Historic Bo'ness garden looking good as £611,000 five-year restoration project ends

A section of perimeter wall in the garden, which is close to the Antonine Wall World Heritage Site located in the northern part of Kinneil Estate, collapsed in 2016, causing health and safety concerns for the site’s tenants.

However, the perimeter wall has now been restored to its former glory with new decorative ironwork pedestrian and vehicle gates installed thanks to a a £611,000 investment from Falkirk Council.

Councillor Paul Garner, spokesperson for economic development, said: “The walled garden is a significant feature of the Kinneil Estate and has in recent years been used to house the council’s bedding plant nursery.

“The work put into this project has been incredible and thanks go to the stone masons who have carried out the pain-staking work to not only make the wall safe for future generations but who have also restored it in keeping with its rich heritage.”

Repair of the perimeter wall got underway in March 2017, under the direction of council consultants WSP, and was completed over three phases – phase one saw £91,500 of work carried out by Go Wright Ltd on part of the east and south walls, while phase two saw £336,500 spent installing new pedestrian and vehicular gates to the west and north wall.

Finally, phase three saw £183,000 of work carried out by Dugie Clark Clachan Mhor on the north and east wall.

The walled garden is currently home of Sustainable Thinking Scotland, an environmental social enterprise delivering projects to encourage sustainable food production.