Oblique aerial view of the hospital, taken from the SE.
D 76970 CN
Description Oblique aerial view of the hospital, taken from the SE.
Date 1/5/2001
Collection RCAHMS Aerial Photography
Catalogue Number D 76970 CN
Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images
Copies SC 755776, SC 1690374
Scope and Content Aerial View of Murthly Hospital, Perth & Kinross (closed 1984 and now demolished) This impressive hospital, set in extensive grounds, was designed on an H-plan. At its centre was a two-storeyed, Italianate-style administration block, designed by the architect, David Smart (1824-1914), and topped by a large timber cupola that served as an observation tower. The two-storeyed pavilion wings, designed by Edward & Robertson, formed the ward accommodation for male patients on one side and females patients on the other. The two large villas (centre left and bottom), with two storeys and attics, were built in 1894 as an introduction to the new colony system of accommodation. After the closure of the hospital in 1984, part of the hospital grounds was developed for modern housing. By the 1890s, villas were considered the best form of accommodation for lunatic patients, providing a self-contained unit of kitchen, dining rooms, bathrooms and sleeping accommodation. At Murthly, the villas were built in 1894 in an attempt to establish a colony or village based the system first adopted in Germany at Alt Scherbitz, near Leipzig, in the 1870s. This system allowed patients the freedom to live in a homely and comfortable atmosphere, and go to work, attend church, shop and visit the theatre just as they would in any village community. The two villas were named 'Pinel' and 'Tuke' after the pioneers in psychiatry, Philippe Pinel (1745-1826) and William Tuke (1732-1822). Murthly Hospital, designed by the Dundee firm of architects, Charles Edward & Thomas S Robertson, opened in 1864 as the Perth District Asylum for pauper lunatics. It was the second District Asylum to open in Scotland, and in 1894 became one of the first to build villas within its grounds as an early attempt to provide accommodation for patients based on the colony or village system. The hospital closed in 1984 and is now demolished. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.
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