Oblique aerial view centred on the hospital.

Description Oblique aerial view centred on the hospital.

Date 1/5/2001

Collection RCAHMS Aerial Photography

Catalogue Number SC 755781

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of D 76974 CN

Scope and Content Aerial View, Murray Royal Hospital, Bridgend, Perth, Perth & Kinross William Burn's original hospital (centre) was built on a T-plan as a Neo-Classical palace with a long three-storeyed, south-facing front. The front consists of two spacious bedroom wings, one designated for males and the other for females, that form the two arms of the 'T'. It is dominated by a central entrance pavilion topped by an octagonal cupola that was designed in 1864 by Dr A R Urquhart, the physician superintendent of the hospital, as an observation tower. A central administration block containing 'the apartments of the superintendent and matron' as well as sitting rooms for patients and a large room for recreation forms the long body of the 'T'. Beyond the formal rectangular garden to the rear (left) of the building are two half-timbered Edwardian villas, designed in 1902 by Maclaren & Mackay, and a Scots Gothic-style chapel, designed in 1901 by Dr Urquhart, and partly built by the patients. In stark contrast to the other whinstone buildings is the severe, long white rectangular box-like structure (bottom) that was built in 1939 as a nurses' home. The hospital was founded by James Murray, a labourer who inherited a fortune in 1809 when his half-brother drowned in a storm which sank the ship carrying him home from India. It was designed so that 'the meanest patient could be well fed and clothed, and those among the higher classes who could pay for it were well lodged and cared for as they could be in a palace'. The aim was to provide a stable, homely environment in a spacious building that 'allowed the sun and air to enter at every window', provided plenty of room for exercise, and had views over the surrounding parkland. The hospital was to be 'sufficiently secure to prevent injury or escape' but 'free from the gloomy aspect of confinement'. Murray Royal Hospital, designed by the architect, William Burn (1789-1870), opened in 1827 as the Murray Royal Lunatic Asylum with accommodation for 80 patients, officials and staff. The building maximised the opportunities of its pleasant open hillside site, and was further extended by Burn in 1833. In 1848 a nearby villa was acquired and modified as accommodation for 'higher class' patients, and in 1888 new infirmary wings were added to the rear of the main building. A chapel and two new villas to accommodate patients were completed in 1902, and a new nurses' home added in 1939. Further additions in the 1960s and 1970s included a new recreation hall, a geriatric unit and a day hospital. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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