The formal gardens to the left of the house and the more natural looking, but nevertheless man-made, gardens up the burn, as well as the landscaping of the fields opposite the front of the house were undertaken in two stages by landscape gardeners Edward Kemp and Henry Ernest Milner.

Both of these men were celebrated garden designers who had both started their careers under the highly influential Joseph Paxton at Chatsworth and the Duke of Devonshire's monumental estate in Derbyshire.

Kemp was to go on to design many public parks in major English towns such as Hesketh Park in Southport (1864 - 1868); Grosvenor Park in Chester (1867); Stanley Park, Liverpool (1868 - 1870) and SaItwell Park in Gateshead (1877).

Overtoun then was begun at the start of Kemps' career Milner undertook work at Overtoun towards the end of the century, designing the great bridge over the burn and the planting beside the West Drive. His other work includes the extensions to Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh in 1891: three parks in Preston, Lancashire; Victoria Park in Glossop, as well as a number of private commissions in Denmark, Hungary and Sweden. In 1881 he became principal at the Crystal Palace School of Gardening.

Both of these men worked on Overtoun at various stages throughout its heyday in the Victorian period and because they were influenced by the same man, Paxton, it is difficult to distinguish who designed what. However, Milner's original planting plans still survive to give us some clues.

The design of the pond and arboretum (tree collection) again reflects a Victorian fashion to create mystical little grottoes and dells in a gothic style. The gardens also reflect the interest of many Victorians in the natural world and not just in British, i.e. native species of plants, shrubs and trees but also those from around the world.

Towards the end of the 19th century the British Empire was at its zenith. Britain had territories on every continent which were regarded as its properly rather than independent states or belonging to a "commonwealth" as they became in the 2Oth century.

The Victorians were interested in every aspect of their colonies, not least their exotic plant and animal life. The Botanic Gardens in London, Edinburgh and Glasgow expanded greatly as a result of collecting abroad in these colonies. Landowners with enough money planted their estates with foreign exotic species, the most notorious of which is the Rhododendron (originally from the Himalayas) which has proved to be rather too successful in our climate, overwhelming some native species and spreading quickly.

Overtoun has a lot of these which the Local Authority, the Scottish Wildlife Trust and the Ranger Service attempt to keep in check. There are Bamboos, also from the Himalayas and many large frees such as the Sequoia from the Americas. All of these were deliberately imported and planted by James White in conjunction with Kemp to provide a fashionable, interesting and beautiful setting for Overtoun House.

Come and see the Gardens of Overtoun for yourself...