 |
 |
 |  |  |  |
 |
 |  |  |
| | | ||||||||||||
 |
    Following a recent survey of Designed Landscapes in the Scottish Borders, Abbotsford’s importance both nationally and internationally, was underlined when it was judged to be the most significant designed landscape in the area. The following extracts are taken from The Inventory of Designed Landscapes in Scotland, prepared for Historic Scotland by Peter McGowan and reproduced here with their kind permission. The house, garden and landscape of Abbotsford are the creation of Sir Walter Scott and was developed from scratch between 1811 and 1825. While Scott is justly famed world-wide as Scotland’s most successful and prolific author of the 19th century, his surmounting interest, which gave him most pleasure – beyond even his antiquarian, historical and literary interests, was planting. At Abbotsford he assembled an estate by various land purchases, created enclosed gardens and parkland to complement the house, and laid out the largely unimproved land to form an extended wooded agricultural landscape which is uniquely adapted to its Tweedside setting. The landscape composition is outstanding in aesthetic, scenic and architectural terms and its association with Scott gives it outstanding national value. |