Alyth
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Alyth Church |
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Alyth shown within Perth and Kinross | |
Population | 3,193 |
OS grid reference | NO245486 |
Council area | |
Lieutenancy area | |
Country | Scotland |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | BLAIRGOWRIE |
Postcode district | PH11 |
Dialling code | 01828 |
Police | Scottish |
Fire | Scottish |
Ambulance | Scottish |
EU Parliament | Scotland |
UK Parliament | |
Scottish Parliament | |
Alyth (Gaelic: Ailt) is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, situated under the Hill of Alyth five miles northeast of Blairgowrie. In 2001 the town had a population of 2,963.
The settlement of New Alyth lies on the A926 road southwest of the main village.
Alyth has a primary school that has around 497 pupils. Alyth High School catered for pupils up to fourth year until it was closed in 1994, when all pupils were moved to Blairgowrie High School or Webster's High School situated in nearby Kirriemuir.
Alyth is located on a burn which bears its name and owes its position to a confluence of drovers' roads used by hill farmers to bring their sheep and cattle down to market. A picturesque 17th century packhorse bridge is among a number of stone bridges crossing the burn in the town. The ruins of the old church, known locally as The Arches, stand in a graveyard in a prominent position at the top of the town. The current church building, completed in 1839 to the design of Edinburgh architect, Thomas Hamilton, dominates the skyline of the town. It is Gothic in style, with Romanesque influences, especially in the windows, and has an unusually high spire. Inside the church is the funerary hatchment of Sir George Ramsay (sixth baronet of Bamff) who was killed in a duel at Musselburgh, in April 1790 - one of the last duelling deaths in Scotland. In the church porch is preserved a late 7th-early 8th century Pictish cross-slab, with a decorated cross on one face and a single Pictish symbol ('double disc and Z-rod') on the other. It was discovered in Alyth in 1887 when ground was being levelled in front of the manse.