Parish of Kinnoull

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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1791-99: Kinnoull
1834-45: Kinnoull

Kinnoull, a parish of SE Perthshire, consisting of a main body and three detached sections, and having an area of 3843 ¾ acres, of which 48 are foreshore, 149½ are water, and 2357 belong to the detached sections. The main body, containing the Bridgend suburb of Perth, has an utmost length and breadth of 2¼ and 17/8 miles, and is bounded N by Scone, SE by Kinfauns, and W by the Tay, flowing 1½ mile southward along the boundary with Perth parish, and cleft in twain by Moncrieff or Friarton island. The surface sinks by the river to 30 feet above sea-level, and rises eastward thence to 729 feet on wooded Kinnoull Hill, which, elsewhere easy of access, presents on its southern or Kinfauns side a frontage of rugged basaltic cliff, not so unlike the Salisbury Craigs of Edinburgh. From Perth its summit is gained by a winding carriage-road, called Montagu's Walk after the Duke of Montagu, who was in Scotland when it was formed; and that summit commands a magnificent prospect, by Pennant entitled ` the glory of Scotland.' Near the Windy Gowl, a steep and hollow descent betwixt two tops of the hill, is a nine-times-repeating echo; and on the hill-face is the Dragon Hole, a cave where Wallace is said to have lain concealed, and where Beltane fires formerly were kindled. The base of the hill has yielded many fine agates; and a diamond is said to have gleamed from its cliffs by night, till a marksman, firing at it with a ball of chalk, was able next day to find its whereabouts-a tale that is told of a dozen other localities. One detached section, with an utmost length and breadth of 27/8 miles and 1 mile, is bounded NW and N by Scone, NE by Kilspindie, and on all other sides by Kinfauns. Its contains the mansions of Balthayock and Murrayshall, 3 miles E by S, and 3 NE of Perth; and rises north-north-westward from 190 feet to 700 near New Mains and 916 near Twomile House. A smaller section, containing Inchyra village, 1 mile SW of Glencarse station, is bounded NW, N, and NE by Kinfauns, E by St Madoes, and SW for 1¾ mile by the Tay, from which the surface rises ¾ mile inland to Pans Hill (343 feet) on the northern boundary. The third and smallest section, containing Balbeggie village, 5½ miles NE of Perth, is bounded SE by Kilspindie, and on all other sides by St Martins. It has an utmost length and breadth of 1¼ mile and 6½ furlongs, and attains a summit altitude of 389 feet. The surface, thus, of nearly all the parish consists of sides, shoulders, and summits of the south-western Sidlaws; but the Inchyra section comprises part of the western extremity of the low, flat, fertile Carse of Gowrie. Trap is the principal rock, but Old Red sandstone, including a compact and durable variety of a greyish-red colour, abounds in various parts, and has been largely quarried. The soil is of almost every variety, and ranges from strong argillaceous alluvium on the carse to poor moorish earth on parts of the hills. Rather less than one-sixth of the entire area is under wood, nearly all the rest being either arable or pastoral. Kinnoull barony, extending along the Tay's left bank opposite Perth, gave the title of Earl in 1633 to George Hay, Viscount Dupplin, who, dying next year, was buried in an aisle of the old parish church, St Constantine's, where a life-size marble statue shows him vested as Lord Chancellor of Scotland. Of Kinnoull Castle, ¼ mile to the S, some vestiges remained till the close of last century. Seven proprietors hold each an annual value of £500 and upwards, 17 of between £100 and £500, 48 of from £50 to £100, and 46 of from £20 to £50. Kinnoull is in the presbytery of Perth and synod of Perth and Stirling; the living is worth £477. The present church, built in 1826 at a cost of £4000 from designs by Burn, is a handsome Gothic edifice, with over 1000 sittings. At Balbeggie is a U.P. church (1832; 350 sittings); and 2 public schools, Balbeggie and Kinnoull, with respective accommodation for 120 and 350 children, had (1881) an average attendance of 82 and 322, and grants of £85, 10s. and £268, 2s. Valuation (1866) £6136, 11s. 10d., (l883) £7198, 5s. 6d. Pop. (1801) 1927, (183l) 2957, (1861) 3219, (1871) 3108, (1881) 3461, of whom 2727 were in Perth parliamentary burgh.—Ord. Sur., sh. 48, 1868.

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer

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