Holyrood Park

Holyrood Park
Arthur's Seat is located within Holyrood Park
Type	Urban park
Location	Edinburgh
Coordinates	55°56′54″N 3°09′32″W / 55.948371°N 3.158855°W / 55.948371; -3.158855
Area	650 acres (260 ha)
Created	1541
Status	Open all year

Holyrood Park (also called the King's Park or Queen's Park depending on the reigning monarch's gender) is a royal park in central Edinburgh, Scotland about 1 mile (1.6 kilometres) to the east of Edinburgh Castle. It is open to the public. It has an array of hills, lochs, glens, ridges, basalt cliffs, and patches of gorse, providing a wild piece of highland landscape within its 650-acre (260 ha) area. The park is associated with the Palace of Holyroodhouse and was formerly a royal hunting estate. The park was created in 1541 when James V had the ground "circulit about Arthurs Sett, Salisborie and Duddingston craggis" enclosed by a stone wall.^[1]

Arthur's Seat, an extinct volcano and the highest point in Edinburgh, is at the centre of the park, with the cliffs of Salisbury Crags to the west. There are three lochs: St Margaret's Loch, Dunsapie Loch, and Duddingston Loch. The ruins of St Anthony's Chapel stand above St Margaret's Loch. Queen's Drive is the main route through the Park. St Margaret's Well and St Anthony's Well are both natural springs within the park. Holyrood Park is located to the south-east of the Old Town, at the edge of the city centre. Abbeyhill is to the north, and Duddingston village to the east. The University of Edinburgh's Pollock Halls of Residence are to the south-west, and Dumbiedykes is to the west.

The whole of Holyrood Park was made a Scheduled Monument in 2013. It is owned, apart from the roadways which are retained by the Crown, by Scottish Ministers the whole being managed by Historic Environment Scotland. Various archaeological survey has taken place across the site, though findings are not yet fully understood.^[2]