Bridge of Earn ( gd, Drochaid Èireann) is a small town in
Perthshire
Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
.
Often referred to simply as 'The Brig' (
Scots for 'bridge'). The village grew up on the south bank of an important crossing of the
River Earn
, name_etymology =
, image = River Earn at Forteviot.jpg
, image_size = 250px
, image_caption = The River Earn viewed from Forteviot bridge.
, map =
, map_size =
, map_caption ...
, whose sandstone bridge existed from at least the early 14th century, when it is known to have been repaired by order of King
Robert I of Scotland
Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventuall ...
(1306–1329) (site: NO 133 185). Substantial remains of the medieval bridge (rendered redundant by a replacement, still in use, slightly upstream in 1821-22) survived into the 1970s, when almost all the stonework was demolished, for (allegedly) being in a dangerously ruinous condition. This ancient bridge was a major landmark on the road between
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
( south) and
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
( north) for several centuries. The village's oldest houses are to be found lining the road (Back Street/Old Edinburgh Road) leading south from the site of the demolished bridge. Among them are some with 18th-century
datestone
A datestone is typically an embedded stone with the date of engraving and other information carved into it. They are not considered a very reliable source for dating a house, as instances of old houses being destroyed and rebuilt (with the old da ...
s.
The ruined Old Bridge of Earn (and part of the village) are featured in the 1857 painting ''
Sir Isumbras at the Ford
''A Dream of the Past: Sir Isumbras at the Ford'' (1857) is a painting by John Everett Millais depicting a medieval knight helping two young peasant children over a swollen river. The children are carrying heavy burdens of wood for winter fuel. ...
'' by
John Everett Millais
Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest ...
(1829–1896), who often stayed at nearby Perth. There is also an early 19th-century lithograph showing the structure as complete in ''Sketches of Scenery in Perthshire'' by
David Octavius Hill
David Octavius Hill (20 May 1802 – 17 May 1870) was a Scottish painter, photographer and arts activist. He formed Hill & Adamson studio with the engineer and photographer Robert Adamson between 1843 and 1847 to pioneer many aspects of pho ...
(1802–1870).
History
Bridge of Earn is the main village in the parish of Dunbarney (sometimes Dumbarney in older documents). The place-name is of uncertain (though probably
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
) origin, and contains the element ''dun'', 'fort'. The ancient ecclesiastical focus of the parish was not within the present village, but about 1.5 km to the west at NO 113 190. The site of the medieval parish church is marked by a walled burial ground a little south of the River Earn. There are no visible remains of the medieval building (or of the medieval village that is said to have adjoined it to the south), but the churchyard contains an interesting collection of 18th-century headstones carved with symbols of mortality, trades etc. In 1689 the church was rebuilt much nearer to the Bridge, by then the main focus of settlement in the parish, at NO 130 185. In 1787 the church was rebuilt yet again, using the same stones, on its present site just to the east of the second, which also became a graveyard. The present congregation is a large and flourishing one, and a modern hall and kitchen has been built adjoining the church in recent years. The parish has recently been merged with
Forgandenny
Forgandenny (Scottish Gaelic ''Forgrann Eithne'', 'Over-Bog of Eithne' n ancient female Gaelic name is a small village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, located four miles south of Perth, Scotland, Perth. Perth is a 20-minute bus ride from Forg ...
, its neighbouring village to the west.
The remains of two medieval chapels survive in Dunbarney parish, in the grounds of
Moncrieffe Estate (originally a private chapel of the Moncrieffe family, now their burial vault), and at Ecclesiamagirdle (pronounced 'Exmagirdle'), a site of probably early Christian origin adjoining Ecclesiamagirdle House (early 17th century) on the Glenearn Estate below the
Ochil Hills
The Ochil Hills (; gd, Monadh Ochail is a range of hills in Scotland north of the Forth valley bordered by the towns of Stirling, Alloa, Kinross, Auchterarder and Perth. The only major roads crossing the hills pass through Glen Devon/ Glen ...
. It is sometimes suggested that the latter was a parish church in its own right up to the
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
(1559), though there seems to be no conclusive documentation on this point. The small surviving late medieval building (roofless but largely complete) might seem too modest in size to have served as a parish church. The surrounding graveyard contains several well-preserved gravestones from the 17th and 18th centuries, which are interesting examples of '
folk art
Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative art, decorative. The makers of folk art a ...
'.
The parish of Dunbarney was very much part of the traditional agricultural economy of lowland Scotland up to the late 19th century, with most of the inhabitants engaged in agriculture or associated rural crafts. The traffic on the main north road from Edinburgh also gave a certain scope for the inn and hotel trade to accommodate travellers. From the late 18th century the spa (now closed) at
Pitkeathly Wells
Pitkeathly Wells (spelling variants: ''Pitcaithly'', ''Pitceathly'', ''Pitkethley'', etc.) is a hamlet in the Perth and Kinross area of Scotland, famed for its mineral water. The water was recommended for health during the 19th century, and was ...
became an important economic focus, with large numbers of visitors resorting to the parish to 'take the waters'. During the 19th century the coming of the railway to the village and the building of a station (closed in the 1960s) provided a further source of local employment, with much local produce being moved out by rail.
Bridge of Earn has had two railway stations, the second and most recent having closed on 15 June 1964. Bridge of Earn's original station had been located a few hundred yards further east when the existing line first opened on 18 July 1848. This station was closed on 1 February 1892, not as a consequence of economic cutbacks, but rather as a consequence of expansion. The Bridge of Earn to Mawcarse line, which followed closely to the route of the current M90 motorway southwards towards Balmanno Hill, before cutting right through the heart of it via the two tunnels which still exist today, opened to passengers on 1 June 1890. It made logistical sense to move Bridge of Earn's station to a better position to accommodate this new junction and so the original station was replaced.
This section of line, between Bridge of Earn and Cowdenbeath, was closed in January 1970, following the Labour government instructions and was not a Beeching recommendation.
Salmon fishing on the Earn (a major tributary of the
Tay
Tay may refer to:
People and languages
* Tay (name), including lists of people with the given name, surname and nickname
* Tay people, an ethnic group of Vietnam
** Tày language
*Atayal language, an Austronesian language spoken in Taiwan (ISO 639 ...
), was also long an important source of income, though since the late 20th century commercial net fishing on both rivers has died out (sport fishing continues in season).
Since the Second World War, Bridge of Earn has increasingly become a dormitory town for families whose wage-earners commute to Perth,
Dundee
Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
, Edinburgh or other large towns, and this has led to a great expansion in the numbers of homes being built, and a corresponding increase in the number of local shops and services.
Expansion
Bridge of Earn, and the formerly neighbouring but now conjoined village of Kintillo, have expanded out of all recognition since the 1960s, with hundreds of new homes being built. An entire new settlement called Oudenarde—named for the Flemish town of
Oudenaarde
Oudenaarde (; french: Audenarde ; in English sometimes ''Oudenarde'') is a Belgian municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Oudenaarde proper and the towns of Bevere, Edelare, Eine, Ename, Heu ...
—is currently being built on the site of the large former hospital (NO 142 181) to the east of the old village. The financial crisis of 2012 caused a temporary halt in construction, though the project later resumed, with the approach roads under construction as of June 2015.
Bridge of Earn's proximity to Perth, and convenient transport links to Edinburgh and Dundee, make it a desirable 'dormitory' town, though its second and most recent railway station was closed on 15 June 1964, following the
Beeching reforms of the 1960s.
Sport
The local amateur football team Bridge of Earn AFC (who compete in the Kingdom of Fife AFA Championship) play their home fixtures at Victory Park.
The local Bridge of Earn Bowling Club on Main Street is the one of the oldest (founded in 1859 on land leased to the village by Sir Thomas Moncreiffe) and largest sports clubs in the village.
Facilities
Apart from the parish church and the primary school, the facilities in the village include three parks (Victory, Balmanno & Kintillo), a bowling club, tennis courts, Moncreiffe nursing home, three pubs (Last Cast, Cypress Inn & Village Inn), two restaurants (Village Inn & The Roost), a dentist, a GP surgery, Used car dealership/ garage (Cargill's Auto Repairs) and several shops including
The Co-operative Food
Co-op Food is a brand used for the food retail business of The Co-operative Group in the United Kingdom.
Prior to reintroducing the brand in 2016, the group used " The Co-operative" branding, which is still used by a number of consumers' co- ...
supermarket, a newsagents (S&V Newsagents), a bakery (Tower Bakery), two hairdressers (Tanya Black's & Little Hair Company), beauty salon (The Retreat), a Chinese takeaway (Wok In) and a small family run Indian restaurant and takeaway. (The Spice Garden above the Village Inn).
There are also self-catering holiday lodges in Bridge of Earn by the banks of the River Earn (River Edge Lodges).
The spa at the neighbouring hamlet ( west) of
Pitkeathly Wells
Pitkeathly Wells (spelling variants: ''Pitcaithly'', ''Pitceathly'', ''Pitkethley'', etc.) is a hamlet in the Perth and Kinross area of Scotland, famed for its mineral water. The water was recommended for health during the 19th century, and was ...
was formerly well-known and popular as a health and social resort, but was closed in 1949.
Education
The village school is Dunbarney Primary School (run by
Perth and Kinross Council
Perth and Kinross Council ( gd, Comhairle Pheairt is Cheann Rois) is the local government council for the Perth and Kinross council area of Scotland. It employs around 6,000 people.
The council was created in 1996, under the ''Local Government ...
), which was extended and modernised in 1996.
Dunbarney Primary School is a feeder school for Secondary
Bertha Park High School in the north of
Perth, Scotland
Perth (Scottish English, locally: ; gd, Peairt ) is a city in central Scotland, on the banks of the River Tay. It is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire. It had a population o ...
.
The Carloways, an upcoming band were classmates at Dunbarney Primary School. The band have toured Scotland for over 4 years and have played as
Alex Salmond
Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond (; born 31 December 1954) is a Scottish politician and economist who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure on the Scottish nationalist movement, he has served as leader ...
's house band on his Edinburgh fringe tour and Scottish nationwide tour. The Carloways have played at Belladrum tartan heart festival for the past 4 years and released their well-received debut EP in July 2018. The band intend to record their debut album in 2018 or early 2019.
On the south west outskirts of the village, there is the independent
Kilgraston School
Kilgraston School is an independent boarding and day school offering primary school education for boys and girls aged from five to twelve years old and girls only from five to eighteen. Boarding is available for girls only aged eight years old an ...
, which is centred upon a mansion house built around 1800 by Francis Grant of Glenlochy.
Estates
Local estates that surround the village (none of whose houses are open to the public) include
Moncreiffe House
Moncreiffe House is a country house near Bridge of Earn in Perthshire in Scotland. It is a category B listed building.
History
The original house was designed by Sir William Bruce in the classical style for Sir Thomas Moncreiffe, 1st Baronet a ...
(the seat of the ancient family of Moncrieffe), Glenearn House (with early 17th century Ecclesiamagirdle House in its grounds), and Dunbarney House.
Hospital
Bridge of Earn Hospital was established as an
Emergency Hospital Service
During World War II, a centralised state-run Emergency Hospital Service was established in the United Kingdom.Paul Addison, "The Road to 1945", Jonathan Cape, 1975, pp. 178–81. It employed doctors and nurses to care for those injured by enemy act ...
facility in 1939. It finally closed in 1992.
See also
*
List of places in Perth and Kinross
''Map of places in Perth and Kinross compiled from this list''
This list of places in Perth and Kinross is a list of links for any town, village, hamlet, castle, golf course, historic house, nature reserve, reservoir, river, canal, and other place ...
References
;Citations
;Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Kilgraston & Moncrieffe Curling Club
{{Authority control