History

A Hotel with a Difference
Whether you are a walker, a lover of the countryside, an afficionado of real ales, staying for a week or a night, or simply looking for somewhere to eat and spend a relaxing hour, the Moulin Hotel will surpass both your requirements and your expectations.

Our web site will provide you with much of the factual information you require, but it cannot possibly fully convey either the warmth of the welcome or the relaxing, homely atmosphere we strive to maintain for the benefit of our guests and customers.

Moulin's history stretches back into the mists of time, but evidence of Moulin's ancient history still exists. Standing stones, crusaders' graves and hut circles on Moulin Moor still remain for visitors to see today.

The earliest evidence of a community living at Moulin are the standing stones at Baledmund and Balnakeilly, which are about 2,000 to 3,000 years old. More evidence of the Neolithic people who erected them can be found in the hut circles on Moulin Moor. Moulin Church was founded by St Colm in about 700 AD. This placed Moulin at the centre of church and commercial life in the area for more than 1,000 years.

Moulin stands at an ancient Scottish waypoint. Important routes from Strathtay to Strathardle and from Dunkeld to Donavourd both passed through Moulin. This meeting of routes has caused many people to visit or pass through Moulin during the last 1,000 years. In 903 AD, a Viking raid on Dunkeld culminated with the local Picts defeating the invaders in a battle just over Moulin Moor in Strathardle. In 1306, Robert the Bruce retreated through Moulin. In the 16th century, Mary Queen of Scots may have passed through Moulin heading for Blair Castle.

It was the Jacobite rebellions in the 18th century that brought about an irrevocable shift in Moulin’s fortunes. As part of King George I’s attempts to repress the Highlands, General Wade constructed a new military road for wheel carriages between Dunkeld and Inverness. The route of Wade’s road passed through Pitlochry rather than Moulin, thus sealing Moulin's fate. That fact, together with the rapid increase in Scotland’s popularity in Victorian times and the arrival of the railway in 1863, brought growth to Pitlochry at Moulin's expense.