Amisfield Walled Garden, Haddington, Scotland
Leaving the city of Edinburgh during Fringe Festival feels like a pretty essential requirement by midway through August. And I usually find myself craving an escape from the madness, crowds and general business, by heading out into the fresh and open expanses of nature.
Luckily, we were blessed with beautiful, bright sunshine last weekend, which felt like the perfect reason to explore more of what East Lothian has to offer. The day began with a glorious morning wander along the beach at Gullane, just as the tide was starting to eb off the shore, and a delicious breakfast pit stop at Number 10 bakery, so obviously, I’ve also includes these images within the summary below. But mainly, I was eager to visit another spot, high on my list, Amisfield.
Amisfield Walled Garden is a donation based, lovingly restored, community garden, located in Haddington, East Lothian. Dating from the late 18th century, it is one of the largest walled gardens in Scotland, with extensive herbaceous borders, fruit and vegetable beds, wildflower meadow, apple orchards and woodland plantings.
We enjoyed pottering around all the edges of this garden, mesmerised by the restorations that have been applied so carefully and considerately. The apples were starting to show their rosy cheeks, and the many volunteers were hard at work preparing for an open garden event the following weekend.
The cosmos, phlox and dahlias stole the show, but it was lovely to see the edibles being harvested ready for sale in their on site honesty shop. Tomatoes, cucumbers, chard and pumpkins just starting to develop in earnest, ready for the autumn days ahead.
Some of my favourite pictures from the day can be found below…
Definitely add it to your ‘to visit’ list if you’re ever visiting the area!
Their Scottish Garden Scheme event will be running this coming weekend (29/30th August 2026) if you would like to pop by.
Speak soon,
Jenna
