About Napiers |
Established in 1860 by Duncan Napier Duncan Napier Napiers was established in Edinburgh in 1860 by the Victorian botanist Duncan Napier. Having always been fascinated by plants and nature, Duncan became interested in herbal medicine after buying a book on the subject from an Edinburgh market stall. Lobelia Cough Syrup Original Recipe At the time Duncan was working as a baker and had developed a chronic cough, so he set about making a recipe for Lobeila Cough Syrup that he found in the book and after 6 months his cough had completely cleared up. Encouraged by this success, Duncan started to make other herbal medicines and try them out on his friends and family, collecting herbs from the surrounding areas of Edinburgh, until one day he was finally persuaded by the Botanical Society in Edinburgh to open a herbal shop so that the local community could benefit from herbal medicine. The first store was born Bristo Place c. 1950 Duncan Napier opened his first herbal shop on Bristo Place, Edinburgh in May 1860, which remains to this day and is now Scotland's oldest and only remaining herbal house. When Duncan Napier died at the grand old age of 91, the shop was taken over by his son and the business remained in the family for many years passing down through the generations. The last family member to carry on the practice was John Napier, a member of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists, when John died in the late 1970's the business virtually came to a stand still. A new beginning
When Medical Herbalist Dee Atkinson took over the Napiers business in 1990 she found a treasure trove of antiques and a wealth of history that had been left untouched for many years. Dee immediately started to research the traditional old recipes such as Duncan Napiers 'Lobeila Cough Syrup' and ever since has been slowly building the business back up to include four stores, herbal and complementary therapy clinics, a mail order service and an in-house manufacturing facility producing Napiers' unique traditional herbal products. Present day Stockbridge c. 2004 Today we have four shops and clinics in Scotland - two in Edinburgh and two in Glasgow. Each store combines a traditional herbal dispensary with the largest herbal health clinic in the UK offering a wide and varied selection of complementary therapies. For further information about the products and therapies available, please contact your nearest branch of Napiers. |