Bridge of Earn


Perth and Kinross

Bridge of Earn
©2022 Gazetteer for Scotland

Bridge of Earn

A large village of Perth and Kinross, Bridge of Earn sits by the River Earn, 4 miles (6 km) south of Perth. Today, it is a dormitory village for Perth and benefits from a primary school, a number of shops, parish church, a GP surgery, a bowling club, tennis courts and three parks (Victory, Balmanno and Kintillo).

The village developed in association an important crossing point of the Earn, on the road from Queensferry to Perth. Tolls were once collected on a stone bridge which existed from the 14th C. The present bridge was built 1819-22 to the design of John Rennie (1761 - 1821). The site of a Mediaeval church lies immediately to the south of the river. The growth of the village in the 19th Century was linked to the popularity of nearby Pitkeathly Wells which ceased to function as a spa in 1949. Bridge of Earn Hospital was built to the east of the village (now beyond the M90 motorway) during World War II but closed in 1993. Once a railway junction, Bridge of Earn station closed in 1964 and the line to Milnathort closed in 1970. A single track line still passes through Bridge of Earn connecting Perth with Ladybank, while the M90 motorway was built immediately to the east in 1977. The village has expanded greatly from the 1980s through the early 21st C. On the edge of the village is the independent Kilgraston School, occupying a mansion built c. 1800 by Francis Grant of Glenlochy (1746 - 1818), whose sons were the portrait painter Sir Francis Grant (1803-78) and General Sir James Hope Grant (1808-75).

The village and its ancient bridge formed the backdrop of the painting Sir Isumbras at the Ford by Sir John Everett Millais (1829-96).


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