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Perthshire

Beatrix Potter Garden

A garden at Birnam Arts of bronze sculptures of Beatrix Potter's characters, near Dunkeld, where she first told the story of Peter Rabbit in 1893.

Welcome

Peter Rabbit is usually filed under the Lake District, but his story began in Perthshire.

Visited and photographed by Simon Hird

On 4 September 1893, staying at Dunkeld, Beatrix Potter wrote an illustrated letter to Noel Moore, the five-year-old son of her former governess, and the letter became The Tale of Peter Rabbit. As a child she had spent her summers nearby at Dalguise, sketching and studying the woods.

Behind Birnam Arts, across the Tay from Dunkeld, a garden honours her. An iron archway topped with painted rabbits opens onto winding paths, where bronzes of her characters wait among the shrubs: Mr Tod heading home, a family of rabbits on the gravel, Jeremy Fisher by the pond, with benches and a small pavilion telling the story. Inside, an exhibition fills in the rest.

The garden and exhibition open every day from half past ten, on one ticket. The Birnam Arts cafe is next door.

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Before you go

The garden is part of the Beatrix Potter Perthshire Experience at Birnam Arts, with the exhibition inside: open every day, 10.30am to 3.30pm, last entry 3pm.

The Birnam Arts cafe is next door.

Where
Birnam Arts, Station Road, Birnam, by Dunkeld.
Tickets
£5 each, for the exhibition and the Garden Trail, with an activity book for children.
Open
Daily, 10.30am to 3.30pm; last entry 3pm.

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Did you know

An ornamental iron archway with rabbit figures reading Beatrix Potter Garden, framed by tall conifers
Did you know

A letter, not a book.

Peter Rabbit began as a picture letter to a sick five-year-old, Noel Moore, written from Dunkeld on 4 September 1893.

A bronze fox sculpture mid-stride on a woodland path, flowering shrubs either side
Did you know

Summers at Dalguise.

As a child, Beatrix Potter spent her summers at Dalguise, a few miles up the Tay.

Bronze rabbit sculptures perched together on a gravel path in a rain-soaked garden
Did you know

One ticket.

The garden and the exhibition inside share a ticket, and children get an activity book.

Ben Lerwill

From our guide to Perthshire

The fabled creator of Peter Rabbit and Mrs Tiggy-Winkle spent many of her childhood summers here in Scotland, and this attraction is a charming one for kids, who can seek out statues of their favourite characters, explore a Victorian schoolroom, and much more. It forms part of the excellent Birnam Arts venue.

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Where it is

Behind Birnam Arts in the village of Birnam, across the Tay from Dunkeld.

Close byBirnam and Dunkeld.
  1. BirnamBirnamUnder a mile 1 min by road
  2. Birnam OakBirnam OakAn ancient oak on the Tay, said to be the last of Macbeth's Birnam Wood.Under a mile 2 min by road
  3. A marble table for two with bentwood chairs in front of a wall of wooden wine racks at Redwood Wines in Dunkeld.Redwood WinesUnder a mile as the crow flies
  4. Picnic tables on a lawn with a canopy, church spire and townhouses behindThe TaybankUnder a mile 2 min by road
  5. Gothic arched windows line the sandstone cathedral beside a mossy treeDunkeld CathedralThe half-ruined cathedral on the north bank of the Tay.Under a mile 3 min by road
  6. The HermitageThe HermitageA woodland walk among tall Douglas firs to a folly over a waterfall.1 mile 2 min by road
Directions
Shelves of gifts, baskets and jars fill a small shop interiorShoppingLÒN Store0.6 miles
Dried flower display above a shopfront doorway on Atholl StreetCafeARAN Bakery0.6 miles
Inside The Toy Shed in Dunkeld, its green and white shelves lined with toys, games, books and cards.ShoppingThe Toy Shed0.6 miles
Two riders with mountain bikes outside the timber shed of Progression Bikes in Dunkeld.ActivityProgression Bikes0.6 miles
ShoppingHairy Coo & Co, Dunkeld0.7 miles
A red timber cabin with a steep pitched roof stands on a hillside among pines, a covered deck and chairs to one side.DunkeldJuniperSleeps 2 · 1.7 miles
Bronze stag statue on a flowerbed outside a white turreted country houseAttractionsDunkeld House Hotel2.1 miles
The Little Trochry Farm sign by the A822, with the farmstand in a blue and yellow horsebox at the foot of the track.ShoppingLittle Trochry Farmstand2.9 miles
Loch of the Lowes Wildlife Reserve, PerthshireAttractionsLoch of the Lowes Wildlife Reserve3.1 miles

Recommend to a friend

Stay nearby

Places to stay near the garden, and when each is next free.

A red timber cabin with a steep pitched roof stands on a hillside among pines, a covered deck and chairs to one side.Juniper
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Dunkeld
  • A mile from the Beatrix Potter Garden
Check datesLittle Pheasant, PerthshireLittle Pheasant
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Kincraigie
  • 5 miles from the Beatrix Potter Garden
Check datesAn aerial view shows a stone and timber cottage with a round hot tub in the garden, hills rising behind a dry stone wall.Pheasant Cottage
  • Sleeps 6
  • In Kincraigie
  • 5 miles from the Beatrix Potter Garden
Check datesA stone cottage with a gabled dormer window catches evening light among autumn trees, a bench and picnic table on the gravel outside.Charlottefield
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Tulliemet
  • 8 miles from the Beatrix Potter Garden
Check datesPlaces to stayEvery stay in PerthshireAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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