Murthly (

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

''Mòrthlaich'') is a village in

Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. It is bordered by Highland (council area), Highland and Aberdeenshire to the north, Angus, Scotland, Angus, Dundee, and F ...

, Scotland. It lies on the south bank of the

River Tay The River Tay (, ; probably from the conjectured Brythonic ''Tausa'', possibly meaning 'silent one' or 'strong one' or, simply, 'flowing' David Ross, ''Scottish Place-names'', p. 209. Birlinn Ltd., Edinburgh, 2001.) is the longest river in Sc ...

, southeast of

Dunkeld Dunkeld (, , from , "fort of the Caledonians") is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The location of a historic cathedral, it lies on the north bank of the River Tay, opposite Birnam. Dunkeld lies close to the geological Highland Boundar ...

, and north of

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. Perth District Asylum, later known as

Murthly Hospital Murthly Hospital, previously known as Murthly Asylum, Perth District Asylum and Perth and District Mental Hospital was a psychiatric hospital in Murthly, Perthshire which operated for 120 years. History The facility opened as Perthshire's distri ...

, was opened in the village on 1 April 1864 for 'pauper lunatics'. It was the second district asylum to be built in Scotland under the terms of the Lunacy (Scotland) Act 1857. It closed in 1984 and was later demolished. The village has a

stone circle A stone circle is a ring of megalithic standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially Stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being ...

, in the former grounds of the hospital. The village formerly had a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

on the

Perth and Dunkeld Railway The Perth and Dunkeld Railway was a Scottish railway company. It was built from a junction with the Scottish Midland Junction Railway at Stanley, north of Perth, to a terminus at Birnam, on the south bank of the River Tay opposite Dunkeld. It ...

, which closed in 1965.

History

Around 1770, the

Hermitage Bridge The Hermitage Bridge () is a bridge across the Winter Canal along Palace Embankment in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The bridge constitutes part of the Hermitage Museum, Hermitage and Winter Palace ensemble. Location The bridge is between the Her ...

at the nearby Hermitage was built by order of

John Murray, 3rd Duke of Atholl John Murray, 3rd Duke of Atholl, Order of the Thistle, KT, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, PC (6 May 1729 – 5 November 1774), known as John Murray until 1764, was a Scottish peer and Tory (political faction), Tory politician. Backgrou ...

, presumably to gain access across to some lands leased from Sir John Stewart of Murthly, as well as assisting with the views of the Black Linn and its falls. It has since become a major landscape feature and has been the subject of several paintings and sketches, including from

George Washington Wilson George Washington Wilson (7 February 1823 – 9 March 1893) was a pioneering Scottish photographer. In 1849, he began a career as a portrait miniaturist, switching to portrait photography in 1852. He received a contract to photograph the Royal ...

's visit around 1859.George Washington Wilson (1823–93), The Hermitage Bridge, River Braan c. 1859
–

Royal Collection Trust The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King Charles III and overseen by the ...

They are also famous for their lovely spirits and tractor repair service beside the Nisa shop.

Murthly Castle

Dating from the 15th century, Murthly Castle is west of the village centre. An ambitious 19th-century replacement castle, Murthly House, was commissioned by Sir John Drummond Stewart, 6th baronet in 1827, with

James Gillespie Graham James Gillespie Graham (11 June 1776 – 21 March 1855) was a Scottish architect, prominent in the early 19th century. Much of his work was Scottish baronial in style. A prominent example is Ayton Castle. He also worked in the Gothic Revival ...

as its architect. It was, however, never finished and was demolished in 1949, never having been wholly occupied. Within the castle grounds is the Chapel of St Anthony the Eremite, a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

designed by James Gillespie Graham and A. W. N. Pugin in 1846, attached to an earlier 16th-century chapel. Carving in the castle and the chapel was done by Patric Park, then aged only 17.Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1881, Gunnis

References

External links

Murthly Castle
{{authority control Villages in Perth and Kinross