98 ROYAL GARDENS 



its natural surroundings and the extraordinary historic interest 

 of the buildings it contains give it a great opportunity for 

 being made into one of the most beautiful, as it is one of the 

 most romantic, royal palaces in Great Britain. 



HOLYROOD PALACE 

 ITS GARDEN AND PARK 

 By Mr. W. SMITH, Head Gardener 



Comparatively few records anent the horticulture practised 

 at Holyrood in olden days are now in existence. And this 

 is the more remarkable when we see the extensive north and 

 south gardens of 1648, depicted on a plan of the Palace in 

 that period. This plan shows that an extensive area was 

 devoted to horticulture at that time, and also that there were 

 orchards or woodlands to the north and south of the Palace, 

 as well as beautifully designed parterres and pleached alleys 

 around it. 



The form of the garden at the present time is in the shape 

 of a parallelogram, and its area extends to about 16 acres. It 

 follows in general design a plan made by Prince Consort, in 

 or about 1857. The Palace buildings stretch out to the east 

 in the centre of the garden, and thus divide the ground into 

 what are known as the North and South Gardens. The 

 whole is practically level, but on the east side soil has been 

 raised to the top of the boundary wall, and outside this wall 

 (one of the boundaries of Holyrood Park) a walk, open to the 

 public, is so much below the garden level that pedestrians 

 cannot be seen from the Palace windows. Apart from the 

 historical buildings of the Palace itself the North Garden con- 

 tains many objects of antiquarian interest, such as the ruins 

 of the Abbey or Chapel Royal of Holyrood, and a beautiful 

 sundial, dating from 1633. 



Owing to the close proximity of several industrial concerns 

 on the west, many species of trees and shrubs make com- 



