Marine Gardens

The Marine Gardens was an entertainment complex located in the Portobello area of Edinburgh, Scotland. Opened in 1909 as a pleasure garden and amusement park on the shores of the Firth of Forth, most of its original attractions apart from the ballroom were removed following military use of the site during the First World War. The complex also included a stadium which was used during the interwar period for football, greyhound racing and speedway. It was the home venue of Scottish Football League teams Leith Athletic (1928–1936) and Edinburgh City (1928–31 and 1934–35). The Marine Gardens closed down permanently in 1939 after again being taken over by the military, with the area being redeveloped after the Second World War. OriginsPart of the vast Craigentinny Meadows located on the shore of the Firth of Forth was the area chosen to construct Marine Gardens. The meadows had for years previously been used as an outlet for Edinburgh’s sewerage where the land was rotated and irrigated to produce meadow grass that could be used for cattle grazing. This easterly part of the meadows in Portobello would be a permanent host for the new Marine Gardens which acquired and relocated the buildings and exhibition from the successful 1908 Scottish National Exhibition held in Saughton Park in central Edinburgh.

The Marine Gardens was an entertainment complex located in the Portobello area of Edinburgh, Scotland. Opened in 1909 as a pleasure garden and amusement park on the shores of the Firth of Forth, most of its original attractions apart from the ballroom were removed following military use of the site during the First World War. The complex also included a stadium which was used during the interwar period for football, greyhound racing and speedway. It was the home venue of Scottish Football League teams Leith Athletic (1928–1936) and Edinburgh City (1928–31 and 1934–35). The Marine Gardens closed down permanently in 1939 after again being taken over by the military, with the area being redeveloped after the Second World War. OriginsPart of the vast Craigentinny Meadows located on the shore of the Firth of Forth was the area chosen to construct Marine Gardens. The meadows had for years previously been used as an outlet for Edinburgh’s sewerage where the land was rotated and irrigated to produce meadow grass that could be used for cattle grazing. This easterly part of the meadows in Portobello would be a permanent host for the new Marine Gardens which acquired and relocated the buildings and exhibition from the successful 1908 Scottish National Exhibition held in Saughton Park in central Edinburgh.