Innerpeffray Library was the first lending library in Scotland. [1] It is located in the hamlet of Innerpeffray, by the River Earn in Perth and Kinross, 4 miles (6 kilometres) southeast of Crieff. The library building is Category A listed. [2]
Innerpeffray Library was the first lending library in Scotland. [1] It is located in the hamlet of Innerpeffray, by the River Earn in Perth and Kinross, 4 miles (6 kilometres) southeast of Crieff. The library building is Category A listed. [2]
Innerpeffray Library started in 1680 in the attic of St Mary's Chapel, [3] Church of the Blessed Virgin, or Innerpeffray Chapel as it has later been known. [4]
The chapel is mentioned from 1365 and is linked to Lord John Drummond. [4] The chapel may have started as a chantry, however, by 1542 it was referred to as a collegiate church which served the parish of Monzie. [4]
During the Scottish Reformation in the 16th century, the chapel was damaged considerably; the lands and endowments were passed to James Drummond, the first Lord Madertie. [5] James married Jean, daughter of Sir James Chisolm of Cromlix; however, James died in 1620. [5]
Innerpeffray Castle was built close to the chapel in 1610, [6] the chapel's use after the Scottish Reformation meant that it was never again used as a Protestant place of worship but instead was used for as a mausoleum for the Drummond family, as well as a Catholic [7] place of worship. [5]
David Drummond (died 1692), the third Lord Madertie requested in his will that a library be kept partly in the west end of the chapel and partly in a building he had recently constructed in the east end of the kirkyard. [8] This was to house David's large collection of books in religion, witchcraft, demonology and astrology. [5] David died in 1692, and the Governors of the Innerpeffray Mortification, a registered charity under Scottish law, started to administer and maintain the collection in 1694. [7] The library was to be devoted for the use of the public and became the first public lending library in Scotland. [8]
In 1739, Robert Hay Drummond inherited the Innefpeffray Estate, he commissioned the architect Charles Freebairn to erect the purpose-built library and reading room. [9] The Georgian building was completed in 1762 and was larger than the original library, to house the Drummond family collection as well as Robert's own collection which he donated to the library. [5]
The library ceased lending in 1968; however, it remains open to the public several days a week, from March through to the end of October. [1] Hours of operation are Wednesday to Saturday 10 am-5 pm and Sunday 2 pm-5 pm. [10]
Among the collection that the library holds is the Bible of the Marquis of Montrose, bearing his autograph in several places. [11] There is also a copy of what is called the Great Bible, dated 1540, which has two full-page woodcuts by Holbein, the artist of Henry VIII of England. [11]
The library remains a valuable storehouse of literature from the Late Medieval and Early Modern periods and has been visited by many people throughout the years that it has been open. [11]
One of the Library's most valued books is the original Borrowers' Register that holds the record of all the families who borrowed a book. This resource allows people to come and identify their ancestors from the region, see their own handwriting and hold the books they once borrowed. [12]
The Keeper of Books is an office held continuously since Andrew Patoune in 1696. The Keeper also holds the key of the Collegiate Chapel of St Mary, at Her Majesty's pleasure.
The current Keeper of Books, as of 2019, is listed as Lara Haggerty.
Crieff is a Scottish market town in Perth and Kinross on the A85 road between Perth and Crianlarich, and the A822 between Greenloaning and Aberfeldy. The A822 joins the A823 to Dunfermline. Crieff has become a hub for tourism, famous for whisky and its history of cattle droving. Attractions include the Caithness Glass Visitor Centre and Glenturret Distillery. The nearby Innerpeffray Library is Scotland's oldest lending library. St Mary's Chapel beside it dates from 1508. Both are open to the public: the library is run by a charitable trust; the chapel is in the care of Historic Scotland.
Abernethy is a village and former burgh in the Perth and Kinross council area and historic county of Perthshire, in the east central Lowlands of Scotland. The village is situated in rural Strathearn, 8 miles (13 km) south-east of the city of Perth, near the River Earn's confluence with the River Tay and on the northern edge of the Ochil Hills.
Aberfeldy is a burgh in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, on the River Tay. A small market town, Aberfeldy is located in Highland Perthshire. It was mentioned by Robert Burns in the poem The Birks Of Aberfeldy and in the Ed Sheeran song The Hills of Aberfeldy.
Megginch Castle is a 15th-century castle in Perth and Kinross, in central Scotland. It was the family home of Cherry, 16th Baroness Strange. It is now lived in by Lady Strange's daughter, Catherine Drummond-Herdman, her husband and four children.
Clan Drummond is a Highland Scottish clan. The surname is rendered "Druimeanach" in modern Scottish Gaelic.
Perth Art Gallery is the principal art gallery and exhibition space in the city of Perth, Scotland. It is located partly in the Marshall Monument, named in memory of Thomas Hay Marshall, a former provost of Perth.
Kinross High School is a state school in Kinross, Scotland.
The Scottish Highland Massacre of Monzievaird took place on 21 October 1490, at the church of Monzievaird, at Ochtertyre, near Hosh in Perthshire. Some sources give the date as 1511. It was the culmination of a violent blood feud between the Murray and Drummond families. Although feuding, murdering kin, and marrying enemies was commonplace for Highlanders at the time, the massacre was nevertheless notorious and sensational in its day.
Murthly is a village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It lies on the south bank of the River Tay, 5 miles southeast of Dunkeld, and 9+1⁄2 miles north of Perth. Perth District Asylum, later known as Murthly Hospital, was opened in the village on 1 April 1864 for 'pauper lunatics'. It was the second district asylum to be built in Scotland under the terms of the Lunacy (Scotland) Act 1857. It closed in 1984 and was later demolished. The village has a stone circle, in the former grounds of the hospital. The village formerly had a railway station on the Perth and Dunkeld Railway, which closed in 1965.
Ardblair Castle is an L-plan castle, dating from the 16th century, around 0.75 miles (1.21 km) west of Blairgowrie in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. This castle is the subject of a green lady ghostlore story.
Innerpeffray is a hamlet in Perthshire, Scotland, 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of Crieff. It is located on a raised promontory among beech woodland above the River Earn. A fording point across the river can still be used, on what is the line of a Roman Road.
Harold Ogle Tarbolton FRIBA (1869–1947) was a 19th/20th century British architect, mainly working in Scotland. He was affectionately known as Tarrybreeks. In later life he went into partnership with Sir Matthew Ochterlony to create Tarbolton & Ochterlony.
The Municipal Buildings are a municipal facility at Nos. 1, 3 and 5 High Street, Perth, Scotland. The facility is a Category B listed building.
Greyfriars Burial Ground is an historic cemetery in Perth, Scotland, dating to 1580. It is now Category A listed, with its collection of gravestones considered one of the best in Scotland. The cemetery closed to burials in 1978.
Cluny House is Category B listed building in Aberfeldy, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It dates to around 1825. Its tower was added about fifty years later.
The A. K. Bell Library is an historic building on York Place in Perth, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The building was originally a hospital before becoming a municipal building and later a library. The central section of the building is Category A listed. The lodge to the estate, now removed from its original location, is Category B listed.
Innerpeffray Collegiate Church is an ancient church building in Innerpeffray, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Dating to 1508, it is now a scheduled monument.
Murthly House, also known as New Murthly Castle, was a substantial mansion in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, designed by James Gillespie Graham and demolished in 1949–50. It was said to be unrivalled in its beauty.
Crieff Town Hall is a municipal building in the High Street, Crieff, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The structure, which is currently used as a tourist information centre and museum, is a Category B listed building.
56°20′41″N3°46′42″W / 56.3447°N 3.7782°W
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