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A vision of Britain from 1801 to now.
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A vision of Britain through time
A vision of Britain from 1801 to now.
Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions.
Murroes, a parish of S Forfarshire, containing two small hamlets-Kellas or Hole of Murroes, 3¼ miles N of Broughty Ferry and 5 NE of the post-town Dundee; and Burnside of Duntrune (originally and more accurately Burnside of Easter Powrie), 4½ miles NE of Dundee.
The parish is bounded N by Inverarity, NE by Monikie, E by Monifieth, S by Monifieth, Dundee, and Mains, and W by Mains and Tealing. Almost surrounding the detached or Duntrune section of Dundee parish, it has a very irregular outline, with an extreme length from N to S of 33/8 miles, an extreme breadth of 2¼ miles, and an area of 5304½ acres, of which 7 are water. The surface has almost everywhere an undulating character, sinking in the S to a little less than 200 feet above sea-level, and rising north-westward to 378 near Barns of Wedderburn, northward to 443 near Kerryston Bank, 479 near Braeside, and 800 at the meeting-point with Monikie and Inverarity. t mostly presents a pleasant and highly cultivated appearance, and is drained by two streamlets, Sweet or Murroes Burn and Fithie Burn, which fall into Dichty Water. The predominant rocks are trap and sandstone; and the soil is a black loam, partly deep and fertile, partly light and less productive, and incumbent variously on rock, gravel, and clay. About 218 acres are under wood; 280 are uncultivated; and the rest of the land is in tillage. The principal antiquities are remains of Ballumbie, Powrie, and Wedderburn Castles; and the site is shown of Ballumbie chapel and graveyard, discontinued prior to 1590. The old mansion-houses of Gagie (1614) and Muirhouse still stand, with crow-stepped gables, massive walls and staircases, etc. Gagie is now an ordinary dwelling-house; and the Muirhouse, close to the church, from which the parish derives its name, is occupied as a farm-grieve's residence. Catherine Douglas, whose arm was crushed in a vain attempt to bar the door against James I. 's murderers at Perth (1436), is said to have been espoused to the heir-apparent of the Lovels of Ballumbie. Robert Edward, author of an elegant Latin account of Forfarshire (1678), was Episcopal minister of Murroes in the reign of Charles II. In 1589-90 the Rev. Henry Duncan removed from Ballumbie to Murroes, retaining Ballumbie in charge. This seems to indicate that there were originally two parishes-Ballumbie and Murroes-which would partly account for the very irregular shape of the parish. The only mansion is Ballumbie; but the landed property is divided among five-the proprietors of Powrie, Wedderburn, Gagie, Ballumbie, and- Westhall. Murroes is in the presbytery of Dundee and the synod of Angus and Mearns; the living is worth £233. The parish church, built in 1848 over the vault of the Fothringham family, is a neat edifice in the Gothic style, with a bell turret, several stained-glass windows, and 370 sittings. The public school, with accommodation for 150 children, had (1883) an average attendance of 103, and a grant of £103, 2s. Valuation (1857) £7143, (1884) £10, 791, 7s., plus £643 for railway. Pop. (1801) 591, (1831) 657, (1861) 763, (1871) 751, (1881) 749.—Ord. Sur., sh. 49, 1865.
(F.H. Groome, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4); © 2004 Gazetteer for Scotland)
| Linked entities: | |
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| Feature Description: | "a parish" (ADL Feature Type: "countries, 4th order divisions") |
| Administrative units: | Murroes ScoP Angus ScoCnty |
| Place: | Murroes |
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