Pittencrieff Park - Exploring the Park

Laid out, colourfully in front of the glasshouses is a formal garden. In days gone by, this area was used by Pittencrieff House as a kitchen garden and orchard.

Now developed round the Laird’s Walk, with views of the Abbey and Palace ruins, the garden is full of colour throughout the spring and summer.

As part of the Heritage Lottery Funded project in 2016, this new Kitchen Garden was created with raised beds which are designed to enable easy access for all ages and abilities. It contains a wide variety of edible herbs, flowers and other plants which have medicinal, culinary or other health giving properties.

The Rock Garden was originally planted in the 1900s and then again in the 1950s. It contains some interesting trees and shrubs such as Metasequoias, Embothrium, Cryptomerias (Japanese Red Cedar) and Eucryphia.

Within the Japanese Garden, there is an oriental-style summerhouse, with eight open plan sides. It was constructed in 1906 and built as a landscape feature of the park.

The summerhouse is located in the designed landscape which includes cliffs, rustic steps and paths, planned viewpoints, seats and a bridge.

Completing the formal gardens is the 200ft glasshouse conservatory. Built in 1973 on the site of the old conservatories, the present structure is divided into three sections.

The main area has a wooden bridge over the running stream, with an exotic plant world for visitors to enjoy. Distributed throughout the three areas, visitors can see plants from many countries on show.

The Glasshouses are open throughout the year to park visitors and hold a variety of exotic and tropical plants. There's also an indoor pond and seating area where you can enjoy the peaceful atmosphere.

We are committed to developing and improving our sustainable practices. We're already:

• Harvesting rainwater to use in the Glasshouses and Glassroom
• Composting green waste
• Trialling the use of peat free compost
• Using a more energy efficient heating system for the Glasshouses
• Mulching and chipping waste wood that can’t be used in any other way
• Reusing materials such as plant pots, containers, trays
• Thinking of new ways to use and adapt otherwise leftover or waste items such as wooden pallets, furniture and construction materials

The glasshouses are available for wedding photos for a small fee. Contact us for more information.

Glasshouse opening times:

April 1st to August 31st:

Monday to Thursday - 10am to 3.45pm
Friday - 10am to 12.30pm
Weekends - Closed until further notice

September 1st to March 31st:

Monday to Thursday - 10am to 2.45pm
Friday - 10am to 12.30pm
Weekends - Closed until further notice

Please note that opening times may vary due to public holidays and maintenance work.

These are trees that can be found growing naturally throughout Pittencrieff Park.

They are particularly beneficial to other species as they provide food, water and shelter for lichens, fungi, insects, birds and other animals.

Within the park there are many examples of native trees such as:

• Oak
• Horse Chestnut
• Ash
• Silver Birch
• Beech
• Scots Pine
• Holly

These are tree species that have been planted here in the park having been chosen because of their unusual or awe-inspiring properties.

Examples planted throughout Pittencrieff Park include:

• The Giant Redwood of California (Wellingtonia sequoiadendron giganteum):
  • can grow up to 85 metres tall and be 8 metres wide
    the oldest known living specimen was estimated to be around 3,500 years
  • the only naturally occurring population in the world is in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California.
• The Monkey Puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana):
  is an evergreen species
  • is native to Chile and Argentina and is an endangered species
  • the name ‘Monkey Puzzle’ reportedly comes from a chance remark when it was first planted in Britain that, “…it would take a monkey to climb that.”

Some trees have been planted to commemorate people associated with the park or that have visited the park in the past, including:

• the Oak planted by Andrew Carnegie himself during a 1909 visit
• HRH The Princess Royal planted an Oak tree in Pittencrieff Park to celebrate 100 years of the Carnegie UK Trust in 2013

Many other trees throughout the park that have been planted by local groups or planted in memory of people who enjoyed visiting the park during their lifetime.

“Apples and Pears for Your Heirs”

Ten apple trees and two pear trees were planted by the Friends of Pittencrieff Park, local lawyers (who funded the project) and local school children in November 2012.

The maintenance and enhancement of the orchard will continue to be carried out by the Friends of Pittencrieff Park, with further activities and events planned for the future

In 2016, more fruit trees and shrubs were added with the help of local school children.

Our main goal is to maintain a healthy tree population, in the following ways:

• Ongoing monitoring of the tree population within Pittencrieff Park.

We do this through the management of trees and woodland, to promote growth of new trees and vary the age structure of the tree population. We also plant native trees in suitable areas of the park.

• Encourage greater appreciation of trees within Pittencrieff Park.We provide educational opportunities and activities for the local community and all park users.

We also organise tree planting activities for community groups and members of the public.

There are 10 brass rubbing plaques each with a different design, located throughout the park. All you need is one of our specially designed booklets and some coloured crayons or pencils, and you're ready to go.

The Park is a natural habitat for hundreds of species:

• The Laird’s Garden is a good sun trap and as a result is a great place to see butterflies and bees
• The lower glen and Tower Burn area are home to semi natural ancient woodland which provides a great habitat for trees such as Lime and Horse Chestnut, birds including Grey Wagtails and Wrens as well as Velvet Shank and Candle-snuff Fungi.

Copies of our “Wildlife and Nature” leaflet are available from the Glen Pavilion and the Glasshouse as well as other facilities in Dunfermline.

There are many historical features and stories to be discovered and explored:

• Pittencrieff House
• the Glen Pavilion
• the Double Bridge
• the Andrew Carnegie Statue
• the Louise Carnegie Gates
• Malcolm Canmore’s Tower
• Wallace’s Well
• the Dovecot

Views of Dunfermline Abbey can be found on the east side of the park – in fact one of the main entrances is found next to the Abbey and the walkway that leads from these gates crosses the Double Bridge and takes you into the centre of the park

If you are walking down in the lower glen, make sure you stop and look up to see the impressive ruins of Dunfermline Palace where several Kings of Scotland were crowned and some of them lived during their reign.

There are thousands of trees in Pittencrieff Park. Some of them are native species and form part of the semi natural ancient woodland, while others have been brought here from around the world

Woodland areas can be found alongside the Tower Burn, in the southern reaches of the park and to the north east of the Louise Carnegie Gates where the Dovecot can also be found.

You can also enjoy:

• the spring blossom of cherry trees that line the main path from Pittencrieff Street into the park,
• the avenue of limes that lead to the Andrew Carnegie Statue and;
• the mixture of trees of the world including Giant Sequoia from California and the Monkey Puzzle tree found in front of Pittencrieff House.

Finger posts have been installed throughout the park to highlight routes of particular interest and to direct park users to notable features.

• Flowers and most trees will have begun budding by March
• Birds and other animals will become more active and noisy as they look for mates, build nests and start laying eggs or giving birth

• Wildflowers and trees will be in full bloom
• Insect activity will reach its peak at this time of year
• Birds and other animals are still busy feeding chicks and their young

• Most plants will have lost their flowers, tree leaves will change colour and fruits and seeds (such as acorns and conkers) will be produced
• Many mammals will be preparing to hibernate
• Fungi begin to fruit which means you can spot them above the soil

• Only evergreen trees such as Scot’s Pine and Holly will hold on to their leaves and green colour
• Year-round bird residents, such as robins, will be very curious at this time of year as they look for food

• Ongoing monitoring of wildlife within Pittencrieff Park
• Planting of native species of wildflower, ferns, shrubs and trees
• The addition of bird and bat boxes as well as bird and insect feeders

• Any new planting will be of native species
• Existing areas of woodland, wildflower and any other plant life will be managed appropriately to enhance the growth of native species

• Ongoing monitoring of non-native species
• Removal of non-native species found