Kinnoull Hill
View east of Kinnoull Hill tower, the A90 and the River Tay in view.
Highest point
Elevation222 m (728 ft)
Coordinates56°23′23″N 3°24′00″W / 56.3896°N 3.3999°W / 56.3896; -3.3999
Geography
LocationPerth, Scotland

Kinnoull Hill is a hill located partly in Perth and partly in Kinfauns, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It shares its name with the nearby Kinnoull parish.

Summit

In view from the 222 metres (728 ft)-high south-facing summit is the Friarton Bridge, a stretch of the Tay Coast railway line and the Sidlaw Hills.[1] Further to the south, Moncreiffe Hill can be seen.

[The view] commands the lower course of the Tay and its estuary, widening out between the level expanse of the Carse of Gowrie, thickly sprinkled with farms and mansions, and the opposing shores of Fife, onward to where it is closed by the smoke of Dundee and the line of the Tay Bridge.

— Francis Watt, 1889[2]

Near the summit, which is divided into two points, is the Windy Gowle, a hollow which (historically, at least) offered "an echo of nine distinct reverberations".[3]

William Wallace is said to have concealed himself in a cave on the hill, to avoid detection by his pursuers.[3]

Kinnoull Tower

On an outcrop a few hundred yards to the east of, and several feet below, the summit is Kinnoull Tower, a folly built in the eighteenth century, by Thomas Hay, 9th Earl of Kinnoull, to resemble castles along the Rhine he had admired in Germany during his Grand Tour of Europe. Kinnoull saw a similarity between the mountainous landscape along the Rhine and the rocky outcrops on his estate near Perth. On his return, to achieve a similar effect, he built a modest castle on the highest point of Kinnoull Hill, with its tower overlooking the River Tay. The tower is a Category B listed structure.[4]

Another of Hay's lasting legacies is the Perth Bridge over the Tay, which he helped fund.

Jane Austen visited Kinnoull Hill in September 1789. She described Kinnoull Tower in "Lesley Castle", one of two Scottish stories in her Juvenilia, as:

An old and Mouldering Castle, which is situated two miles from Perth on a bold projecting Rock, and commands an extensive view of the Town and its delightful Environs.[5]

Today the tower is more easily accessible, via a winding footpath through the woodland park.

Awards

In 2009 and again in 2010, Kinnoull Hill was awarded Green Flag status.[6] In 2010, Kinnoull Hill Woodland Park also came runner up in Scotland's Finest Woods Awards.[7]

Management

Kinnoull Hill Woodland Park is managed in a partnership between Forestry and Land Scotland[8] and Perth & Kinross Council.[9] A Users Group has also been established for many years and supports the management of the Woodland Park through a Management Committee.[10] Branklyn Garden was built by Dorothy Renton and her husband in the western foothills of Kinnoull Hill. The house and garden are owned by the National Trust for Scotland.[11]

In 1793, wild roses which were discovered on the hill were transplanted into an extensive nearby nursery owned by James Dickson and James Brown.[12] At its peak, the nursery employed around eighty people.[3]

Sculptures

Woodland sculptures created by Pete Bowsher have been erected in the Woodland Park. There are fourteen sculptures reflecting the animals and plants of the park.

Suicide location

The hill's summit has become well-known as a location for suicides.[13] In 2015 it became "highlighted as a national area of concern for completed suicides".[14] That same year, 20-year-old Forfar Athletic player Jack Syme committed suicide at Kinnoull Hill.[15]

In early January 2002, Daniela Smith, a 31-year-old mother-of-two, pushed her infant children off the hill's summit while they were strapped in their pushchair, before throwing herself off. Their bodies were discovered on a ledge about 100 feet (30 m) below the summit on 15 January.[16]

The bodies of two men were found below the hill in 2014.[13]

Namesakes

The Kinnoull Campus of De La Salle College in Melbourne, Australia, is named after this hill. The property previously on the site of the College, built in 1856 by Sir James Palmer, was renamed Kinnoull by Sir Alexander Stewart (1874-1956) (former chairman of BHP), who was born near Kinnoull Hill.

Abernyte Brewery released a beer called Kinnoull Red, named for the hill.[17]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Graphic and Accurate Description of Every Place in Scotland, Francis Hindes Groome (1901)
  2. ↑ The Rivers of Great Britain, Descriptive, Historical, Pictorial, Francis Watt (1889)
  3. 1 2 3 Lewis, Samuel (1851). A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, Comprising the Several Countries, Islands, Cities, Burgh and Market Towns, Parishes, and Principal Villages, with Historical and Statistical Descriptions: Embellished with a Large Map of Scotland, and Engravings of the Seals and Arms of the Different Burghs and Universities. p. 89.
  4. ↑ Kinnoull Tower, Kinnoull Hill – Historic Environment Scotland
  5. ↑ Jane Austen had a Life! Arcana Press. Sydney. 2020.
  6. ↑ "Parks awarded green flag status". BBC News. 23 July 2009.
  7. ↑ "Scotland's Finest Woods Awards".
  8. ↑ "Kinnoull Hill". Forestry Commission Scotland.
  9. ↑ "Kinnoull Hill Woodland Park, Perth". Perth & Kinross Council.
  10. ↑ "Woodland Park Users Group". Kinnoull Hill Woodland Park.
  11. ↑ Scotland, National Trust for (2 April 2021). "Branklyn Garden". National Trust for Scotland. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  12. ↑ Bonn, Melanie (19 October 2021). "Book explores legacy of Perth plant nursery". Daily Record. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  13. 1 2 Mystery over discovery of two bodies at Perth beauty spot The Herald 26 May 2014
  14. ↑ COMMUNITY PLANNING COMMUNITY SAFETY and ENVIRONMENT GROUP - Perth and Kinross Community Planning Partnership
  15. ↑ It was just a complete shock… he had so much to live for says mum of tragic Tayside footballer Jack Syme Evening Telegraph 10 June 2015
  16. ↑ Suicide mother throws babies off cliff The Daily Telegraph
  17. ↑ Our Brews – Abernyte Brewery
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