Greenbank Garden 4.1

Greenbank Garden is a 2.5acre 18th century walled garden in Clarkston, East Renfrewshire, Scotland, owned and operated by the National Trust for Scotland and open to the public. It is situated about six miles (10 km) from the centre of Glasgow. The garden surrounds Greenbank House, which is protected as a Category A listed building. The house has sixteen rooms, and also barns and stables.HistoryThe Georgian house was built in 1763 by a Glasgow merchant by the name of Robert Allason. Allason was a local man who had begun life as a baker, before setting up with his brothers in Port Glasgow as a trader. He made his fortune trading with Britain's American colonies, eventually becoming a land-holder in the Caribbean. The profits from trade in both tobacco and slaves, allowed him to purchase Flenders Farm (land his family had worked for centuries) and establish the house. However, Allason's trading interests later suffered during the American War of Independence.Over the next two centuries, the house was owned by a number of families, principally several generations of the Hamilton family, from 1796 to 1961. In 1961 it was bought by William P. Blyth who, with his wife, transformed the grounds from fruit and vegetable growing to the ornamental gardens that are seen today. Then, in 1976, Mr & Mrs Blyth gifted the house, walled garden, and the 16acre estate to the National Trust for Scotland. In 1981 an additional 20 acres were donated by the Young family (descendants of the Hamiltons). Today, the Gardens are open all year round, and the house from March until October.