Baxter Park

Fields then lying on the edge of the city were bought in 1861 from James Guthrie of Craigie by Sir David Baxter, together with his sisters Eleanor and Mary Ann. The family ran flax and hemp mills, and by 1871, at the peak of its prosperity, the firm employed around 5,000 workers. David Baxter paid for the park in memory of his father, and the 1863 title deed says the gift was meant to give Dundee's working population a public park in which to unwind after hard labour.

The Baxters hired Joseph Paxton, who designed the park in 1862-63. Buying the land and laying it out cost £40,000, with a further £10,000 endowment entrusted to trustees.

On 9 September 1863 the park opened before the Prime Minister, Earl Russell, and a procession of local people two miles (about 3 km) long, and the day was a public holiday. A marble statue of Sir David Baxter, paid for by public subscription, was set up in the pavilion, then taken out in 1894 because of vandalism.

Vandalism was already being reported to the city's Recreation and Cemeteries Committee in 1903, and many details of Paxton's design wore away over time, although the overall plan stayed true to it. In 2003 the Heritage Lottery Fund granted £3.25 million; with money from Historic Scotland and the city, the park was restored, as far as possible, to Paxton's original plan, starting with the return of the gates and railings. It joined Scotland's Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in 2006, which rates its historical value as outstanding; by then Baxter's statue had been brought back from the McManus Galleries in the city centre and set up in the pavilion again. The park and the streets around it make up the Baxter Park conservation area, whose current boundary dates from 2002.

The park is laid out in two distinct halves: a pleasure garden to the north, with walks, open lawns and flower beds, and a parade ground to the south. A terrace running east to west divides them, with the pavilion at its middle facing the parade ground, and a perimeter walk circles the park to link the two halves. The walks still largely follow the original plan and curve everywhere except at the entrances. The ground slopes down to the south, and the central pavilion can be seen in vistas from the neighbouring streets. The park covers 38 acres, about 15 hectares.

The pavilion, by Paxton's son-in-law George Henry Stokes, is in an Italian Renaissance style, dates from 1859-1863 and is built of Bannockburn sandstone. Its south front is a five-bay loggia whose arches rest on clusters of four Roman Doric columns, running on into square corner pavilions with paired Ionic pilasters at the angles. Balustraded parapets crown the building, and the taller end pavilions carry conical finials on sculpted plinths. The building first held a refreshment room, a gardener's room and a ladies' room; its front is now glazed. A stair climbs to a balustraded gallery on the roof with views toward the Firth of Tay. The front steps, once stone and now concrete, carry four fluted cast-iron urns of the 19th century. The pavilion, steps, boundary walls and gatepiers have been listed Category A since 1963. North of the pavilion, a recent single-storey activity centre with a slate roof, stone pillars and a glass front contrasts in modern style with the older building.

The main entrance, at the south-east corner, has four rusticated gatepiers topped with urns, iron gates with an arch above, and matching side gates. A low wall runs round the park except along one stretch on the east; the railings were rebuilt, and only a short section in the north-east corner is original. The other entrances, to the north, west and south-west, have much plainer gates and piers. The gardener's house, a gabled two-storey cottage, stands on the northern boundary on Pitkerro Road.

Much of the original tree planting survives, thinned by the natural decay of trees. Limes line the parade ground; among the older species are Scots pine, both common and copper beech, sycamore, weeping ash and birch. Clipped hollies stand on the terrace in front of the pavilion. The ground still shows the trace of a sunken rock garden, made at the edge of the old quarry and later filled in.

The park belongs to the city of Dundee. The pavilion is a venue for weddings and civil ceremonies, and ceremonies can also take place outdoors in the park.

The activity centre north of the pavilion hosts community activities, and an adventure playground sits beside the pavilion. Bowling greens and tennis courts were added over the years.

Baxter Park is a public park in the east of Dundee, running from Pitkerro Road in the north to Arbroath Road in the south, where the main entrance stands.