Park with a colourful past
SAUGHTON Park was originally the site of a house built by Thomas Moodie of Dalry, whose bequest in 1649 led to the construction of Canongate Kirk.
The estate became the property of wealthy Edinburgh merchant Robert Baird, and remained in his family until the early 1900s when it was taken over by the city council.At one point in the 1820s, Saughton Hall mansion was leased for use as a private asylum and was one of the first places to use horticultural therapy as a means of helping mentally disturbed patients.
During the Second World War it was used for recuperation for members of the Women’s Land Army and its flower beds were turned into vegetable patches.Edinburgh City Council’s £5.8 million revamp of the park includes a plan to work with the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society, which would be based at Saughton Gardens. The hope is to run a programme of horticultural volunteering, as well as hosting shows and lectures.
The original bandstand is expected to be rescued from storage and rebuilt, and the 1980s Winter Garden replaced with a glasshouse more in keeping with what might have been a feature of the 1908 exhibition.
It’s hoped a “time team” project can be set up to search for the foundations of Saughton Hall mansion, which was razed to the ground by the council in 1952 after falling into disrepair.
This Weir on the Water of Leith is one of a couple owned by the City of Edinburgh Council and is part of the rich industrial heritage of the area and was used to feed water to power the mills of Gorgie, such as Cox's Glue Works.