Gracemount Mansion was built in the late 18th century, expanded and altered many times over the years. The house and estate were gifted to Edinburgh Corporation in the early twentieth century and is still owned by its successor, the City of Edinburgh Council.

Up until the early twentieth century, it was common for a big house standing in its own grounds to have a walled garden. Charles Green, a book publisher and local Land Lord then owned the Masion. He would have employed at least one full-time gardener and a cook, and perhaps other servants. In these days, the cook and the gardener were expected to make sure the household could eat home-grown fruit and vegetable all year.  This meant careful planning by the gardener and, in the days before fridges and freezers, somebody who knew how to bottle, preserve and store produce as well as make the dinner.

We can guess what was grown then.  We know that there were greenhouses. Tomatoes, peaches and more exotic fruit and vegetables might have joined the more usual salad, green and root vegetables growing outside. After the ownership passed to the local authority, the Parks Department ran the garden as a nursery for all the city parks until 1978. Then it became overgrown. Meanwhile, the Mansion was a youth and community centre.  In 2001, John Boag, the youth and community worker, helped the garden enter and win a competition run by the TV programme, Beechgrove Garden. It then received a make-over as an ornamental and recreational garden.  When funding ended, it gradually became neglected. In 2013, TES secured Climate Challenge funding for a project called Grow Stronger and could employ staff. This was the beginning of the current Gracemount Community Garden, once again growing fruit and vegetables. Many funders have helped . We now have a great team of staff and volunteers. The garden grows for the local community in ways that are good of wildlife and the environment.