Murthly House, also known as New Murthly Castle, was a substantial mansion in

Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross ( sco, Pairth an Kinross; gd, Peairt agus Ceann Rois) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland and a Lieutenancy Area. It borders onto the Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, Fife, Highland and S ...

, Scotland, designed by James Gillespie Graham and demolished in 1949–50. It was said to be unrivalled in its beauty.

History

The house was commissioned by Sir John Archibald Drummond Stuart, 6th Baronet, who selected the eminent Edinburgh architect James Gillespie Graham for the task.Scotland's Lost Houses by Ian Gow The huge size of the house was said to arise from a rivalry with

John Campbell, 1st Marquess of Breadalbane Lieutenant-General John Campbell, 1st Marquess of Breadalbane FRS (30 March 1762 – 29 March 1834), known as John Campbell until 1782 and as The Earl of Breadalbane and Holland between 1782 and 1831, was a Scottish soldier and landowner. Bac ...

, who had recently built the huge Taymouth Castle. The house was intended to replace the nearby

Murthly Castle Murthly (Scottish Gaelic ''Mòrthlaich'') is a village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It lies on the south bank of the River Tay, southeast of Dunkeld, and north of Perth. Perth District Asylum, later known as Murthly Hospital, was opened in ...

, which ironically not only continued to be used, but still exists. Graham usually worked in a controlled Georgian style, such as his Moray Estate scheme, but chose a highly unconventional Jacobean style, with detailing copied from George Heriot's School in Edinburgh, and was built in a highly ornate and symmetrical fashion, as might have been found in a 17th century Scottish palace. The decorative elements (crests and "buckle quoins") were made in the studio of John Steell. The project began in 1827 as soon as Drummond-Stewart became baronet (on the death of his father), but as the house was never completed it was never wholly occupied, but from 1831 it had a roof and was used for social events such as balls. Other than hosting the marriage of the laird to Jane daughter of the

Earl of Moray The title Earl of Moray, Mormaer of Moray or King of Moray was originally held by the rulers of the Province of Moray, which existed from the 10th century with varying degrees of independence from the Kingdom of Alba to the south. Until 1130 th ...

, when it was perhaps fully occupied, it was never fully used again.Lost Houses of Scotland by Marcus Binney and John Harris Augustus Pugin, a great admirer of Gillespie Graham, admitted to have been hugely influenced by the design of the house. Pugin became acquainted with Gillespie Graham and the project in 1829 and by 1831 was also involved creating "carvings" for the interior, including a drawing room in the style of Louis XIV (later moved to

). John, the original laird died childless in Paris on 20 May 1838 and the huge and still unfinished project passed to his younger brother William Drummond Stewart, who had no interest in completing the project, and also inherited huge debts due to the project. More at home in America, where he had been for many years, he introduced American bison to the estate, before returning to America in 1842 once the debts were repaid. Some of the interiors were transferred to

around the time of a fire in 1845. The house was included in the huge survey of stately homes in Scotland by

MacGibbon & Ross David MacGibbon (2 April 1831 – 20 February 1902) and Thomas Ross (10 November 1839 – 4 December 1930) were Scottish architects. Their practice, MacGibbon and Ross was established in 1872 and continued until 1914. They are best known today fo ...

in 1892. The final laird was D. Stewart Fotheringham who saw the building as a burden and foolish decision of his ancestors. Demolition was proposed in October 1948 and began in 1949. The 200,000 tons of stone realised were partly used to build workers' housing (35 houses) at the nearby Pitlochry Hydro-electric scheme, plus a further 29 houses at Tarbet, but the rubble was largely as ballast for the dam associated with the scheme. Some of the larger blocks were used to repair the Dunkeld Bridge over the

River Tay The River Tay ( gd, Tatha, ; probably from the conjectured Brythonic ''Tausa'', possibly meaning 'silent one' or 'strong one' or, simply, 'flowing') is the longest river in Scotland and the seventh-longest in Great Britain. The Tay originates ...

in Dunkeld. Demolition was undertaken by the

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 ...

contractor, Charles Brand, who made a full photographic record of the progress. The

pitch pine ''Pinus rigida'', the pitch pine, is a small-to-medium-sized pine. It is native to eastern North America, primarily from central Maine south to Georgia and as far west as Kentucky. It is found in environments which other species would find unsuit ...

roof beams were one of the few elements to be salvaged. Once the roof was removed (to extract organic material) the walls were destroyed by controlled explosions, overseen by David Faulds, an explosives expert from ICI's explosives section based at Ardeer who had been previously involved in major projects such as the destruction of The Crystal Palace. The final element removed was the huge central tower. A collection of architectural drawings from the house were donated to the Victoria and Albert Museum and exhibited in May 1981.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murthly House Castles in Scotland Demolished buildings and structures in Scotland