John Seton was the first of the family of the Meldrum line, to have acquired the Estate and Barony of Pitmedden, sometime before his death in 1628.  His son and heir Alexander Seton, 2nd of Pitmedden, had a charter disponed to him of the estate of Barra by William Seton, last of Meldrum in 1630. He was succeeded in Pitmedden by his eldest son, John, and his second son Alexander Seton (b.1600, d.c.17.04.1660), younger of Pitmedden, was Minister of the Parish of Banff.

John Seton, 3rd of Pitmedden (d. 1639), was the celebrated "Bonnie John Seton", who died at the Bridge of Dee, carrying the Royal Standard in his hands, and was buried with military honours by the Earl of Montrose.

His son and heir, James Seton, 4th of Pitmedden (d 1667, sp.), was raised by George Seton, 3rd Earl of Winton and attended Marischal College along with his brother.  He sold the estate of Bourtie to Advocate James Reid of Aberdeen in 1657.  After some travel in Europe, he served and died in the Navy under the Duke of York, of wounds received in the attack on Chatham in the Second Dutch War, and was succeded by his brother, Alexander.

Sir Alexander Seton succeeded to Pitmedden as 5th of Pitmedden, and became later, 1st Baronet of Pitmedden and Lord Pitmedden of the Court of Justice.  It was he who developed the Estate and founded the Great Garden of Pitmedden in the years around 1675.

The garden, with its pavilions and fountains and manicured look, was established as a magnificent formal geometric garden within a walled square and divided into four Parterre's.

It is likely that Seton would have known the architect Sir William Bruce, who had visited France and seen the gardens at Versailles, and as Bruce laid out the gardens at nearby Balcaskie and at his new house in Kinross,  it may be that he influenced Seton in his layout of the Pitmedden Garden.

The lower part of the garden  has four Parterres one of which was in modern times designed by Dr James Richardson as a tribute to Sir Alexander Seton. The parterre has the Seton of Pitmedden Coat of Arms in the centre, surrounded by the Pitmeddden mottos: "Sustento Sanguie Signa" (With blood I bear the standard); and "Merces Haec Certa Laborum" (This sure reward of our labours). This is flanked by a thistle and saltire on each side. 

Another has a sundial and floral depiction of the well-known Latin dictum, "Tempus Fugit", and the eastern half of the square modelled on the Charles II garden at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. 

The multi-faceted sundial and one of the pavilions with its sundial, is in the centre of the southeast parterre, and is thought to contemporary with the original garden.  The garden is divided into an upper and lower terrace by a retaining wall at each end of which there stands a gazebo or garden pavilion similar to those that are found at Hatton House in Midlothian.

The house itself had been badly damaged by fire in 1818 but was rebuilt during the 1860's. Today, only the north wing contains visible fragments of the 17th century grand dwelling. It has been well documented that the fire caused the destruction of family portraits, papers and the, all important, plans of the original layout of the Garden. Indeed, the Trust is still keen to discover references to, or sketches of Seton's Great Garden in its earlier years.

The Keith family bought the Pitmedden Estate at auction in 1894. Major James Keith CBE (1879 - 1953) was one of the country's most influential agricultural improvers of his time, with a desire to combine traditional farming methods with the increasing sophistication of mechanical engineering. A shrewd businessman, keen to increase productivity, Keith successfully evolved his own style of farming.

His expectations of his Garden would surely have matched those of his many farms so it is of no surprise that what the Trust inherited in 1952 was a magnificent working market garden producing fruit and vegetables in abundance

Major Keith, in a single act of munificence in 1952, presented to the National Trust for Scotland the Pitmedden Estate comprising the house, the walled garden, ancillary buildings, 100 acres of woodland and farmland, together with an endowment fund to provide for its upkeep. In 1978 the Trustees of William Cook of Little Meldrum, Tarves presented to the Trust the extensive collection of agricultural and domestic artifacts which Mr. Cook had amassed in his lifetime.

When it was acquired by The National Trust for Scotland in 1952 they inherited a working market garden which had been developed by James and Alexander Keith over the first half of the twentieth century. This garden was set within the lower part of a much older garden.

The Great Garden of Pitmedden has been celebrating fifty years in the care of the National Trust for Scotland in 2002. Pitmedden is situated in the heart of rural North-East Aberdeenshire, 15 miles north of the "granite city" Aberdeen. It is no coincidence therefore, that this magnificent Grade A listed Walled Garden was created using the finest granite.