The Courtyards of Silence Behind the Roar of the Mile
Edinburgh's Royal Mile is famous for its sensory intensity: the drone of bagpipes echoing off tenement facades, the chatter of international travelers, and the clatter of tour groups exploring historic stone stairwells. Yet mere yards from this bustling thoroughfare, behind narrow stone archways that most visitors walk straight past, lie walled sanctuaries of profound tranquility.
These are the secret gardens of the Old Town. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the wealthiest merchants, lawyers, and noblemen whose tenements backed onto the south and north slopes of the volcanic ridge cultivated private gardens known as kailyards or formal pleasure grounds. While many were built over during the Industrial Revolution, several have been lovingly restored or preserved as living botanical time capsules.
1. Dunbar's Close: The Masterpiece of 17th-Century Knot Design
Located on the Canongate section of the Royal Mile, Dunbar's Close is entered through an unassuming low archway between numbers 137 and 139. Step through the stone portal, and the noise of the street instantly drops away, replaced by the rustle of leaves and birdsong.
Restored in the 1970s by the Campbell Trust, this one-acre walled garden was painstakingly reconstructed in the exact style of a seventeenth-century Scottish knot garden. It is divided into eight geometric parterres bordered by clipped boxwood hedges. Pathways of crushed river gravel weave between beds planted with period medicinal herbs: lavender, thyme, rosemary, mint, and hyssop. In spring, ancient apple trees burst into delicate white-pink blossoms, framing vistas of Calton Hill in the distance.
2. Chessel's Court: Tenement Grandeur and Historic Intrigues
Further down the southern side of the Canongate lies Chessel's Court, completed in 1748 for wealthy accountant Archibald Chessel. This spacious courtyard was once the epitome of aristocratic Georgian luxury, featuring ornate wrought-iron railings, stone entrance arches, and private carriage turning circles.
It also holds a dramatic place in Edinburgh criminal folklore: it was here, on the night of 5 March 1788, that Councillor Deacon William Brodie carried out his fateful armed burglary of the General Excise Office. Today, the courtyard is a peaceful residential haven where trailing ivy climbs five storeys of honey-colored sandstone, and flowering hydrangeas bloom beside antique gas-lamp posts.
3. The Botanical Seasons of Old Edinburgh
Visiting these gardens throughout the changing Scottish seasons offers distinct rewards. In late February and March, delicate snowdrops and crocuses push through the cold earth beneath centuries-old stone walls. By midsummer, the herb gardens are alive with bumblebees, their fragrance released by warm morning sunlight. In autumn, the Virginia creeper turns blazing crimson against the charcoal-grey volcanic masonry, creating one of the most serene photographic backdrops in the capital.
