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Summary

Description

Early 19th century with possible mid 19th century alterations. 2-storey and basement, symmetrical, 3-bay suburban double-pile villa with Ionic-columned porch, situated on a sloping site and with a piended roof section to the corniced entrance elevation and gabled section to the garden elevation. Coursed whinstone with painted margins and quoins. There is a base course, band courses and a cornice. There are wide corniced windows with sidelights at the ground floor to entrance elevation and a round-arched stair window and rectangular windows with sidelights set in segmental-arched surrounds to garden elevation. There are small flat-roofed dormers to the rear.

The entrance elevation has wallhead stacks. There are grey slates throughout.

The interior was seen in 2014. The early 19th century room layout of the building is largely intact including the basement layout. There is some decorative cornicing and ceiling roses and some simple timber fire surrounds. There is an elaborate double-return mid-19th century staircase with a curving timber banister with decorative geometric pierced round floral panels, and curving at the top of the staircase. There are flagstones and early 19th century cast iron service stair to the basement.

There is a pair of ashlar gatepiers with domed caps and decorative metal gates at the entrance to the property.

Statement of Special Interest

Pitcullen House dates to early 19th century with a mid 19th century extension and is amongst some of the earliest large houses to be built in the Bridgend area. It has a fine and distinctive columned porch and has undergone comparatively little external alteration. The interior retains a number of fine decorative features, including a very unusual pierced timber banister to the main staircase.

Pitcullen House is depicted as Pitcullen Bank on the 1823 John Wood map of Perth and is one of the earliest villas situated in the area of Bridgend, which lies on the east side of the Tay, across from the city of Perth. Although there had been a settlement in the Bridgend area from at least the 16th century, the area developed primarily after John Smeaton's Perth Bridge was erected in 1771 (see separate listing). The Statistical Account of 1791-99 notes that a number of 'beautiful' villas have been erected and that the area continues to develop. It is not known whether Pitcullen dates from the late 18th or early 19th century. It appears on the 1823 Map as being owned by a Mr Grieg. The villa seems to have two distinct phases of construction, with a piended section to the front and a predominantly gabled section to the rear. It has not been possible to determine which section is the earlier, but by the 1866 1st Edition Ordnance Survey Map, the villa is depicted with an advanced porch and in its current plan-form.

The house was bought by the Murray Royal Asylum in 1849 for £5,500. It was originally intended as extra accommodation for more wealthy patients, but does not seem to have been used for this. Instead, it was used as a residence for the physician and his family.

The original Murray Royal Asylum building was designed by William Burn and it opened in 1828. This original building is the earliest surviving asylum building in Scotland. Over the course of the 20th century, other buildings were added to the complex, the majority of which have since been demolished. The new Murray Royal Hospital was built in 2010-12 and the original buildings were unoccupied in 2014.

Villas from the early part of the 19th century are not rare buildings in Scotland, but this is a good example of its type and is unusual in having two phases of construction but with similar stone work details to both sections. It is apparently little altered to its exterior since the mid 19th century and it retains a number of interior decorative details, some of which are very unusual and of high quality.

Listed Building Record updated following a review of the former Murray Royal Asylum site, (2014).

References

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