Lost Gardens

Perthshire (1x5)

Air date: Oct 14, 2010

The lost garden on the estate of Dunira, Near Comrie, Perthshire was owned by a wealthy laird, and the decayed estate now holds a tragic family secret. The team makes a start on restoring this 1920s Thomas Mawson-designed garden. The Dunira Estate, about 3 miles from Comrie and 3 miles from lovely Loch Earn in Perthshire, is a place of great beauty and tranquillity. It also has a most interesting history. The father of William Macbeth bought it in 1919 as a wedding present for his son. Macbeth's father had made his fortune as a ship building magnate on the Clyde during the First World War, and in the period of high unemployment during the 1920s he arranged for a train load of unemployed shipyard workers to be decanted at the local station every day to transform the Estate. The 9-hole golf course, putting green and a cricket pitch which they created have all gone now, but the Lost Gardens and the magnificent Arboretum remain, just a couple of minutes walk from East Turret.