New physic garden to be created at Palace of Holyroodhouse

A new public garden is to be created, inspired by a 17th-century physic garden which once stood within the grounds of Palace of Holyroodhouse, to teach students about the medicinal properties of plants.

The original garden was the first of its kind in Scotland and was established at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in 1670 by two of the founding members of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Sir Robert Sibbald and Dr Andrew Balfour. 

The Trinity Hospital's young, self-taught gardener, James Sutherland, recorded the plants in the physic garden, many of which were transported from the Palace, in Scotland's first botanical publication, Hortus Medicus Edinburgensis.

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He lists species from parts of the world as distant as Egypt and the southern tip of Africa, and describes plants such as the Hairy Kidneywort (believed to cure epilepsy), the Spotted Lungwort (thought to cure pulmonary infections), and the Common Hounds-Tongue (used to treat everything from piles and persistent coughs to baldness and madness). Sutherland went on to become the first Regius Keeper, a title now given to the head of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

The new physic garden will have raised flowerbeds laid out in a geometric pattern, reflecting the design of early botanic gardens. The year-round planting will include both indigenous and exotic medicinal plants that would have been grown in the 17th century, such as Birthwort (said to assist with childbirth), Feverfew (thought to reduce fever), and Scurvy Grass (a remedy used by sailors after long voyages).

Alongside the reimagined physic garden will be a flowering meadow evoking the 15th-century monastic garden of Holyrood Abbey, the Palace's first recorded garden.

New learning centre

The garden will be created in the 2,500m² area behind the Abbey Strand buildings, which by the end of 2018 will house a new Learning Centre, which will tell the story of the Palace over the centuries, including key figures in its history such as Mary Queen of Scots and Bonnie Prince Charlie. At the same time, the Palace's Forecourt will be opened up to the public. 

Jonathan Marsden, Director, Royal Collection Trust, said, 'The return of scientific gardening to the place of its birth in Scotland will provide a new focus of interest for visitors to the Palace, for the local community, and especially, we hope, for young people. It will be a further addition to the Palace's spectacular setting within the natural landscape of Holyrood Park and Arthur's Seat beyond. It forms an important part of our plans to make more of the Palace's surroundings and will provide a family friendly space just moments from the Royal Mile.'

For more on the Palace of Holyroodhouse, visit their website.

(Garden image copyright J L Gibbons; palace copyright stablenode)