A view of crowds coming down from the summit of Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh after the May Day sunrise service in 1966.A view of crowds coming down from the summit of Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh after the May Day sunrise service in 1966.
A view of crowds coming down from the summit of Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh after the May Day sunrise service in 1966.

Edinburgh's Holyrood Park: These 23 pictures from the 1950s and 1960s show the fascinating past of the popular park

It’s one of the most popular places for a walk in the Capital – and in the 1950s and 1960s, people flocked to Holyrood Park for everything from church services and political rallies to boating ponds and paddling pools.

Holyrood Park, also known as Queen’s Park, dates back to the 12th century when its 650 acres of wilderness were used as a royal hunting estate.

The ruined Augustinian Abbey of Holyrood was established in 1128 at the order of King David I of Scotland within the estate, and remained in use until the 16th century.

The area was officially designated a park by King James V in 1541, who had the ground "circulit about Arthurs Sett, Salisborie and Duddingston craggis" enclosed by a stone wall.

Features of the park include the extinct volcano of Arthur’s Seat, the cliffs of Salisbury Crags, the ruined St Anthony’s Chapel and three lochs – St Margaret's Loch, Dunsapie Loch, and Duddingston Loch.

There was no road around the park until 1844 when Prince Albert made a number of changes, including creating the circular Victoria Road, later called The Queen's Drive.

Holyrood Park is one of Scotland's Properties in Care, meaning it is owned by Scottish Ministers and managed on their behalf by Historic Environment Scotland.

Here are 23 pictures to take you back to the park in the 1950s and 1960s.

Read more:

17 pictures of Edinburgh' s Lothian Road in the 1950s and 1960s show how much the familiar Capital street has changed

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.

Related topics:

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.