The Gazetteer for Scotland Guidebook Series: Perth Produced from Information Contained Within The Gazetteer for Scotland. Tourist Guide of Perth Index of Pages Introduction to the settlement of Perth p.3 Features of interest in the Central zone of Perth p.5 Tourist attractions in the Central zone of Perth p.9 features and attractions in north Perth p.15 features and attractions in southeast Perth p.19 features and attractions in south Perth p.22 features and attractions in southwest Perth p.25 features and attractions in northwest Perth p.30 Famous people related to Perth p.33 Historical events related to Perth p.43 Further readings p.44 This tourist guide is produced from The Gazetteer for Scotland http://www.scottish-places.info It contains information centred on the settlement of Perth, including tourist attractions, features of interest, historical events and famous people associated with the settlement. Reproduction of this content is strictly prohibited without the consent of the authors ©The Editors of The Gazetteer for Scotland, 2011. Maps contain Ordnance Survey data provided by EDINA ©Crown Copyright and Database Right, 2011. Introduction to the city of Perth 3 The administrative centre of Perth and Kinross, Perth is situated at the heart of Scotland, 22 miles (35 km) west of Dundee and 45 miles (72 km) north of Edinburgh. Settlement Information The city owes its existence to its location at an important crossing of the River Tay at the highest point of the tidal water and was occupied by the Romans who Settlement Type: town established a camp at Bertha to the north of the present city. Population: 43450 (2001) Tourist Rating: It is a river port as well as an agricultural market town and a rail and road hub. The River Tay is crossed by the National Grid: NO 115 235 concrete Queen's Bridge and the red sandstone Perth Bridge which was built by John Smeaton in 1771. Perth Latitude: 56.40°N Longitude: -3.44°W Known as the 'Fair City' Perth, has two large parklands named the North and South Inch and is overlooked to Council Area Name: the east by Kinnoull Hill which rises to 222m (729 feet). Perth and Kinross It has been the winner of numerous accolades, carrying off trophies and awards for competitions and distinctions that include Britain in Bloom, Beautiful Scotland in Bloom, Scottish Tourism City of the Year, Best Quality of Life in Britain and Best Large Town. Amongst the city's main tourist attractions are the Fair Maid's House, Perth Museum and Art Gallery, the Black Watch Regimental Museum, the Fergusson Gallery, St John's Kirk, the Lower City Mills on the Town Lade, Bell's Cherrybank Gardens and Branklyn Garden (National Trust for Scotland). Perth has numerous sporting facilities including a National Hunt Racecourse at Scone, Gannochy Sports Pavilion, Leisure Pool, Dewar's Ice Rink and Indoor Bowling Centre, McDiarmid Park football stadium (St. Johnstone FC), and four 18-hole golf courses. Annual events include Perth Festival of the Arts in May, Perth Agricultural Show in July and Perth Highland Games in August. Perth College provides a comprehensive training service to industry and commerce, while reference facilities are available at the A.K. Bell Library. In addition to the St John's Shopping Centre in the heart of the city, there are retail parks to the west of Perth and industrial estates at Inveralmond and on the Shore Road. Agricultural chemicals, farm machinery, soft drinks, furniture, glassware, clothing and textiles are the chief manufactures in addition to distilling, insurance, civil engineering, and printing industries. Perth was the birthplace of photography pioneer David Octavius Hill (1802-70) and of author and statesman John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (1875 - 1940). The River Tay at Perth Map of Central Perth 4 Features of Interest 1 St Leonard's Church (Former) 2 Perth Railway Station 3 St Leonards-in-the-Fields & Trinity Church 4 Queen's Bridge 7 5 Tay Viaduct 4 6 Pullar House 211 5 7 St Ninian's Cathedral 6 3 8 Caledonian Road Primary School 12 13 6 15 9 St John's Shopping Centre 9 9 14 8 10 7 4 8 1 3 2 1 5 0 200 400 800 Metres Tourist Attractions 1 Fergusson Gallery 2 The Fair Maid's House 3 Perth Concert Hall 4 Smeaton's Bridge 5 Perth Museum and Art Gallery 6 Town Lade 7 A.K. Bell Library 8 Perth City Hall 9 Perth Theatre 10 Dewars Centre 11 Lord John Murray's Stables 12 Ramada Hotel 13 Lower City Mills 14 King Edward VII Monument 15 Hal o' the Wynd House Features of interest in central Perth 5 St Leonard's Church (Former) Now the showroom of family-run auctioneers Lindsay Burns & Company, the former St Leonard's Church lies on King Street in central Perth. The Neo-Classical edifice was built 1834-36 as a Chapel-of-Ease by local architect William MacDonald Mackenzie (1797 - 1856). Comprising a rectangular box with an Italian Renaissance facade executed in polished ashlar, with three tall narrow doors. Centrally placed above the middle door is circular tower modelled on the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates in Athens. The building was modified in 1891 with the addition of an apse to the west. Inside, there are two levels; a gallery supported on narrow cast-iron columns has been extended into an upper floor, while the large open space is ideal for presentation of the auctioneers lots. There is fine stained glass including patterned glass from the 1830s and sacred scenes by Jones & Willis of Birmingham. The building is now surrounded by its car park. Perth Railway Station Situated to the southwest of Perth town centre, on the northwest corner of the South Inch and a half-mile (1 km) west of the River Tay, Perth Station represents an important junction between lines leading to Dundee, Inverness, Edinburgh (via Dunblane or Fife) and Glasgow (via Stirling). This rambling Tudor-Gothic edifice once boasted nine platforms and linked the Caledonian, Highland and North British Railways. However, with a much-reduced volume of traffic, and consequently a little down-trodden, the station is now reduced to seven platforms none of which could be described as busy, and a range of sidings which, for the most part, lie empty. Originally known as Perth General Station, it was built to the designs of London-based architect Sir William Tite in 1847-48. A public enquiry had been needed to persuade the different railway companies involved to choose a single location. The station was extended in 1885, with the station hotel built shortly thereafter. Its roof was altered in 1911 and again in the late 1960s. A utilitarian entrance foyer and booking office were added in 1967, rather degrading the architectural experience. Further alterations to the facade were executed in 1992. In 1857 John Menzies opened one of his earliest bookstalls here and the station was visited by Queen Victoria in 1848 and 1851. The station is used by around 700,000 passengers per year. Perth also has an important train cleaning and maintenance facility. Features of interest in central Perth 6 St Leonards-in-the-Fields & Trinity Church An ornate A-listed Neo-Gothic building in Marshall Place, on the southern edge of the grid-pattern of streets which forms the centre of Perth, St Leonards-in-the-Fields & Trinity Church overlooks the South Inch. Built 1882-85 by Glasgow architect J. J. Stevenson (1831 - 1908), the building gives the impression of both a grand scale and considerable antiquity, with a tall nave, buttressed aisles and a crown-spire on a square tower modelled on that of St. Giles Kirk in Edinburgh. The semi-octagonal apse inspired by the 15th century apse of the Church of the Holy Rude in Stirling. The interior is Late Gothic with many Neo-Jacobean features. There is a Neo-Jacobean chimney-piece in the vestibule within the tower and a large oak pulpit is located at the western end. The organ is by Bryceson, Son & Ellis of London and dates from 1881. It was built for the former Morningside United Presbyterian Church (later North Morningside Parish St. Leonards-in-the-Fields & Trinity Church, Perth Church and now the Eric Liddell Centre), and moved here in 1985 and installed in a modern ash case. Attached at a right-angle to the northwest corner of the church is the church hall and session-room - very Jacobean, with crow-stepped gables. There is also a modern kitchen and a well-equipped office staffed by a part-time secretary. Queen's Bridge The Queen's Bridge links the centre of Perth with the left bank of the River Tay, extending South Street to Dundee Road. It lies midway between Smeaton's Bridge to the north and the railway viaduct to the south. Opened by HM Queen Elizabeth II on 10th October 1960, it cost £150,000 and was constructed by Whatlings Ltd., in conjunction with consulting engineers F.A. MacDonald and Partners. It is said to be the first long-span pre-stressed concrete structure in Scotland (Paxton and Shipway, 2007) and extends to 75m (246 feet). The easternmost pier is a survivor of its predecessor, the Victoria Bridge, which was built between 1899 and 1902 but considered unsafe by the 1950s. To keep the crossing open during construction, the steel framework of the old bridge was jacked up by 1.8m (6 feet) and the new bridge built beneath. The original Victoria Bridge had proved controversial, at least with John Rollo - the gentleman who owned Rodney Lodge, a fine villa dating from 1800 that stood in its path.