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Gardens, still in use, laid out in 1876 and 1923-25. The South Garden was laid out in 1876 as the Outside Flower Garden, and redefined to the west by Queen Mary, 1923-25, now known as Queen Mary's Garden. The South Garden has a group of horticultural buildings to the south-east of Balmoral Castle (NO29NE0023) of varying 19th century dates, originally comprising 1856 plant house and sheds, with an 1857 greenhouse, 1870-71 tool sheds and a late 19th century greenhouse. The earlier, decorative, lean-to greenhouse is backed to the north by a tall, gablet coped heated wall with mid and terminal dies. The greenhouse itself is rectangular in plan with a broad, canted entrance projection with a polygonal roof and finial, a stugged granite apron course, decorative cast-iron grilles and two-leaf doors. The interior has shelving and a latticed apron. Lean-to granite sheds to the north (rear), are slate roofed with a cast-iron rooflight, and are linked to later lean-to tool sheds (1870-71), which are detailed similarly also with small-pane windows and a boarded door, abacking a lower, coped continuation of heated greenhouse wall. There are glazed plant houses to the south of these. The later gabled greenhouse by the gardener's cottage (NO29SE0038) as its pitch truncated to the north by granite wall, and has a shuttered concrete base, decorative iron grilles, ornate cast-iron brattishing and end finials. Queen Mary's Garden is a terraced garden, aligned with Castle, to the west of South Garden. It has a circular fountain at the centre, comprised of a sunken basin with a paved surround and waisted capstan covering a spout at the centre. The capstan is thought to have come from a harbour in Aberdeen. There is a paved path to a semicircular flight of steps to the higher ground, accessed through two-leaf, wrought-iron gates entwined with 'GR' and 'MR' monograms. The gates were apparently made by the local blacksmith and erected by King George V in 1923. The terraces are rock-faced, semicircular to the north terrace and straight to the lower south terrace. There is a trellised arbour to the west entrance and topiaried yew buttresses by the steps to the lower level.
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Historic Environment Records (HER)