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Edinburgh Today
Royal Botanic Garden |
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History |
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Edinburgh's First Botanic Gardens
Edinburgh's first Botanic Gardens were founded in
1670 by Dr Robert Sibbald and Dr Andrew Balfour for cultivating medicinal
plants.
Edinburgh Evening News 15
November 2003, p.24 |
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Inverleith House |
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Restoration
The Exhibition areas of Inverleith House are also
closed for restoration work. This work should be completed in summer
2003 at a cost of £250,000.
Edinburgh Evening News 5 November 2003,
p.3 |
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The Victorian Palm House
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Refurbishment
The Royal
Botanic Gardens are now at Inverleith. The gardens have ten glasshouses, including the
Temperate Palm House, a Grade A listed building, built in 1858 at a cost
of £6,000. At a height of 69ft (over 3ft higher than the glasshouse
at Kew Gardens, London) it is the tallest building of its type in Britain.
The interior of this Palm House is to be restored
to its former glory over the next few months, from November 03.
The palm house will be closed to the public until June 04 to allow
the work, including the laying of a new stone floor and installation of
audio-visual displays, to be carried out at a cost of £200,000.
Edinburgh Evening News 5 November 2003, p.3:
Edinburgh Evening News 15 November 2003, p.24
The glasshouses are impressive. I have
photographed them with infra-red film and hope to add the photos to this
web site.
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Re-opening
The Palm
House appears to have taken a little longer than originally envisaged to
be refurbished. However, it has now opened again and attracted over
2,500 visitors during the the first weekend after opening.
Herald & Post, 19 May 2005,
p.13 |
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Tribute to Queen Mother
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Memorial
Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother died in 2002,
aged 101. She had a long association with the city, often staying at
Holyrood Palace or and as given the freedom of the city in 1936.
She often stayed in the Palace of Holyrood or
with her sister, the late Lady Elphinstone, at Carberry Towers near
Musselburgh
Following the death of the Queen Mother, there
were proposals to create a memorial to her
to be placed in in
Princes Street Gardens.
However, it is now expected that the Botanic
Gardens will announce a scheme to raise £1m to create some form of
memorial to her in 2005.
No decision on the form of memorial has been
reached. Possibly the Winter Garden will be made into a permanent
memorial.
Edinburgh Evening News 14 November 2003, p.4
and 1
November 2005, p.23 |
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Update - November 2005
Garden to be Created
It has been announced that £600,000 out of a
target of £1m has now been raised to to build a memorial garden to the
Queen Mother. Work has now commenced on building the garden.
It will include:
- a sandcastle-shaped grotto decorated with
shells in a style found in the 18th century.
- secret gardens
- a giant Pictish maze and is expected to
open in summer 2006.
Edinburgh Evening News 1 November 2005, p.23 |
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Update - May 2006
Garden to be Opened
The garden has been created at a cost of £600,000.
It is to be opened by the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh,
will open the garden on July 7, 2006.
The
garden will have a maze based on the design of the Eassie Cross near the
Queen Mother's childhood home in Angus, with informal planting around it.
Within the maze there will be a secret garden, a grotto and a memorial
pavilion
Edinburgh Evening News May 25, 2006,
p.23 |
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A
New Visitor Centre |
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Plans have been announced to build Scotland's
largest visitors' centre in Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Gardens, close to
the West Gate.
The £13m development with its curved glass wall,
is to include:
- The Gateway National Biodiversity Centre
- The Real Life Science Centre.
Management at the Royal Botanic Gardens hope that building can begin in
2009.
A
further £4m funding has yet to be found. So far, about £9m has
been promised, including over £5m from the Scottish Executive and £3.2m
from the National Lottery Fund.
Edinburgh Evening News,
June 7, 2006: p.25 |
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UPDATE
November 2006
The
estimated cost of the Visitor Centre is now £15.7m. To date, £14.7m
has been raised.
The
centre is to include:
- exhibitions, covering research and
environmental issues.
- a studio area with audio-visual
facilities
- a 'Real Life Science Centre',
allowing scientists, volunteers and others to work closely with the public
- two-way communication with other
locations around the world.
Opening
date is still scheduled for 2009.
Edinburgh Evening News,
November 20, 2006: p.11 |
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UPDATE
August 2007
Work on the new Visitor Centre is about to begin.
The West Gate of the gardens is to be closed from late August 2007 until
the new centre opens in spring 2009.
A north gate, beside the Queen Mother Memorial
Garden will be open while the west gate is closed.
The new centre will include live video links with
scientists working on conservation in 40 countries.
Edinburgh Evening
News, August 17,
2007: p.21 |
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UPDATE
October 2009
The £16m John Hope Gateway visitors' centre at
the West Gate of the Royal Botanic Garden is due to open on October 7,
2009. The centre includes the Gateway Restaurant, reached by a
spiral wooden staircase. It has a roof turbine and biomass boiler,
and includes educational facilities and inter-active exhibits.
There is no charge for admission to the John Hope
Gateway or to the Royal Botanic Garden.
Professor John Hope was a leading botanist and
teacher. He was Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden,
Edinburgh, from 1761 until 1786. He played a leading role in moving
the garden from the head of the Nor' Loch, now Waverley Station, to its
new site on Leith Walk at Pilrig. The Botanic Garden moved to
its current location at Inverleith in 1820.
Edinburgh Evening
News, October 6, 2009 |
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