Dean Gardens, Edinburgh

The Dean Gardens (previously known as Eton Terrace Gardens) are private communal gardens near the suburb of the New Town area of Edinburgh, EH4. The gardens lie over a 2.9 hectares (7.2 acres) sized site on the steep north bank of the Dean Valley through which runs the Water of Leith. A public view of the gardens can be seen from the Dean Bridge, under which the gardens lie. The gardens have been listed on the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes as part of the New Town gardens heritage designation since March 2001.

The Dean Gardens are located on the north bank of the Water of Leith across a steep area of ground lying between the corner of Upper Dean Terrace and Ann Street, bordered by the length of Eton Terrace which overlooks the gardens, with the Dean Bridge on the western extremity of the gardens. The gardens have four entrance gates, three of which are situated on Eton Terrace, with a fourth on the corner of Ann Street and Upper Dean Terrace. The Ann Street corner entrance is the closest to Stockbridge. The first of the Eton Terrace entrances is situated on the corner with Lenox Street, the second is in the middle of the terrace and a third is located at the end of Dean Bridge. The entrance closest to Stockbridge is on the corner of Upper Dean Terrace and Ann Street.

Access to the gardens is only permitted to individuals living at addresses set within a catchment area defined by the garden's management. An annual payment of £115 is required for access with a one-off payment of £30 upon joining. The present membership policy was instigated in 2017 following a large rise in applications. The annual fee stood at £65 in 2003, and £80 in 2007. Pre-existing members were unaffected by the change in membership policy; in addition the membership cannot be inherited by new property owners and is only granted on a personal basis.

Applications for membership are only considered from individuals living on the following streets that surround the gardens:

The gardens are part of the open access event Scotland's Gardens and annual public access is granted through the scheme.

The land on which the Dean Gardens presently stand were used as a grazing ground for sheep until their purchase as part of 140 acres bought by Colonel Alexander Learmonth, the son of the Provost of Edinburgh, John Learmonth, in the middle of the 19th-century. Learmouth intended to continue the property development schemes that had seen him construct the terraced housing developments that make up the present Eton Terrace, Oxford Terrace, Belgrave Crescent and Lennox Street. Concerned by the encroaching developments and potential landslips, local residents persuaded Learmonth to grant them a 12 year lease on the site and quickly set to raising the necessary funds for its purchase. Learmonth retained the right to dispose of rubble on the site. £5 was charged to each household and the site of the gardens was eventually bought for £2,500 several years after having opened in 1867. The initial list of plants purchased for the gardens cost £400 and a levy was charged on households to pay for the gardens upkeep and to maintain the debt incurred in the purchase. The debt was finally paid off in 1891. The equivalent of £1.8 million in present money was spent on the creation of the original gardens.

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