Haddington Garden Trust

General information

St. Mary’s Pleasance is a private garden maintained for the public by Haddington Garden Trust, a charity that relies on grants, donations and gifts to maintain and develop the garden.

The garden occupies 1.6 acres between St. Mary's Churchyard, Lady Kitty's Garden and Haddington House, which dates from 1648 and is the oldest dwelling in Haddington. Some of the garden’s boundary walls were built by Napoleonic prisoners of war.

A Brief History
In 1972, Douglas, 14th Duke of Hamilton, purchased the land that was formerly the private gardens of Haddington House but had lapsed into a sad state of decline. He then formed Haddington Garden Trust and gifted the land that was to become St. Mary’s Pleasance to the Trust, becoming its first chairman until his untimely death in 1973.

The Trust's aim is - “To preserve the garden as an open precinct for the enjoyment of the public and to encourage the study of old Scottish gardens and gardening methods.” This aim is still closely observed today.

St. Mary’s Pleasance was designed to a specification of Sir George Taylor, former director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. The choice of design and plants reflects the features of a 17th century Scottish garden with the mount, the sunken garden, the pleached allée of laburnum, the boxed hornbeam walk, the cottage garden, the orchard and meadow, the period rose border and raised herb beds. The plants in the garden have been selected for their correctness for the period.