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Title
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Hopetoun Crescent Garden
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Address
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Hopetoun Crescent
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Postcode
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EH7 4AX
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Telephone
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0131 529 3111
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Email
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northeast.locality@edinburgh.gov.uk
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Facilities
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Seating, Two Interpretation Boards, 1 - The history of Hopetoun Crescent Garden, 2 - The story of the Botanic Cottage. It is the site of the original Botanic Gardens
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Background
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Hidden off Leith Walk this peaceful garden provides a place of quiet refuge for local residents and a place to play for local school children. Its claim to fame is it is the site of the original Botanic Gardens of Edinburgh. The park has been awarded a Green Flag since 2008, in recognition of it being a quality greenspace.
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History and heritage
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In 1763 a Physic Garden, with a large plant collection, was established off Leith Walk by John Hope. The 5 acre site was designed to reflect the new discoveries and knowledge of Botany at that time. By 1820, when Robert Graham became the 3rd Regius Keeper, the Garden site established by John Hope could no longer accommodate its collections properly, so the decision was made to move it to a new site in Inverleith where the current Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh is now found. The old site was built on as Edinburgh expanded and the small area of garden left became a neglected site - full of rubbish. In the 1990s the local community started to get involved with the site and in 2002 the Friends of Hopetoun Crescent Garden were established. They breathed fresh life into the park by clearing the rubbish, upgrading paths and installing interpretation panels.
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Wildlife
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The Garden was always planned as a natural wildlife park and to this end many thousands of wild flowers, wild grasses and spring bulbs have been planted by local children and the Friends group. The group have also put up a range of bird boxes to encourage more wildlife to visit.
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Getting involved
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Friends of Hopetoun Crescent
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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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55.9611646610301,-3.1836318969726562
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