The ''Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland'' is a listing of

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

s and designed landscapes of national artistic and/or historical significance, in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The Inventory was originally compiled in 1987, although it is a continually evolving list. From 1991 it was maintained by

Historic Scotland Historic Scotland () was an executive agency of the Scottish Government, executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage and promoting its und ...

and

Scottish Natural Heritage NatureScot () is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government responsible for Scotland’s natural heritage, especially its natural, genetic and scenic diversity. It advises the Scottish Government on nature conservati ...

, and is now updated by a dedicated team within

Historic Environment Scotland Historic Environment Scotland (HES) () is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the merger of government agency Historic Sc ...

. As of 2016 the Inventory includes over 300 sites across Scotland.

Background

Unlike

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

status, there is no statutory basis for the Inventory, and inclusion of a site on the Inventory does not offer any legal protection. However, under the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 2013, planning authorities are required to consult

on "development which may affect a historic garden or designed landscape".Historic Environment Scotland Policy Statement (2016) pp.24–26, para 2.77 This is confirmed in Scottish Planning Policy, and the inclusion of a site on the Inventory is a

material consideration A material consideration, in the United Kingdom, is a factor relevant to the development and use of land which the decision-maker should consider when assessing and deciding the outcome of a planning application. Material considerations include ...

in planning terms.

Types of site

The majority of the Inventory sites are estate or park landscapes associated with country houses. However, a wide variety of other types of site are included, including cemeteries, urban parks, and small gardens, where these are of historical significance. Examples include

Benmore Botanic Garden Benmore Botanic Garden (formerly known as the Younger Botanic Garden) is a large botanical garden situated in Strath Eachaig at the foot of Beinn Mhòr, on the Cowal Peninsula, in Argyll and Bute, west of Scotland. The gardens are on the west ...

in Argyll, Duthie Park in Aberdeen, the

Balmoral Castle Balmoral Castle () is a large estate house in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and a residence of the British royal family. It is near the village of Crathie, west of Ballater and west of Aberdeen. The estate and its original castle were bought ...

estate in Deeside, and

Ian Hamilton Finlay Ian Hamilton Finlay (28 October 1925 – 27 March 2006) was a Scottish poet, writer, artist and gardener. Life Finlay was born in Nassau, Bahamas, to James Hamilton Finlay and his wife, Annie Pettigrew, both of Scots descent. He was educa ...

's garden at

Little Sparta Little Sparta is a garden at Dunsyre in the Pentland Hills in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, created by artist and poet Ian Hamilton Finlay and his wife Sue Finlay, since 1966. The Arcadia (utopia), Arcadian garden includes concrete poetry in s ...

in Lanarkshire.

Site selection

Sites are selected and graded based on seven value-based criteria. These are: *value as an individual work of art *historic value *horticultural, arboricultural, silvicultural value *architectural value *scenic value *nature conservation value *archaeological value Each site is assessed, on a scale of ''none—little—some—high—outstanding'', for each criterion, using guidance set out in the Historic Environment Policy Statement.

Other parts of the United Kingdom

Separate registers of parks, gardens and designed landscapes are maintained in the other

countries of the United Kingdom Since 1922, the United Kingdom has been made up of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales (which collectively make up Great Britain) and Northern Ireland (#Terminology, variously described as a country, province, jurisdiction or region). The ...

: * The

Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England #REDIRECT Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England {{R from move ...

is maintained by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

* The

Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales The Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales is a heritage register of significant historic parks and gardens in Wales. It is maintained by Cadw, the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and ...

is maintained by

Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage ...

* The

Register of Parks, Gardens and Demesnes of Special Historic Interest The Register of Parks, Gardens and Demesnes of Special Historic Interest is a listing of significant ornamental parks and gardens in Northern Ireland. It is maintained by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), an executive agency within t ...

is maintained by the

Northern Ireland Environment Agency The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) is an executive agency within the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA). It is responsible for conservation of Northern Ireland's environment and natural heritage. Ori ...

References

External links

Gardens and Designed Landscapes
Historic Environment Scotland {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2017 1987 establishments in Scotland Listed parks and gardens in the United Kingdom