were added around the bandstand. The herbaceous border has 6,000 plants, including 350 purple allium.[16]

In addition, several species of bird nest in the park and otters have been seen in the river and the skatepark.[17]

History

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The park has been managed by City Of Edinburgh Council since 1900 when it was purchased from Sir William Baird and it opened to the public in 1910.[1] It previously included a nine-hole golf course, nursery and playing fields.

 
Saughton Skatepark BMXer

Saughton park was formerly the Saughton Hall Estate, bought in the 1660s by Robert Baird of Saughtonhall, an Edinburgh merchant, from Janet Mudie or Moodie. The park was the site of the 1908 great Scottish National Exhibition[18] and the grounds were specially adapted for the purpose.[19] Large buildings were constructed, a railway station was built to transport thousands of visitors from Waverley Station, and a new bridge was built for the Water of Leith. The exhibition included industrial and machinery exhibits along with halls featuring Canadian, Russian and Irish showcases.[20] It also featured a Senegalese village "where the inhabitants may be seen carrying on their daily life much as they would do under their own tropical skies".[19][21] The exhibition followed a previous similar one in the Meadows and was open for six months, attracting nearly 3.5 million visitors.[22]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Saughton Park and Gardens". Edinburgh Tourist. 1 May 2018. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  2. ^ "The Garden Bistro | Edinburgh | Your local bistro in the heart of Edinburgh". thegardenbistro.co.uk. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  3. ^ "History of Band Stand at Saughton Park". FoSP. 20 November 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  4. ^ "Saughton Skatepark, Edinburgh". Will Rudd. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  5. ^ Lamb, Megan. "Saughton Park and Gardens". The City of Edinburgh Council. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  6. ^ Council, The City of Edinburgh. "Saughton Park master plan designs". The City of Edinburgh Council. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  7. ^ "Saughton Park". RCHS. 6 November 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  8. ^ "Plans to revive glory of Saughton Park and Gardens". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  9. ^ "Saughton Park". greenflagaward.org. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  10. ^ "Saughton Park with Disabled Access - Edinburgh - Euan's Guide". www.euansguide.com. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  11. ^ "ParkPower Case Study: Saughton Park". Greenspace Scotland. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  12. ^ "Saughton Park and Gardens, Edinburgh". www.edinburgharchitecture.co.uk. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  13. ^ "Saughton Park Co-design Workshop". www.edinburghlivinglab.org. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  14. ^ "Saughton Rose Gardens | Saughton Park | All About Edinburgh". edinburgh. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  15. ^ "Saughton Park, Edinburgh | David Narro". www.davidnarro.co.uk. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  16. ^ "Case study - Saughton Park | Johnsons of Whixley". Commercial Nursery | Johnsons Of Whixley Home. 11 January 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  17. ^ "Wildlife & Water of Leith". FoSP. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  18. ^ "Scottish National Exhibition 1908". Capital Collections. Edinburgh Libraries and Museums and Galleries. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  19. ^ a b "Edinburgh Events - 1908 Exhibition at Saughton Park". www.edinphoto.org.uk. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  20. ^ "Full record for 'SCOTTISH NATIONAL EXHIBITION' (1699) - Moving Image Archive catalogue". movingimage.nls.uk. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  21. ^ "Around Edinburgh - Saughton Park - 1908 Exhibition - Senegalese Village". www.edinphoto.org.uk. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  22. ^ edinburghcitylibraries (25 August 2015). "Saughton's glorious summer of 1908". Tales of One City. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
 
Water of Leith, Saughton Park
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  Media related to Saughton Park at Wikimedia Commons

55°56′05″N 3°14′59″W / 55.93472°N 3.24972°W / 55.93472; -3.24972

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