On Scotland’s east coast near the town of Arbroath, the walled garden of Hospitalfield is flourishing three months after the death of Nigel Dunnett, the landscape designer responsible for its recent transformation. Dunnett, who passed away from cancer in April at age 63, was internationally renowned for pioneering naturalistic urban planting. His work at Hospitalfield—a historic artists’ residence and studio complex—reflects both ecological innovation and a respect for the site's rich heritage.
Hospitalfield, a red sandstone country house described by its director Lucy Byatt as a “country house that artists live in,” has long fostered creative residency programmes. Its association with the arts dates back to a 1901 bequest by 19th-century artist and architect Patrick Allan-Fraser and his wife Elizabeth. The site itself, however, carries an even older legacy: a hospital founded in the 13th century by Benedictine monks as an infirmary for pilgrims visiting nearby Arbroath Abbey. The garden’s nutrient-rich, free-draining soil historically supplied medicinal herbs to the monks.
Byatt commissioned Dunnett in 2016 to redesign the garden, aiming to express Hospitalfield’s full 800-year history. Dunnett’s design divided the space into three distinct areas: a public garden and lawn adjacent to the house; a formal monastic garden with an orchard and meadow; and a “romantic garden” intended as a counterpoint to the formal geometry. Central to the formal section is a bronze sculpture titled "Rio" by Scottish artist Eduardo Paolozzi, around which 16 square beds were planted with medicinal herbs familiar to the monastery’s early inhabitants. These include lemon balm, hyssop, angelica, and apothecary’s rose.
Dunnett’s approach combined horticultural beauty with environmental responsibility. The garden features large plantings of diverse species designed to encourage biodiversity and are capable of self-renewal. The site also incorporates innovative infrastructure: four underground tanks with a combined capacity of 200,000 litres harvest rainwater, ensuring sustainable irrigation while maintaining conditions favorable to beneficial soil bacteria.
The design remains dynamic rather than fixed. While Dunnett established much of the garden’s structure and planted key areas, he intentionally left some beds unplanted. These are now managed by a community of volunteers and visiting artists who add seasonal and experimental plantings. Among them is horticultural artist-in-residence Rebecca Chesney, who cultivates kidney vetch to support the rare small blue butterfly, as part of an ongoing ecological project named “I May Never See You.” Other beds include fruit and vegetables intended for the residence’s new café, designed by Caruso St John architects, which creates a lively space just beyond the garden walls.
Byatt emphasizes the garden’s role in balancing openness with reflective space for the artistic community. She rejects the notion of Hospitalfield as a remote retreat, highlighting its accessibility and active engagement with both local and international audiences. Supported by an ongoing £11 million capital development funded by the Scottish Government and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the institution aims to maintain a vibrant creative environment while inviting broader public interaction.
As spring moves into summer, the garden blooms with an array of species, from tulips and Jacob’s ladder to waving grasses and flowering thalictrum. It stands as a living legacy of Dunnett’s vision—an evolving, joyful space that merges history, art, and nature.