Murthly
| |
|---|---|
 Murthly Garage in the centre of Murthly | |
  Murthly Location withinPerth and Kinross | |
| Population | 590 (2022)[1] |
| Council area | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | PERTH |
| Postcode district | PH14 |
| Dialling code | 01738 |
| UK Parliament | |
| Scottish Parliament | |
| 56°31′49″N3°27′50″W / 56.53028°N 3.46389°W /56.53028; -3.46389 | |
Murthly (Scottish GaelicMòrthlaich) is a village inPerth and Kinross, Scotland. It lies on the south bank of theRiver Tay, 5 miles (8 kilometres) southeast ofDunkeld, and9+1⁄2 miles (15 kilometres) north ofPerth. Perth District Asylum, later known asMurthly Hospital, 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 theLunacy (Scotland) Act 1857. It closed in 1984 and was later demolished.[2][3] The village has astone circle, in the former grounds of the hospital.[4] The village formerly had arailway station on thePerth and Dunkeld Railway, which closed in 1965.
Around 1770, theHermitage Bridge at the nearbyHermitage was built by order ofJohn Murray, 3rd Duke of Atholl, 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 fromGeorge Washington Wilson's visit around 1859.[5]
Dating from the 15th century, Murthly Castle(56°32′30″N3°30′41″W / 56.5416°N 3.5113°W /56.5416; -3.5113) is1+3⁄4 miles (3 kilometres) west of the village centre. An ambitious 19th-century replacement castle,Murthly House, was commissioned bySir John Drummond Stewart, 6th baronet in 1827, withJames Gillespie Graham as its architect. It was, however, never finished and was demolished in 1949, never having been wholly occupied.[6][7] Within the castle grounds is the Chapel of St Anthony the Eremite, aCatholicchapel designed by James Gillespie Graham andA. W. N. Pugin in 1846, attached to an earlier 16th-century chapel.[8] Carving in the castle and the chapel was done byPatric Park, then aged only 17.[9]
