THEY are a popular feature of British gardening history and were the ultimate status symbols of their day. Now walled gardens – the historic equivalent of having a Ferrari in the driveway – are experiencing a revival in Scotland.

Nineteenth century aristocrats vied over having the largest and most lavish walled gardens, growing more exotic fruits than their peers, cultivating trees grandly named after themselves and adding extra innovative features, such as glasshouses.

With the advent of the First and Second World Wars, many of the creations that were the essential components of the country’s stately homes, fell into disrepair.

But Glasgow-based John Hancox is helping to spearhead their revival, travelling countrywide to aid in the restoration of a variety of walled gardens, whether owned by private homes, community trusts or local authorities.

And the enthusiast, who has cultivated and supplied fruit trees for the last decade, says more and more walled gardens are returning because the gardens have much to offer in modern times, allowing good growth in a harsh climate and even offering a haven from the craziness of today’s world.

“They basically create a microclimate,” Mr Hancox said. “By putting the walls up, they offer shade and warmth and in Scotland’s climate, they offer protection from the wind and harsh weather.

“In their day, they were very much status symbols – it was like sitting behind the wheel of a Ferrari – you had an enormous walled garden and an apple tree named after you.

“There were also lots of labourers to work on them. Things are not the same now – they are more labours of love now.”

Mr Hancox, who is known as “the apple man”, supplies hardy fruit trees, nuts and soft fruit to suit Scotland, the North of England, Wales and Ireland. He recently supplied fruit trees to Dumfries House, Ayrshire, to furnish the working walled garden there. The Queen Elizabeth Walled Garden was opened by the monarch in 2014, following two years of intensive research and renovation.

He said: “In many cases, records were kept by the houses and Victorians also used metal tags, so even with a metal detector in a derelict garden you could find out what had been planted there before and, in the renovation, try to stay true to what has been before if you wish to.

“I’ve worked with fruit trees for the past 10 years, but in the last five, I have been working on walled gardens too and I think the resurgence in interest is because of what they are – something really special and I try to encourage their restoration.

“In the last five years, I would say I have worked on up to 30 in Scotland.”

One of the projects he has been involved in is at Blair Estate, Dalry, Ayrshire where work is under way to restore the five-acre Victorian walled garden. He supplied three varieties of Scottish apple trees, one variety of pear and a selection of plum trees.

Another of the restorations he has taken an interest in is the walled garden at Raasay House, on the Isle of Raasay, overlooking Skye. Records of the garden stretch back over 250 years. Neglected for generations, a grant from the Climate Challenge Fund in 2017 enabled local people to get one quadrant working again and produce is now grown and sold through the community shop and to local businesses.

Katherine Gillies, community engagement officer, said the aim is now to extend and also to restore the glasshouses that date to the mid-1800s. She said: “The community has been really supportive. We haven’t replicated what was in the garden originally as we are on an island and we are trying to replace as much as we can in the shop with local produce. Everything has sold and we now know what is in demand so we can focus on that.“Our aim for the long-term is to have a productive garden that provides for the community and we also want to keep one of the quadrants grass so it is a place to go to.“When the garden was private, no-one could use it, but now people can go along and see what’s going on and volunteer and that’s one thing that we have really noticed - how much people have enjoyed it as a place to go to. We had barbecues and events there and we see the value in that as a community.”

Skibo Castle, a 20-bedroom mansion on the edge of the Dornoch Firth, . Famed now as the venue for Madonna’s wedding to movie director Guy Ritchie, the luxury venue is another venue that prizes its walled garden, which was created by Thomas Mawson. “The significance of the walled garden is that it dates back to pre Carnegie times. The gardeners have used certain elements of Thomas Mawson’s designs to Carnegie in 1904.

Mr Hancox added: “In areas where it is exposed and windy and conditions not typically ideal, the enclosed area allows successful growth. And nowadays, they offer so much more. They are calm spaces – that’s what attracts me to them. They have a lot to offer.”