This plaque in High Street records the site of the Croom’s Tavern in which Burns stayed during his visit to Perth in 1787. The plaque has been moved, having previously been further down the High Street in the close leading to the Scott Street car park.
Sir Walter Scott’s statue on the South Inch just off Marshall Place was erected as a token of appreciation for his setting a novel in Perth. The Statue was originally at the foot of the High Street before being moved to its current position in 1877. Sir Walter made a series of visits to Perth and Perthshire where he derived his inspiration to write the novel “The Fair Maid of Perth”. The story is based on events involving the “Battle of the Clans”. To give the tale an air of authenticity he then nominated particular dwellings as the homes of the principal characters. There was an old tale in Perth that when Scott’s dog Maida heard the bells of St. Johns strike midnight on Hogmanay, Sir Walter went for a drink at a public house close to the Kirk. The story had two major flaws, one the pub would have been closed, due to the licencing laws at that time and secondly stone dogs are notoriously hard of hearing. Maida went missing in 2016 (when it turned out that she had just gone for repairs) and again in 2020 (presumed to be theft). Police have so far failed to recapture her.…
Bearing the date 1699 on the lintel, Cunningham Graham Close at 13-17 High Street is said to be the oldest continually inhabited building in Perth. The building is three storeys and an attic. A monogram with the carving "RG, EC" and its year of construction is located above the entrance to the close. These initials refer to Robert Graham and Elspeth Cunningham, for whom the building is named. It was restored in 2015-2016. The project was carried out by the Owners’ Association with the support and encouragement of both Perth and Kinross Council officers and Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust through the Perth City Heritage Fund. Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust recorded on this on their new plaque to the right more details on their web site Historic Tenement Repairs - Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust (pkht.org.uk). In 2016 this project won the biennial Perth Civic Trust Award.
A modern information board entitled Going to Market (Panel 9 of the Perth Medieval Trail) can be found beside the newly redeveloped St Paul’s Church open-air space. This replaced an earlier information board describing the history of St Paul’s Church and surrounding area (also shown). St. Paul’s was the first church to be built outside the area of the old city walls. The population of Perth 1801 was 16,388 a rise of 7.00 in the previous 56 years. Perth City Council agreed an additional church was required. The current site was chosen in preference to one by the shore despite the site lying directly over a branch of the city lade. Planning began in June 1796 and the first service of induction was held in November 1807. (History of St Paul’s Church, J. R, Maclean 1957).
On the other side of the High Street from St Paul's Church stands a building which used to be the Glasite Meeting House. John Glas founded the Glasites in Scotland in 1730. A Glasite Church which was regarded as the “foundation of the Glasites” may have been founded in 1733. This church building was later, thought to have been erected in Perth in 1773. The date of 1839 it is thought refers to a later renovation, not to the building’s actual construction. (History of St Paul’s Church, J. R, Maclean 1957) The Glasite churches aimed at a strict conformity with a primitive type of Christianity. Church unanimity was considered to be necessary; if any member differed in opinion from the rest, he must either surrender his judgement to that of the church, or be shut out from its communion. The Lord’s Supper was observed weekly and every member was required to be present. This did not take the form of symbolic morsels of wine and bread but a relatively substantial meal, a custom leading to the Glasites’ nickname of ‘Kail Kirk’ as Scotch Broth was served. The custom may have arisen as a charitable response to the poverty of most members of this…
A simple plaque showing the approximate site of the hospital and a founded date as March 1650 A History of St Paul’s church gives the date of founding of this establishment by John Spens as 1434. The site at the corner of the Newrow had previously been occupied by a nunnery one of whose chapels was dedicated to St. Paul. It is stated in this History of St Pauls that the chapel was of a considerable size allowing it to provide a hospital for travellers, the infirmed and the poor. (History of St Paul’s Church, J. R, Maclean 1957)
This plaque at the doorway to the Old Council Offices at the east end of High Street is an expression of gratitude to the people of Perth by the Polish Army.
In a garden south of High Street and east of New Row is the Korean War Memorial. It contains a series of plaques with details of the fallen and commemorative plaques remembering the veterans of all services.
A plaque in High Street just west of the entrance to Perth Theatre is a plaque marking where the Hammerman Incorporation met until 1895. They were one of the craft guilds of Perth which date back to the 15th century. All metal workers in Perth were required to join the Guild which was first incorporated in 1518.
Number 102-106 High Street was once the site for the Guildry Incorporation's Guildhall. On the actual building a plaque giving the date of the construction of the original Guildhall in 1722 and rebuilding in 1907. In the pediment the figures of Commerce and Industry support the coat of arms of the city of Perth under the Scottish crown. A plaque commemorating the opening of the new Guildhall in 1907, also a roll of honour for Guild members who fell in World War I is held in the current Guildry Incorporation offices in George Street.