Parish of Newtyle

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: Newtyle
1834-45: Newtyle

Newtyle, a village and a parish of SW Forfarshire. The village, standing on a north-westward slope, 250 feet above sea-level, has a station on the Newtyle and Blairgowrie railway, 1 ¼ mile SSE of Alyth Junction, and 16 ¾ miles (by road 11) NW of Dundee. Founded in 1832 in connection with the projected railway, it had assigned for its site an arable field of 15 acres, belonging to Lord Wharncliffe, and was aligned on a regular plan, in building lots, on 99 years' lease. It offers a neat and cleanly appearance, and has a post office under Coupar-Angus, with money order, savings' bank, and railway telegraph departments, a branch of the Commercial Bank, gas-works, a police station (1870), a public library, a curling club, an artificial manure factory, a Free church, and the parish church. The last is a handsome Gothic edifice, erected in 1872 on the site of its predecessor at a cost of £3000. It contains 560 sittings, and has a tower 85 feet high, with a two-dial clock. A U.P. church of 1835 towards the close of 1883 was converted into the Wharncliffe Public Hall, under the management of trustees. Pop. of village (1841) 505, (1861) 619, (1871) 542,

The parish, containing also the hamlet of Newbigging, is bounded NW by Meigle in Perthshire, NE by Eassie and Glamis, SE by Auchterhouse, S by Lundie, and SW by Kettins. Its utmost length, from E to W, is 4 5/8 miles; its utmost breadth, from N to S, is 3 7/8 miles; and its area is 5194 4/5 acres, of which 2 ½ are water. The north-western part of the parish, with a mean breadth of 1 ¼ mile, forms part of the level ground of Strathmore, and sinks to less than 200 feet above sea-level. Thence the surface rises south-eastward to the Sidlaw Hills, attaining 1134 feet at Kinpurnie Hill, 870 at Hatton Hill, and 881 at Newtyle Hill. The two last flank an opening or pass through the Sidlaws, the Glack of Newtyle, which pass was always regarded in the old unsettled times as a strong natural military fastness. It now is traversed both by the Newtyle and Blairgowrie railway and by the high road from Dundee to Alyth; and it reveals at its western outlet a sudden and very grand view of Strathmore. Trap rock is plentiful, and has been quarried for road metal; a heavy grey slate in the hills was formerly used for roofing; and sandstone of excellent quality for building is quarried in several places. The soil of the higher grounds is light, sharp, and productive, mostly a mixture of sand or gravel with black earth or clay; that of the level tract within Strathmore is of similar quality, but sometimes richer, and lies on better substrata. The hills are profitable to the very summit, even the least valuable parts of them being -clothed with verdure and forming excellent sheep-walks. Since 1850 great improvements have been effected on the Belmont or Earl of Wharncliffe's estate in the way of reclaiming, planting, draining, fencing, etc. About five-eighths of the entire area are in tillage; nearly 300 acres are under wood; and the rest consists of natural pasture. The ruins of Hatton Castle and the scanty vestiges of Balcraig have both been separately noticed. A small square camp near Auchtertyre is said to have been occupied for some nights by the Marquis of Montrose's army, and has left some traces. Two spots in the NW, called Grahame's Knowe and King's Well, are said to have got their names from lying on the route of Macbeth northward from his fortress on Dunsinane. A high-lying field near Keillor, that bears the name of Chester Park, is supposed to have been the site of a Roman camp; and a tumulus, seemingly of the ancient Caledonian times, a little way to the W, has a large standing-stone marked with rude hieroglyphics. The Earl of Wharncliffe owns nine-tenths of all the parish, 1 lesser proprietor holding an annual value of £693, and 1 of £214. Newtyle is in the presbytery of Meigle and the synod of Angus and Mearns; the living is worth £200. The public school, with accommodation for 200 children, had (1883) an average attendance of 149, and a grant of £109, 7s. Valuation (1857) £5604, (1884) £9323, 8s., plus £4719 for railway. Pop. (1801) 718, (1831) 904, (1861) 1139, (1871) 931, (1881) 911.—Ord. Sur., shs. 48, 56, 1868-70.

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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