Milnathort is a small town in the parish of

Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitari ...

in the county of

Kinross-shire The County of Kinross or Kinross-shire is a historic county and registration county in eastern Scotland, administered as part of Perth and Kinross since 1930. Surrounding its largest settlement and county town of Kinross, the county borders Per ...

, Scotland and since 1996, the local council area of Perth and Kinross. The smaller neighbour of nearby

Kinross Kinross (, gd, Ceann Rois) is a burgh in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, around south of Perth and around northwest of Edinburgh. It is the traditional county town of the historic county of Kinross-shire. History Kinross's origins are conn ...

, Milnathort has a population of around 2,000 people. It is situated amidst countryside at the foot of 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/ Gl ...

, and near the north shore of Loch Leven. From 1977 it became more easily accessible due to the development of the

M90 motorway The M90 is a motorway in Scotland. It runs from Junction 1A of the M9 motorway, south of the Queensferry Crossing, to Perth. It is the northernmost motorway in the United Kingdom. The northern point goes to the western suburbs of Perth at ...

. The name comes from the Gaelic ''maol coirthe'' meaning "bare hill of the standing stones".

Amenities

Milnathort's amenities are typical of a small Scottish town with a nine-hole golf course, a park, countryside bike path, primary school, a range of pubs, cafés and a shop selling ice cream. Milnathort Town Hall was completed in 1855.

Church

The main church in Milnathort was built as a Secessionist Church in the north of the town and known as the Orwell Church which was built as a chapel in 1741 by the Old Light Burghers and rebuilt in 1821. It amalgamated briefly with the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...

in 1839 before transferring to the Free Church of Scotland in 1843. The manse was erected by the Free church in 1850 to house Rev James Thornton (1791-1874). The most notable minister was

Walter Chalmers Smith Walter Chalmers Smith (5 December 1824 – 19 September 1908), was a hymnist, author, poet and minister of the Free Church of Scotland, chiefly remembered for his hymn "Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise". In 1893 he served as Moderator of the ...

Schools

The only school is Milnathort Primary School. The high school is Loch Leven Community Campus, just outside the town.

Notable residents

* John Calder, publisher *Prof David Hepburn FRSE,

anatomist Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...

, President of the

Anatomical Society The Anatomical Society (AS), previously known as the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland or ASGBI was founded in London in 1887 to "promote, develop and advance research and education in all aspects of anatomical science". The society o ...

1916–1918. *

Laura Muir Laura Muir (born 9 May 1993) is a Scottish middle- and long-distance runner. She is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medallist in the 1500 metres, having previously finished seventh in the event at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Muir won the bronze meda ...

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1 ...

* Lucinda Russell,

2017 Grand National The 2017 Grand National (officially known as the 2017 Randox Health Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 170th official running of the Grand National horse race at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England. The showpiece steeplechas ...

winning horse trainer *

, Free Church minister and poet

References

External links

*
Milnathort Primary School
Villages in Perth and Kinross {{PerthKinross-geo-stub