Pitmedden Garden

Pitmedden is an elegant Scottish renaissance garden, all the better for the unexpectedness of its location. The present house was built in 1860. The garden was laid out for Alexander Seton, Lord Pitmedden who had opposed the enforced Catholicism of James II (James VII of Scotland) and retired from public life to concentrate on his estate at Pitmedden. After the 1688 Revolution King William III offered to reinstate him as one of a Lord of Session. The garden at Pitmedden dates from c1675. The present design of the garden, by the National Trust, was loosely inspired by Charles II's garden at Holyrood House in Edinbugh. The argument was that Lord Pitmedden might  have known of Le Notre's work through his acquaintance with Sir William Bruce. Alexander Seton had spent his boyhood near the gardens of Pinkie and Yester, outside Edinburgh, and it seems more likely that he was influenced by these gardens than by Le Notre, the royal gardener to a Catholic King. The making of elaborate parterres in Britain was not common in Britain in 1675 and it is perfectly possible that Pitmedden had a knot gardens on the upper terrace (as it does in the National Trust design) and that the lower garden was used for fruit and vegetables. If the lower space was not used for this purpose, where did Sir Alexander Seton grow his vegetables? The present garden at Pitmedden was designed by Dr James A Richardson, as was the Edzell Castle Garden.