Kinnoull Hill facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Kinnoull Hill |
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View east of Kinnoull Hill tower, the A90 and the River Tay in view.
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| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 222 m (728 ft) |
| Geography | |
| Location | Perth, Perth and Kinross, Scotland |
Kinnoull Hill is a hill located in Perth, Scotland.
Description
On an outcrop a few hundred yards to the east of — but visible from — the 222 metres (728 ft)-high south-facing 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 Tay. Another of his lasting legacies is the Perth Bridge over the River Tay, which he helped fund. Also in view is the Friarton Bridge, and a stretch of the Tay Coast railway line. Further to the south, Moncreiffe Hill can be seen.
The 9th Earl was well known in political and literary circles. He sat in the House of Commons for Cambridge from 1741 until 1758.
Jane Austen described Kinnoull Tower in Lesley Castle, the story she wrote in 1790, a year after she stayed there with D'Arcy Wentworth during their ramble through Scotland :
I continue secluded from Mankind in our 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... You can form no idea sufficiently hideous, of its dungeon like form. It is actually perched on a Rock to appearance so totally inaccessible, that I expected to have been pulled up by a rope.
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. In 2010, Kinnoull Hill Woodland Park also came runner up in Scotland's Finest Woods Awards.
Management
Kinnoull Hill Woodland Park is managed in a partnership between the Forestry and Land Scotland and Perth and Kinross Council. A Users Group has also been established for many years and supports the management of the Woodland Park through a Management Committee. Branklyn Garden was built by Dorothy Renton and her husband on the hill. The house and garden are owned by the National Trust.
Sculptures
Woodland sculptures created by Pete Bowsher have been erected in the Woodland Park. There are 14 sculptures reflecting the animals and plants of the park.
Gallery
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View over the River Tay
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Looking north towards Scone
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Looking north-northwest
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Looking northwest
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Looking northwest
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Looking south from the summit
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Looking southwest from the summit, towards Friarton Bridge
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Kinnoull Tower
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This stone table, a few yards back from the summit's cliff edge, marks views on the horizon
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Kinnoull Tower and the River Tay
Images for kids
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Kinnoull Tower, high above Kinfauns Castle West Lodge, in 1830
