Liff, Angus - Izeria

Liff is a town in Angus, Scotland, situated 4+1⁄2 miles (7 kilometres) west-northwest of Dundee on a south-facing slope two miles (three kilometres) north of the River Tay. It had a population of 568 in 2011. Surrounded by farmland, it has been described as 'haunted by wood pigeons and the scent of wild garlic' and having a 'wonderful view over the firth [of Tay]'. One-half mile (800 metres) east lies the site of the former Royal Dundee Liff Hospital, now given over to private housing. Further east lie Camperdown House and Park. One-half mile (800 metres) south is House of Gray, a large eighteenth-century mansion house in the neoclassical style, currently standing empty. The village contains twelve listed buildings, with others nearby. For several centuries the name Liff denoted a large area, not a village. It comprised the parish of Liff together with its united parishes of Benvie, Invergowrie, Logie, and Lochee, and so included substantial parts of the city of Dundee. The village around the church was known as Kirkton of Liff or simply the Kirkton. An ancient site in the village called Hurly Hawkin was regarded for several centuries as a palace of King Alexander I. The placename features in the title of a bestselling book by Douglas Adams and John Lloyd, The Meaning of Liff. It is defined there as 'a book, the contents of which are totally belied by its cover'.

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Fowlis Castle

Fowlis Castle is situated five miles (eight kilometres) northwest of Dundee, Scotland, in the hamlet of Fowlis. It is a tower house dating from the seventeenth century. It was held by the Maule family and then by the Mortimers before coming to the Gray family in 1337. Sir Alexander Gray of Broxmouth was made Lord Gray of Fowlis. The castle is currently occupied as a farm house, and is a category B listed building. On Monday 3 May 1598 the brother of Anne of Denmark, the Duke of Holstein, came to Fowlis for dinner during his progress. Patrick Gray, 5th Lord Gray was ordered by James VI of Scotland to meet him six miles (ten kilometres) from the castle.

Royal Dundee Liff Hospital

The Royal Dundee Liff Hospital, previously known as Dundee Lunatic Asylum and Dundee Royal Lunatic Asylum, was a mental health facility originally established in 1812 in Dundee, Scotland. It was originally located in premises in Albert Street Dundee, but later moved out of the town to new buildings in the nearby parish of Liff and Benvie. Buildings at Liff included Greystanes House, which was the main building, and, Gowrie House, which was the private patients' facility. Both Grade B listed buildings.

Benvie

Benvie, is a hamlet and former parish and feudal barony in Angus, Scotland. The hamlet is situated on the Invergowrie Burn, northwest of Dundee, surrounded by agricultural land. The parish was joined with the parish of Liff in 1758. The former parish church is in ruins and a Pictish cross-slab of the 9th Century stood in the churchyard. The feudal barony of Benvie was held by the Valognes family from the 12th century, until passing by the heiress Christina to the Maule family, in the 13th century.

Balruddery

Balruddery House by Longforgan in Perthshire, Scotland, was designed by David Neave for James Webster circa 1820. In about 1879 it was bought by James F White, who had previously leased Castle Huntly in Longforgan. James White and his son J Martin White had the house extensively remodelled and modernised by Charle Edward and Thomas Saunders Robertson and the White family moved in circa 1881. J Martin White was very interested in the technologies of the day and electricity was installed in the house by April 1881, powered by a generator run off a stream on the estate, possibly the first domestic generating plant in Scotland. Until at least 1960, electricity was still provided by a turbine and generator on the Mill Dam at Balruddery Home Farm. In 1886 a fire destroyed much of the house and it was rebuilt by Sidney Mitchell for Martin White, his father having died in 1884. Martin was very interested in the organ and had an electronic organ by Robert Hope-Jones installed in the central hall of the new house, making the house nearly impossible to heat effectively. In 1901 a curling pond and linked clubhouse were added, the latter being designed by Patrick Thoms. When Martin died in 1928, his son Oliver White, chose not to live there and the house and a good portion of the contents, were sold to a cousin, Harold S Sharp. On his death in 1949, it passed to his wife and son, but was sold in 1961 to Eagle Star Insurance as a headquarters. Being found too large and impractical, it was again sold to someone else. The walled garden remains, as do the stables, coach house, the old head gardener's house, now Wester Balruddery, the Inner West Lodge, and the East Gates. The coach house and stables have been converted to residential housing and are listed as are the east gates. The walled garden and surrounds now contain three or four modern houses, though until recently (2011) the remains of the foundation and heating system of the Victorian greenhouse could be seen, with camellias still growing on the wall; a line of tall scraggly yew trees marked the line of one of the former clipped ornamental yew hedges. The main gardens contained three ponds, one ornamental, one for swimming and one for curling. The Balruddery Curling Club founded there is still in existence. A large Japanese stone lantern, brought back by Martin White from his honeymoon to Japan in 1898, remained standing after the destruction of the house for over 20 years, until it was acquired by Durham University Oriental Museum in 1985.