The
Royal Burgh of (''Peairt'' in
Scottish Gaelic ) is a
Large Burgh in central
Scotland . Sitting on the banks of the
River Tay , it is the administrative headquarters of
Perth And Kinross council. Perth was the historic
Capital of the
Kingdom Of Scotland , as well as being the
County Town of the former
County of
Perthshire .
Perth is popularly referred to as ''The Fair City'', although it is no longer officially considered a city due to a recent redefinition of
City Status In The United Kingdom (see
City Status below).
Perth has given its name to many other settlements around the world, most notably
Perth, Western Australia (at the wish of
Sir George Murray ,
Secretary Of State For War And The Colonies , that the settlement be named after his birthplace as well as his parliamentary seat in the
British House Of Commons ).
There has been a settlement at Perth since
Prehistoric times, with evidence of a
Hut , a
Midden and a basic
Canoe dated to around
7000 BCE . The name derives from a
Pictish word for ''wood'' or ''copse''.
It was historically known as "St Johnstone", or "St John's Toun" for many centuries, a name still preserved in the town's
Football and
Cricket teams. The still older name "Perth" was revived, and has stuck.
Perth came to prominence in the
History Of Scotland from the early 12th century, though its Pictish name, and some archaeological evidence, indicate that there must have been a settlement here from earlier times, probably at a point where a river crossing or crossings coincided with a slightly raised natural mound on the west bank of the
Tay (which at Perth flows north-south), thus giving some protection for settlement from the frequent flooding. The presence of
Scone two miles northeast, a royal centre from at least the reign of
Kenneth I mac Ailpín (843-58), and site of the major
Augustinian abbey of the same name, founded by
Alexander I (1107-24), will have enhanced Perth's early importance. It was for long the effective 'capital' of
Scotland , due to the frequent residence of the royal court. It was at
Scone Abbey that the
Stone Of Destiny was kept, and on it the Kings of Scots were crowned down to
Alexander III (1249-86).
King
David I (1124-53) granted
Burgh status to the town in the early
12th Century , and documents from this time refer to the status of the
Kirk there. Many of the records taken from this time were the result of the arrival of the
Dominicans or
Blackfriars whose House was established by
Alexander II (1214-49) in
1231 . In the 12th and 13th centuries, Perth was one of the richest trading burghs in the kingdom (along with such towns as
Berwick ,
Aberdeen and
Roxburgh ), residence of numerous craftsmen, organised into guilds (eg the Hammermen
{Link without Title} or Glovers). There was probably some decline in prosperity during the numerous wars of the 14th century. The town also carried out an extensive trade with the Continent, and examples of foreign luxury goods have been recovered from excavations within the town (eg Spanish silk, fine pottery from France; wine will also have been a major import, not least for the use of the Church). The main destinations were France, the Low Countries and the Baltic. Medieval crafts are still remembered in some of the town's old street names, eg Skinnergate, Cutlog Vennel.
Much of the town, including its royal castle (on or near the site of the present Perth Museum and Art Gallery), was destroyed by a flood of the Tay in
1210 , one of many that have afflicted Perth over the centuries.
William I (1142-1214) restored Perth's burgh status, while it remained as the nominal capital of Scotland.
King
Edward I of
England brought his armies to Perth in
1296 where the town, with only a
Ditch for defence and little fortification, fell quickly. Stronger fortifications were quickly implemented by the English, and plans to wall the town took shape in
1304 . They remained standing until
Robert The Bruce 's recapture of Perth in
1313 . He ordered the defences destroyed.
In in the Middle Ages. Though still largely complete at the time of the
1745 Jacobite Rebellion , they began to be demolished from the second half of the 18th century, and there are now no visible remains, at least above ground. The last tower, called the Monk's Tower (corner of Tay Street and Canal Street) was demolished about
1810 .
During the Middle Ages, Perth's only parish church was the Burgh Kirk of St. John the Baptist. With the town centre dominated by this huge building, Perth is frequently referred to as 'Sanct John's Toun of Perth' (or variants) in old documents. The local football team is still
St Johnstone . The present church, though of much earlier origins, was constructed from the
15th Century onwards. Though much altered, its tower and
Lead -clad spire continue to dominate the Perth skyline. The Church has lost its medieval south porch and
Sacristy , and the north
Transept was shortened during the course of the
19th Century during street-widening. The building was split into three congregations (the East, West and Middle Kirks), divided by internal walls, after the
Reformation , and was only returned to its medieval proportions in the 1920s by Sir
Robert Lorimer , who restored the building as a war-memorial for those soldiers from
Perthshire who had fallen in the
Great War . Despite the damage done to the Church during and after the
Reformation , it contains the largest collection of medieval bells still in their original building in
Great Britain . Another rare treasure, a unique survival in
Scotland , is a
15th Century brass candelabrum, imported from the
Low Countries . The survival of this object is all the more remarkable as it includes a statuette of the
Virgin Mary . St. John's Kirk also had the finest collection of post-Reformation church plate in
Scotland (now housed permanently in Perth Museum and Art Gallery).
Medieval Perth had many other ecclesiastical buildings, including the houses of the
Dominicans (
Blackfriars ), Observantine
Franciscans (
Greyfriars ) and Scotland's only
Carthusian Priory, or Charterhouse. A little to the west of the town was the house of the
Carmelites or Whitefriars, at Tullilum (corner of Jeanfield Road and Riggs Road). Also at Tullilum was a manor or tower-house of the bishops of
Dunkeld . The bishops also owned a house within the burgh itself, at the corner of South Street and Watergate.
Other ecclesiastical foundations included the hospitals (with associated chapels) of St. Anne (between South Street and St. John's Place), St. Paul (corner of Newrow and High Street), St. Catherine (location uncertain) and, a little south of the town, St. Mary Magdalene. There were also a number of chapels: St. Mary's (at the east end of High Street, by the end of the medieval bridge), St. Laurence's (at the Horse Cross) and Our Lady of Loretto (Loretto Court). None of these buildings survive above ground, though parts of the buildings of the
Blackfriars and Whitefriars have been recovered archaeologically, as has a probable part of the graveyard of St. Laurence's Chapel.
In the medieval period, Perth was part of the diocese of
St Andrews .
1396 brought the theatre of
Trial By Combat to Perth. The
Battle Of The Clans pitted
Clan ''Quhele'' against Clan Chattan, each thirty strong, at the town's North Inch. This 'tournament' (actually an attempt to resolve a disruptive Highland feud) took place under the gaze of King
Robert III (
1390 -
1406 ) and his court, who watched the spectacle from the ''Gilten Arbour'', a garden attached to the House of the
Blackfriars . Although records vary, Clan Chattan is understood to have won the battle, with the last of their opponents fleeing to safety across the
Tay . This combat is a central incident in
Sir Walter Scott 's novel
The Fair Maid Of Perth .
The House of the
Dominicans or
Blackfriars , established by King
Alexander II in 1231, was paying host to King
James I in
1437 when rebel nobleman forced entry to the building in the middle of the night. The Friary lay outwith the town walls and was defended only by a ditch.
Robert Graham proceeded to stab the King to death; the Queen,
Joan Beaufort , and her children escaped to
Edinburgh . Perhaps as a direct result, James was the last king to command from a throne at Perth; the capital was moved to
Edinburgh in the mid
1450s . James I was buried in Perth in the
Carthusian Priory he had founded in 1429. This priory was also the last resting place of
Joan Beaufort and
Margaret Tudor , Queens of Scotland.
While political and religious strife engulfed England in the mid-
16th Century ,
John Knox began the Scottish
Reformation from grass-roots level with a sermon against 'idolatry' in the burgh kirk of St. John the Baptist in
1559 . An enflamed mob quickly destroyed the altars in the Kirk, then attacked the Houses of the
Greyfriars and
Blackfriars , and the
Carthusian Priory.
Scone Abbey was sacked shortly afterwards. The regent of infant
Mary Queen Of Scots , her mother
Marie De Guise , was successful in quelling the rioting but
Presbyterianism in Perth remained strong.
There are no visible remains of the pre-Reformation religious houses of Perth, though their approximate locations are perpetuated in modern street-names.
Charles II was crowned at Scone, traditional site of the investiture of Kings of Scots, in
1651 . However, within a year,
Oliver Cromwell 's
Parliamentarians , fresh from victory in the
English Civil War , came to Perth. Cromwell established a fortified citadel on the South Inch (a large park south of the town) in 1652, one of five built around Scotland at this time to overawe and hold down the country. Perth's hospital, bridge and several dozen houses were demolished to provide building materials for this fort. Even graveslabs from the Greyfriars cemetery were used. It was given to the town in
1661 not long after Cromwell's death, and began almost immediately to be dismantled. The ditch, originally filled with water from the Tay, was still traceable in the late 18th century, but there are now no visible remains. The restoration of Charles II was not without incident, and with the
Act Of Settlement , came the
Jacobite uprisings, to which Perth was supportive. The town was occupied by Jacobite supporters thrice in total (
1689 ,
1715 and
1745 ).
In
1760 , Perth Academy was founded, and major industry came to the town, now with a population of 15,000.
Linen ,
Leather ,
Bleach ed products and
Whisky were its major exports, although the town had been a key
Port for centuries. The Perth Royal Infirmary was built in
1814 , although the town remained unsanitary for decades including a
Cholera epidemic in the
1830s . Piped water and gas became available in the
1820s , and electricity in
1901 .
Given its location, Perth was perfectly placed to become a key transport centre with the coming of the
Railway s. The first railway station in Perth was built in
1848 . Horse-drawn carriage became popular in the
1890s although they were quickly replaced by electric
Tram s.
Perth remains a key transport hub for journeys by car and rail throughout Scotland. The
M90 Motorway runs south from the town to
Edinburgh ; the
A9 Road connects it to
Stirling and
Glasgow in the south west and
Inverness in the north. Other major roads in the city include the
A85 to
Crieff and
Crianlarich , the
A93 to
Blairgowrie and the
A94 to
Coupar Angus and
Forfar .
The town itself was
Bypass ed west by the A9 in the
1960s and east by the M90 in the
1970s .
The M90, A9 and A93 all meet at
Broxden Junction , one of the busiest and most important
Road Junction s in Scotland.
The final part of the M90 included the construction of the
Friarton Bridge in
1978 to facilitate travel to
Dundee and
Aberdeen to the east of the town, finally removing inter-city traffic from the town centre and is the most northerly piece of the UK's motorway system.
.]]
Perth Railway Station has regular services to
Fife ,
Edinburgh Waverley via the
Forth Bridge , east to
Dundee and
Aberdeen , and south to
Glasgow Queen Street . There is also one train daily operated by
GNER to
London .
Bus travel is plentiful in the city. Local buses are run by
Stagecoach Group ; inter-city bus travel is made from Leonard Street
Bus Station and connects to most major destinations in Scotland. The
Megabus service is centred on Broxden Junction (several miles outside the town centre) and runs direct buses to Scotland's largest cities plus
Manchester and
London . In addition, there is a
Park And Ride service from the services at Broxden to the city centre.
Perth has a small airport located at .
The constituency of
Perth sends a single
MSP to the
Scottish Parliament , and its voters elect
Additional Members through the
Mid Scotland And Fife region.
The same borders were used for the
UK Parliament Constituency Of Perth , but after a boundary review following Scottish
Devolution , it has been dissolved with respect to
Westminster ; most of Perth itself is now part of the
Perth And North Perthshire Constituency , and some of the old Perth constituency is now part of the
Ochil And South Perthshire Constituency .
Despite the downfall of the whisky
Distilleries , who have long since been sold off and moved away from the town, Perth has remained a centre for doing business. New high-tech industry has moved in, and the commercial impact has remained as major services including
Insurance and
Banking , have come to the town. Amongst the largest employers are
Norwich Union , the
Bank Of Scotland and Scottish and Southern Energy.
Much of the day-to-day business is still done in the town centre. There is a major shopping centre development, the St. John's Centre, and the major High Street has a large selection of outlets from major businesses; however, much of the centre retains a historic atmosphere and many local businesses continue to locate there in stark contrast to the shopping arcades of Glasgow or Edinburgh.
St Johnstone F.C. is the town's
Football club. They were previously based at Muirton Park, but their current stadium is
McDiarmid Park in the west of the town. It played host to the first
Rugby Union international played north of the Central Belt when Scotland played
Japan there in
2004 .
There is a large sports complex,
Bell's Sports Centre to the northwest of the city centre, as well as
Perth Leisure Pool to the west of the railway station on the Glasgow Road.
Perth Racecourse is located within the grounds of Scone Palace, holding regular
Horse Racing meetings.
.
The ''Perth Festival'' is an annual collection of
Art ,
Theatre ,
Opera and
Classical Music events in the city. The
2005 event ran from
May 19 to
May 29 .
In opened atop the former Horsecross Market. The state of the art construction cost around
£ 20 million, mostly donated as part of the UK millennium celebrations.
and
Friarton Bridge are both visible]]
Perth has a number of popular
Architectural and historical attractions, most notably Scone Palace and St. John's Kirk. It is also the centre of the regimental
Black Watch , whose museum is located inside
Balhousie Castle . The Castle, of medieval origins, was extensively altered and enlarged in the
19th Century , and retains little of its original character.
Branklyn Gardens by the Dundee Road is a world-renowned garden, its centerpiece being its collection of Himalayan blue poppies (
National Trust For Scotland ; entrance charge).
The major green areas in the city are the North and South Inch parks, which together with the Riverside Park, form three quarters of a ring around the city centre. Kinnoull Hill and Craigie Hill, well provided with forest walks, give spectacular views of the city
Two
Historic Scotland properties within a short distance of the town are
Huntingtower Castle , former seat of the Earls of Gowrie (open all year; entrance charge), and
Elcho Castle , former seat of the Wemyss family (open in summer; entrance charge). Both are excellent examples of late medieval Scottish tower-houses, and are popular sites for weddings.
The classic definition of Perth has been as a city, and traditional documentation confirms that this has been true since '' or
Elgin .
