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Title
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Saughton Park and Gardens
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Address
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Balgreen Road
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Postcode
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EH11 3BQ
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Telephone
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0131 529 7921
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Email
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saughtonpark@edinburgh.gov.uk
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Opening hours
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Summer Hours (April-September): • Walled Garden 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM all week * • Conservatory 9:00 AM - 3:15 PM Mon-Fri; 9:00 AM - 1:45 PM Sat/Sun *(summer hours may vary due to daylight) Winter Hours (October-March): • Walled Garden 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM all week • Conservatory 9:00 AM -3:15 PM Mon-Fri; 9:00 AM -1:45 PM Sat/Sun
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Facilities
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Café, Rose gardens, Floral displays, Walled garden, Glasshouses, MUGA Court, Skateboard and BMX park, Play area including a basket swing, Toilets, Car park, Football, Play fields, Community woodlands, Seating, Wheelchair access
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Background
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Saughton Park is one of Edinburgh's hidden jewels. It has a large tract of well-managed open space with playing fields and an athletics track, the biggest skateboard park in Scotland and a modern creative play area. Spread over 34 acres, it also has a delightful formal garden in classic style featuring the largest herbaceous border in Edinburgh as well as neatly-clipped yew hedges, flower and heather beds, a sunken Italian garden, specimen trees, a glass Winter Garden with exotic plants, a Scottish Physic garden and a rose garden that has won Saughton fame.
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History and heritage
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Saughton Park has had an interesting and varied past. The majority of the area came into Council ownership in 1900 when it was purchased from Sir William Baird. At that time, a nine-hole golf course, nursery and playing fields were laid out. In 1908, Saughton became the site of the great Scottish National Exhibition, opened by HRH Prince Arthur of Connaught. During the Second World War, the formal gardens were turned into onion beds as Saughton helped dig for victory. After WWII, Saughtonhall mansion house, which had earlier been turned into an asylum for the mentally ill, was destroyed in a controlled burning by the fire brigade and Royal Engineers, as it had become riddled with dry rot. In 1984 the Winter Garden was formally opened by Lord Provost John McKay. Most recently, an award-winning skateboard park was constructed in 2010 and the entire park has undergone £8m restoration with funding from the National Lottery, Sustrans and other external sources.
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Living Landscape features
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Floral meadows (perennial)
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Visitor information
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Serviced by Lothian bus routes 1, 2, 3, 22, 25, 30, 33, 36, 38, X27, X28, and by tram. Access for pedestrians and bicycles only: • Gorgie Road gate, at the intersection of Gorgie Road and Balgreen Road; • Balgreen Road access, at the intersection of Balgreen Road and Stevenson Drive, opposite Balgreen Primary School; • Stevenson Drive access, opposite Whitson Crescent. Access for pedestrians, bicycles and vehicles: • Ford's Road gate, west end of the Park (EH11 3HR); • Balgreen Road gate, east end of the Park (EH11 3BG).
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Public toilets
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Toilets in the Conservatory are open weekdays from 9:00 AM – 3:15 PM and weekends from 9:00 AM – 1:45 PM. Wheelchair accessible. Toilets in Courtyard are open in winter every day from 9:30 AM- 3:30 PM. Summer hours every day from 9:30 AM- 6:30 PM * *(summer hours may vary due to daylight)
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Book sports facilities
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sportspitch@edinburghleisure.co.uk
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Getting involved
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Friends of Saughton Park
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Green flag
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Yes
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Management plan
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Management plan
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Location map
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55.935164057216745,-3.248262405395508
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Monuments
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Sundial
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Trees
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Weeping ash
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Image
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