Planned Village of Washington (Ardler) 

Ardler is a planned village founded by George Kinloch, known as ‘The Radical Laird’ for his political views. 

Begun in 1835, the street names on the village plan record Kinloch’s support for independence, government by parliament, and the rights of working people. 

The village was formerly called Washington after George Washington, first president of the United States, with streets named Bentham Street after reformer Jeremy Bentham, Wallace Street after the Scottish patriot William Wallace, Franklin Street after the American diplomat Benjamin Franklin, Cartwright Place after political campaigner John Cartwright, and Hampden Place after the seventeenth century parliamentarian John Hampden. 

Originally conceived as a linen weavers’ village, Ardler failed to grow to the size of its original plan, as the mechanisation of the textile industry saw production move first to water-powered mills in Blairgowrie, and later to steam-powered factories in Dundee. 

For around 50 years the village was known as Washington, but this name fell out of use around 1880 after the railway station was moved across the county boundary and named Ardler after the neighbouring farms. From small beginnings as an extension to the Dundee and Newtyle Railway in 1837, the railway passing through the village became part of the London Midland Scottish Railway’s main line linking London Euston with Aberdeen. 

The images below, dating from around 1900 or so, show that there has been little change to the village in the last hundred years or so. 

More information about Ardler can be found in Ardler – A Village History, by Christopher Dingwall.