Is anyone very familiar with the Huntingtower area, just west of Perth?
The address given on the birth certificates of two of my gt., gt. grandfather's children, in 1855 and
1857, was Huntingtowerfield. He was the gardener there at the time. By the 1861 census he had moved to Forfarshire so I do not have the benefit of a census form detailing his exact address.
However looking at a census form for 1851, at No 1 Huntingtowerfield lived the Bleacher of the local works, William Turnbull, his wife and servants- in other words the manager. At No 2 lived Andrew Small, the retired bleacher and his modest household. At No 3 lived the gardener at the time--not my gt., gt. grandfather- a previous one.
What and where was/is No 1 Huntingtowerfield, ie. the residence of the bleach works owners?
What might have been No 2, ie. a kind of Dower House?
Is the gardener's house/cottage identified as such today?
I looked at an 1867 map on 'Old Maps' ( this ten years later than my relative's time) and thought I could see outlines of an estate garden to the south of the old Huntingtower Castle.
On a modern map there are Huntingtower (presumably the village), Mains of Huntingtower, Huntingtower Castle, Huntingtower farm, Huntingtower Haugh.
Huntingtowerfield is given today as the address of The Hirsel where old and new cottages exist, let as holiday accomodation. Aren't these technically at Ruthvenfield?
As my relative's address was Huntingtowerfield, not Ruthvenfield, I presume his house/cottage was to the south of the castle but the longer I look at the maps, the more confused I am, especially as the old map appears to show much shorter distances than the modern map.
Were there two separate estates formerly or was there just the one?
I have studied the history of the Bleachworks and know, for example, that the offices and clocktower were built in 1866, after my relatives time.
I would be grateful for any information linked the above.
MairiD