There was a lot of quarrying in and around Dundee in the 19th century. The quarries by Baxter Park were the Craigie and Gallowhill quarries, whose rocks would help shape what became known as the Rockery.
Dolerite was the main stone that was quarried, a kind of igneous rock that was used for paving stones and streetscaping, along with basalt. Both are dark-coloured igneous rocks, and shown on maps as ‘whinstone’ quarries,
The majority of quarrying near Dundee produced these low quality rocks, unlike the higher quality sandstone quarried in Fife and elsewhere.
The Rockery was infilled in 1956 due to persistent vandalism. It was a significant element of Sir Joseph Paxton’s original plans for the Park, his design utilising the element of surprise. Visitors could enter the Park through the rockery. the boulders enhanced with plants typical of the period, moving from a dark and narrow space into open sunlight. Some of the plants were purely ornamental and did not have significance to the local area, whereas others were imitations of plants that would grow naturally on these rocks. Alpine plants were also popular at the time in rock gardening. The Rockery was not the only part of Baxter Park to pay special attention to botany. It was a scientific display as much as it was artistic, helping to educate those in the area about regional plants. The original plans of Baxter Park did focus on showcasing local species of plants, though planting species from other parts of the world was also a part of its design.
Only small portions of the Rockery remain today. If it was to be restored, it would have to be done cautiously; there are very old tree root systems that run through the area now, so it has been suggested that any potential reconstruction should be reversible.
