Perth Grammar School and surrounds
A plaque high on the north side of South Street at its junction with Princes Street outlines a small part of the history of the original Perth Grammar School.
The first recorded evidence of the school is in a charter of 1150. Robert, Bishop of St. Andrews together with a number of his successors confirm the presence of the school as part of the organisation of the church.
By 1560 the Town Council, together with the reformed church had taken control of the management of the school. (The History Of Perth Academy, 1932, E. Smart, Milne, Tannahall & Methven, Perth, p30.)
When additional secondary school places were required in 1971, the new school was given the long redundant title of Perth Grammar.
Further details of the school and its surrounds are to be found on a plaque at the South Street entrance to St. Anne’s Lane which runs north to St John’s Kirk.
The Site was previously occupied by The Chapel of St. Ann, which held a number of altars was dedicated to the Mother of the Virgin. The chapel acted as a hospital for travellers and the poor. The chapel was in existence in 1514 when prayers were said every Tuesday for the soul of James VI who fell at Flodden the previous year. (Marshall T. H., The History of Perth: From the Earliest Period to the Present Time, 1849 pp381-382)
Perth Academy
The building at Rose Terrace was built on land donated by Thomas Hay Marshall and built by private subscription. When completed in 1807 housed the “Public Seminaries which included Perth Academy and Perth grammar School, plus various individual teachers and their pupils.
This building became known as Perth Academy. In 1915 Sharp’s Institution was amalgamated into the Academy
Teaching was transferred to the new building at Viewlands in 1932.
Perth Art Gallery and Museum
The original Perth Museum was built in 1822-1824.
The current building was required to house the amalgamation of the Marshall Monument collection with that of the PSNS.
The Perth Art Gallery which had previously been sited on the top floor of the Sandeman Library was included to form the Perth Art Gallery and Museum
The statue Thomas Hay Marshall who as Lord Provost did much to shape Perth as it is to-day stands in the rotunda.
The plaque provides details of the date of the official opening of the extension to the Art Gallery and Museum and other relevant information.
Sandeman Library
A series of plaques to commemorate the establishment of the library in 1898.
Among them is a plaque dedicated to the founder Archibald Sandeman (1922-1893), Professor of Mathematics at Owens College, Manchester.
The Sandeman room in the A.K. Bell library is so named in his memory.
A second plaque includes details of benefactors including Andrew Carnegie and Lord Forteviot both of whom gave books, not cash. Other Scots emigrates who also made donations are named.
There are a number of decorative features on the building.
Robert Douglas Memorial School
Robert Douglas, (1859-1929) moved to America at an early age where he founded a company dealing in jam and associated products. He endowed a number of projects in New Scone the place of his birth.
Robert Douglas Memorial School opened in 1935
The photograph, taken inside the school shows the spades used to remove the first turfs to formally signify the beginning of the building of the school. The turfs were cut by Robert Douglas’s sister and his son Mr. Charles A. Douglas in 1933.
The Polish Army used the School during the war, the plaque on the front of the building being in gratitude for the kindnesses they had received.
