Cally Gardens
This 2.7 acre walled garden was built in the 1770s to provide fruit and vegetables for Cally House, former seat of the Murray-Usher family and now a hotel. Robert Heron, Burns' friend, described the gardens in 1792 in his 'Observations made in a journey through the Western Counties of Scotland':
"They are enclosed within high walls. The extent is considerable. No expense has been spared to accommodate them to the stately elegance of the house and to the dignity and fortune of the proprietor. They contain greenhouses and hothouses, with all that variety of foreign herbs and fruits, which, in our climate, it is necessary to cherish; an abundance of all the riches of the orchard, all the beauties of the parterre and all the useful plenty of the kitchen garden. When the family abide not here, all the country around, as far as Dumfries, are supplied with an abundance of fruits from these gardens".
A letter dated 30 May 1848, from William Pearson the Head Gardener, gives us some useful information about the garden at that time. Six Journeymen Gardeners and six labourers all on 50p a week plus free lodging and fuel were needed to keep the following in "excellent order". 2000' of fruit wall, 3 acres of vegetables, 3 acres of orchards, a 100' vinery, a 150' peach house, an orange and Camelia house, 100' of pineapple pits and several acres of grass and gravel around the house.
During the 1939-45 war, 300 Glasgow children were evacuated to Cally and they 'dug for victory' here. In the 1950s and early 60s the gardens became well-known for cut flowers and fuchsias under the late Brain Taylor.
Since 1987 the garden has been replanted with a unique labelled collection of 3,500 varieties, especially rare perennials and grasses. A selection are available pot-grown in the sales area and by mail order. There are old greenhouses, a bothy and forest trails in the Cally Oak Woods which surround the garden.
** Please note that the telephone contact number is a recorded information line only. **
Contact
Mr
Michael
Wickenden
Gatehouse of Fleet
Dumfries & Galloway
DG7 2DJ
Scotland
Tel: +44 (1557) 815029
E-Mail: cally.gardens@virgin.net
WWW: http://www.callygardens.co.uk
